Issue 57

GLAMPSITES
FIVE TECH OPTIONS FOR YOUR GLAMPSITE
While the types of tech you choose to
implement will be a matter of personal
preference, the one key point to remember
is to prioritise operational technology.
Tech which helps you streamline tasks
that take up a significant portion of your
day and are going to make the biggest
impact on your business. Think: managing
glampsite bookings, addressing guest
enquiries/recommendations, providing
cleaning instructions and guiding staff
communications.
1
CHANNEL MANAGER
Gone are the days of manually
updating and editing your property
listing information on each individual
booking platform. If you’re done with
multiple online travel agency (OTA)
dashboards, a channel manager lets
you sync and manage every aspect of
your glampsite’s listings across all major
booking sites from one convenient
location.
A channel manager lets you retrieve
reservation information as well as
automatically sync glampsite availability,
preventing any dreaded overbookings or
double booking scenarios with your guests.
Our top choice for this is OwnerRez,
which offers users a powerful, flexible
way to manage holiday rental properties.
The property management tool features
a host of tech including a channel
manager, property reporting and analytics,
accounting, and website and branding
assistance.
2
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A property management system (PMS)
amalgamates all booking information
surrounding your glampsite, offering one
centralised point for you to review and
manage operational and administrative
workflows.
A PMS often includes modules to help
you efficiently monitor and upkeep
administrative tasks related to reservation
management, guest check-in and
check-out, housekeeping and revenue
management.
Many PMS offerings also provide
website builders to assist you in
setting up your own direct booking site.
This can be a valuable way to increase your
glampsite’s revenue, as most major OTAs
take a fee off the top of your bookings for
operational purposes.
Our friends over at Anytime know how
to do a PMS right. Their fully-supported
property management software is ideal for
outdoor holiday businesses, helping you to
streamline direct and third party bookings
while delivering the best guest experience.
3
SCREENING TOOLS
Implementing screening protocols
can ensure your guests are those that
you want to welcome. A screening tool
prevents the tyre kickers, party crashers
and even illicit activities from taking place
at your site.
SUPERHOG lets you affirm ground
rules with guests, clarify guidelines via
instructional videos and impart screening
processes to ensure your visitors are the
right fit for you.
4
DIGITAL GUIDEBOOK
Eliminate repetitive guest questions,
deliver practical and personalised
recommendations and empower your
guests with a digital guidebook. Easy to
download and accessible offline, a digital
guest welcome book replaces your tired,
mangled and outdated house manual and
replaces it with a sleek, shiny interface your
guests will love to use.
Letting you reclaim the joys of hosting
your glampsite while helping you run a
more efficient business, a digital guest
welcome book also makes it easy to update
the content as new attractions, eateries
etc. spring up in your area.
Touch Stay’s digital guidebooks for
glampsites perfectly deliver need-to-know
and want-to-know information to guests.
Entirely customisable to suit your brand,
they have multiple language options for
guests coming from far and wide.
5
SMART HOME DEVICES
Last but certainly not least on our list,
smart home gadgets are super fun, yet
effective gizmos. From noise monitoring
systems, WiFi thermostats and smart locks
to more familiar forms of entertainment
like Google Home Minis or Amazon Alexas,
smart home gadgets create a welcoming
environment suited to your guests’
temperature, lighting and entertainment
needs.
Make your WiFi work for you and your
guests with StayFi. StayFi lets you create
custom splash pages for guest WiFi access,
personalised to your glampsite’s branding
while collecting valuable marketing
information in the process.
StayFi uses cloud-managed WiFi
technology, letting you collect emails from
every guest that uses your WiFi. In turn, you
can use this information to create automated
drip email campaigns while building out a
substantial guest list for repeat bookings.
What’s more, StayFi lets you monitor all of
your WiFi networks remotely – no need to
harangue guests onsite in the event the WiFi
stops working.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Stinchcombe-Gillies
has worked in holiday
rentals since 2006, helping
to grow holidaylettings.
co.uk and then TripAdvisor
vacation rentals, although her
career began in hospitality. At Touch
Stay she combines her marketing head with
her nose for memorable guest experiences
to help operators achieve competitive
advantage.
Touch Stay digital guidebooks are designed
to help any type of hospitality professional
better communicate with their guests.
Touch Stay has gone on to become the
highlight of guest reviews worldwide and
is cited as a reason for repeat bookings,
longer stays and – most importantly –
happier guests. www.touchstay.com
Both OwnerRez and Anytime
integrate with Touch Stay digital
guidebooks for seamless operation.
38 WWW.OPENAIRBUSINESS.COM