An example of success with integrated product solutions in combination with Austrian charm.
The Austria Trend Hotel Group is a prominent hotel group in Austria, with a total of 27 hotels consisting of 4,955 rooms.
The pain of systems that don’t talk to each other
While maintaining a healthy occupancy rate has never been an issue, Johannes Sassmann, head of ecommerce, explains that the group’s previous channel management solution’s lack of integration was causing his hotel staff to be weighed down with processes.
“Revenue management is an extremely important factor in the daily planning of our business, and a well thought out strategy with the correct daily rates is essential. But our channel manager wasn’t connected to our PMS or RMS, so plenty of time was spent on manual tasks in the reservations and revenue departments. It was a big effort for the e-commerce division, which would constantly have to take care of all kinds of problems caused by over bookings and human error.”
Johannes knew that a different solution was needed to achieve more flexibility, optimise processes, and create more time for strategically relevant activities.
“Revenue management is an extremely important factor.”
The search for an integrated solution
With his team manager, Johannes conducted online research to find a channel manager. The key considerations they needed to address were:
- Number and quality of channel connections
- Ease of use
- System speed and fast updates
- High flexibility in configuration
- Low error rate
- Wide range of features
- Flat low monthly cost
SiteMinder’s Channel Manager fulfilled all of the requirements, and Johannes began the process of integrating it with protel, the group’s property management system, and iDeas its revenue management system, across all 27 hotels.
“Owing to the complexity of the integration at a hotel chain of our size, I had expected a handling period of about one year – including an initial testing phase with three hotels. But overall, it only took nine months, a very pleasing result.”
The benefits of integration
With The Channel Manager, Austria Trend Hotels have been able to pass data through the protel PMS and the IDeaS RMS, resulting in accelerated efficiency for staff.
Over a period of 12 months, Austria Trend Hotels were able to
- Reduce error rates by 90%
- Increase productivity by approximately 50%
Johannes says the implementation of SiteMinder’s technology has enabled his team to focus on delivering a great guest experience: “Since our property management system and revenue management system has been integrated with The Channel Manager, the reservations go directly from the portals into our system, which eliminates many manual tasks. This leaves more time for important activities, such as providing guests with even better service.”
