A channel manager is a significant player within the hotel industry, particularly in the case of enhancing the additional revenue sources of the hotel. Since it is well recognized that different sales channels and Online Travel Agencies (OTA) can boost occupancy levels and profits of a property, a good channel manager can help much in pulling this off.
Hotel and hostel channel manager control and optimize inventory distribution to all online channels today. They make sure the room occupation and rates are updated in real-time so that overbooking should not happen, which can increase revenue. This article will discuss the principal role and tasks of a channel manager and their significance to hotels’ and hostels’ profitability.
1. Centralized Distribution Channel
As a crucial role of any channel manager, it is a responsibility to ensure distribution between a hotel and the various online booking sites that guests employ in selecting and booking their travel. Contrary to working with hundreds of OTAs and setting up availability and rates for each of them separately, a channel manager unifies all these channels in a single center.
This means that through one central location, hoteliers are able to revise information as well as availability in all the channels within an instant. Through this centralization and automation, properties can save time and effort which used to be done manually while at the same time keeping the rates and inventory up to date across the various sales channels that hotels rely on to generate bookings.
Besides streamlining operations, this centralized approach contains the risk of human errors in data entry and rate management. Channel managers also connect with PMS allowing automatic update of bookings and guest details. This interoperability saves operational time, and gives a complete overview of the hotel performance in all distribution channels. In addition, through analytics tools channel managers can provide data that allows hoteliers to make informed decisions with regard to their distribution strategy and realize the full revenue potential of each booking.
2. Rate & Inventory Management
Centralizing the distribution network into a single channel manager gives the hotels a better strategic control of rates and availability. The feature facilitates the ability of revenue managers on practices of changing price and setting limit of occupancy on specific room types on the particular channel for sales.
This key feature can increase RevPAR significantly since it enables hotels to adjust prices depending on channel-specific demand patterns. In addition to price restraints, the two-way connectivity allows inventory control to ensure that rooms sold through OTA sites or any other selling platforms are updated instantly to avoid overbookings. This makes hoteliers comfortable to open up more availability especially if they have no worries of double booking a particular room.
3. Market Reach Expansion
A hotel’s website and its physical presence are important marketing tools, but the largest percentage of reservations are generated through other external channels and OTA. The arduous and unautomated processes of acquiring and managing the distribution channel through dozens of travel sites would be an impractical mission without a channel manager.
A good channel manager increases a hotel’s customer base by marketing its stock and prices on several channels simultaneously across the world; this channel manager also directs several high-intent demand-backing traffic to the hotel. Channel managers also enable the independent hotels with limited bargaining power to secure their properties on the major OTAs most of which do not directly negotiate with independent entities. This simply means that broad distribution and exposure fostered by channel managers therefore directly offers increased occupancy and RevPAR across the size structures of hotels.
4. Performance Analytics & Reporting
This is why it is crucial for hoteliers to have a granular insight into the sales data and all the channels used in revenue generation. The channel manager is a central data collecting point that provides 2-way data connectivity to collect real-time booking data, RevPAR or other measures across all integrated channels. This intelligence is made available to hotel staff via automated reports and graphical interfaces that show which channels consumers use most in making bookings and generating revenues.
Higher tier analytics offer benchmarks on the market condition to allow the hotels to set competitive rates based on rival establishments in the particular region. Using rather tangible data, channel managers can even measure the exact effects of rate changes on consumers. These analytics are very helpful in any revenue management decision that aims at maintaining high occupancy and ADR across the various sales channels.
5. Use of automation to save time and money
In addition to cutting down on the need for manual inventory and rate distribution, an effective channel manager also provides valuable insights that allow hotel owners and managers to accomplish more with less. These are the processes that would take a number of hours to be done, thus reducing time that staff would spend attending to guests which in return would increase the level of satisfaction. Automated reporting is all about not having to do lots of computation while at the same time not having to make bad decisions based on old or wrong information.
By automating many of the main distribution functions, hotels can prevent themselves from having to invest in more scarce revenue management skills. Due to the limited budgets as well as a small staff typical for independent hotels, the channel manager performs tasks that would otherwise require much time and personnel at the same time, thus increasing bookings and RevPAR while keeping the staff’s workload under control. Such loose ends make it possible to achieve impressive revenue growth even in the absence of numerous staff members.
Conclusion
A channel manager acts as the primary technology that, alongside a hotel management system, helps hotel operators to drive higher revenues by covering a larger market, setting optimal pricing strategies and using analytical data. Converging the intricate sales channels, which channel managers eliminate, means that channel managers provide indie hotels the enterprise features that can increase occupancy, ADR, or RevPAR.