Online Reservations - business reality Over the past few years there has been a lot of hype regarding the Internet and online reservations. There are many questions posed and many answered but business owners are becoming increasingly confused by all of the current offerings.This article is designed to highlight some of the more important facts and let you, the business owner decide which is the best option for you.Major PointsOnline reservations can be the most cost effective form of marketing for any tourism related business. Maintaining and marketing your website provides tangible results for relatively low marketing dollars. Regular visitors will be the first to book via your website but others will research information and then usually call to book first. When the trust factor is there they are more likely to book online for a future visit.Should your Online Reservation system be with a third party organization that does not link directly into your reservation system at your front desk?There are some benefits and drawbacks for using a third party provider for your online reservation system. Wasting time with double entry and operator errors. With a third party system that does not link directly into your front desk system, all of the information has to be re-typed into your front desk reservation system wasting time and allowing for errors.Confirmation Emails. Emails are sent to you from the third party system. Sometimes these can be missed or deleted by mistake. With a direct link into your front desk system the information is downloaded accurately and securely once without the need for you to read an email and retype the information.You have to maintain the inventory availability separately. With a separate system that does not talk directly to your front desk system you have to manually check and adjust your online inventory, often through a web browser. This becomes difficult to manage if you start to use more than one online reserva tion provider. With an integrated system this should be a seamless experience from your front desk system.Third party providers promise lots of extra traffic. Many third party providers promise lots of extra traffic and exposure of your online reservations, leading to more reservations. However this does not always materialize. Based on the price structure described below this can be very expensive.Pricing: The Real Cost and the Real Value. Many third party providers charge a percentage of the reservation for providing the service and helping to drive traffic to your online reservation system. This sounds reasonable at first but when examined further there are some surprising twists that could be costing you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars per year. The real cost - Lets say an initial fee of 5% - 10% was charged for every reservation. That would be a very low cost fee if it were a client that never would have booked without the third party's marketing efforts. When the reservation is generated from your own marketing efforts, which brings clients to your website, then you are paying twice and have the added inconvenience of double entry! So when you receive your online reservation report at the end of each month look at how many of the reservations come from your own website. If it is less than 50% then it is probably worth it. If not then think twice.A classic example of this is in the hotel sector where super traffic generating sites such as , and others are marketing giants attracting millions of people. Accommodation providers pay upwards of 30% just to have access to this market and book online. Every client is one the hotel would never have attracted in the first place and one they have a chance of getting back in the future so the expense is justified. The negative effect is enhanced when you consider that most of these providers wait until the client has stayed before sending all of the revenue. This ties up your cash flow, often by months.If you can attract just:15 reservations per month from your own websiteAt an average 3 nights stayFor $80 per night You would generate $43,000 US in one yearIf you had to pay a third party for your own traffic it would cost you $2,150.00 US plus adding additional labor costs to reenter the information while tying up your cash flow. The more successful your marketing becomes the more fees you will have to pay. You are essentially being penalized for your own successful marketing efforts! Is this fair?The Technology AvailableThere are new advanced online reservation systems available. These systems harness all of the latest technology from wireless enabled reservations and online availability grids to customized look and feel, resulting in a seamless booking experience for your clients! ConclusionFor a total solution linking to your front desk property management software, Digital Rez is the answer. Our advanced Front desk system (ROS2006) links directly to our onli ne reservation software (RezRobot) for real time online reservations. This recently enhanced system incorporates the latest technology and industry advancements, from online availability grids to wireless enabled reservations with a customized look and feel.The cost is a simple flat rate of 2 unit night stays per month, whether you have 25 or 225 bookings a month from your website. There are no double entry nightmares and more importantly the reservation money is accepted and controlled by you from day one, bringing your cash flow forward months in many cases. Visit /newsletters for more Reservation software for campground,Bed and Breakfast Reservations Woes are a Thing of the Past!,As a business owner in this increasingly competitive market you must honestly answer some hard questions, do the math and then find the solution that best fits your needs... It just makes sense!
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