How smart hotel software solutions increase direct bookings and discovery

In this article, we will explore how you can separate from Online Travel Agency, or OTA, competitors to drive potential guests to your website without paying high commission fees and losing out on direct profits, as well as looking at 7 ways smart discovery and booking platforms can help solve your revenue challenges. At Access Hospitality, we design behind the scenes smart software solutions, powered by AI integrations, to drive your direct bookings, increase profits and create unforgettable guest experiences. 

Traditional booking systems have not had the best reputation when it comes to smooth and simple experiences for guests. Fragmented and disconnected software can cause guests to abandon bookings and look elsewhere for their exclusive deals. That’s where OTAs come in, as they provide online lookers with more desirable offers, better navigation and price comparisons so they get the best deal. But how can smart hotel software change this?  

Instead of driving guests away with outdated booking software that is not user friendly, smart hotel software integrations can help your online presence become more enticing for guests by using personalised features, exclusive offers and loyalty schemes. This helps your online visitors choose you over the OTA competitor, so you can build stronger guest relationships that they cannot. With an intelligent booking engine, the information will feed into your wider hotel management platform so that you are always in control of your online presence and direct traffic.  

With those points in mind, let’s take a look at the 7 main ways you can overcome your revenue and direct booking challenges with simple, smart software solutions.  

1. Immediately capture guests at the discovery phase

Using smart booking engines and channel managers will help you minimise abandoned bookings and steer online lookers to your site directly, without having to worry about OTA sites getting there first.  

2. Eliminate booking abandonment

Integrating a smart booking engine enables you to simplify the booking process and improve your website navigation for guests so that they are more inclined to stay on your site and complete their purchase.  

3. Maximise average booking value

Smart dynamic pricing tools, upselling strategies and pricing techniques help guests see what other amenities they can add onto their stay. This can be controlled by your RMS and digital checking-in software to maximise your direct booking values.

4. Convert browsers into bookers

Capture your online audience with personalised offerings they cannot refuse using AI-powered add-ons and customised search results that give them control over their booking journey.  

5. Build guest loyalty from first booking

Drive your loyalty programmes with smart CRM software that analyses your guest preferences and behaviours so you can recommend exclusive rewards to increase return stays.  

6. Optimise pricing to increase revenue

Real-time pricing, AI forecasting and competitor rate analysis will help you see the bigger picture for setting prices during seasonal periods to avoid lost revenue. Smart pricing software will communicate with your PMS, CRS and channel managers to streamline updates across your business.  

7. Transform hesitant guests with personalised retargeting

Identify lookers who viewed specific rooms, rates or abandoned their booking to create dynamic retargeting ads or email prompts to offer a further discount or exclusive package deal. This will increase your presence for online lookers and give you a higher chance of completed bookings.  

Enticing new guests and capturing direct bookings has always been a challenge, but the influence of AI is now making its mark in streamlining booking engines to help you make informed decisions on trends and guest browsing behaviours. Around 63% of UK travellers are now open to using AI tools for planning, booking and experiencing their hotel stay, with over 90% engagement expected among Gen Z. This shows that AI is a big part of the hotel booking experience and will continue to reshape the landscape of the hotel industry.  

By using real-time analytics and compiling guest data, you have more freedom to target guests with exclusive offers, personalised marketing strategies and competitive rates to maximise your direct bookings. Smart channel manager software uses AI integrations to provide real-time rate parity across OTAs and metasearch platforms so you can capture online lookers when they are searching for the best deal. AI is now giving the hotel industry more opportunities to streamline their hotel discovery with deeper data insights, predictive trends and personalisation to increase direct bookings.  

Capturing guests, driving direct bookings and competing with OTAs can be a challenge if you do not have the right smart hotel software in place behind the scenes. The first point of contact for many modern travellers is your online presence, so making this enticing and efficient will put you in the best position to build guest relationships and keep them coming back.  

At Access Hospitality, we design hotel software that works behind the scenes to create seamless guest experiences that drive direct bookings and boost your hotel discovery. With our smart booking engines, PMS, RMS and CRM software, we help put your hotel in the spotlight to maximise your revenue and drive long-term success.