HotelREZ, a global hotel representation company providing hotel GDS and internet distribution, revenue, sales, and marketing support to more than 1,000 independent hotels and small groups of hotels launched its booking engine in the UAE last year and since then across the region. The company provides hotels with a set of web-based tools, designed to help them simplify the process of distributing rates, inventory and content to a wide range of booking channels. From one easy to use interface, hotels are able to control distribution to the GDS, major internet channels, as well as their hotel’s own website, using REZbooker 3.0 online hotel booking engine. Mark Lewis, CEO tells us more about their popular REZbooker 3.0 product.
What kind of reach does HotelREZ have today – in the international and the Middle East market?
70 per cent of HotelREZ’s portfolio is in Europe, with the UK making up 44 per cent of HotelREZ’s portfolio and Italy 10 per cent. Outside of Europe, 15 per cent of the HotelREZ portfolio is based in the wider Middle East, including UAE, Tunisia and Turkey, five per cent of hotels are in Africa (mainly South Africa) and 10 per cent are in Asia Pacific.
What are the services provided by HotelREZ? Are there plans to launch any new services?
In addition to our main services of Distribution, Revenue, Sales and Marketing support, HotelREZ has a number of other products that are available to support hotels to grow their revenues, for example REZBooker and REZanalyst. HotelREZ has recently launched REZbooker 3.0, one of the industry’s newest and most feature rich booking engines in the market today. REZbooker 3.0 is designed to help independent hotels and small chains convert online shoppers to hotel guests, delivering real-time confirmed reservations.
It is available in 16 languages, multiple currencies, seamlessly integrates with a hotel’s website design and is packed full of configuration options, providing hotels with total flexibility and control.
What is generally the state of the reservation/ revenue management systems in hotels in the region today?
It has been said that a Central Reservation System (CRS) can make or break a hotel chain and in these ever more challenging times, it is imperative to have the right partner. Within the Middle East, the hotel industry is dominated by the larger brands and the independent or local brands need to ensure they build an infrastructure that mirrors the brands to remain competitive. Hotels began to do this through technology partners but now ever more recognize the need for full service representation companies, offering comprehensive sales, marketing and distribution.
More than ever, hotels are also looking to Yield manage effectively, leading to a rise of key Yield Management system where the right rates can be sold. Most of all, the state for Middle East rests on the need to convert business, something HotelREZ is now responding to with its new REZbooker 3.0 Booking engine focused on sales and launched in the region in Jan. We have kick-started with seven signings in the region in January and more in February.
How successful has the HotelRez.net booking engine been?
REZbooker 3.0 launch has been phenomenal. We have been inundated with requests for us to implement new booking engines, and customers have been calling in from around the world. The message of our new booking engine has spread very quickly. We have had hotels choose to move to REZbooker 3.0 from competitor booking engines and have seen their conversion rates increase along with their revenue per booking.
What are the biggest challenges facing the industry today and what puts HotelREZ ahead of the competition?
The current economic climate means that hotels, large or small need to work with the right partners to drive incremental income to them whilst controlling costs. Making the right decision on suppliers is key; technology needs to be humanized so that it is able to be understood fully at all levels of the organisation in order to drive the optimal benefits to hotels. Education and an entrepreneurial approach to using technology deployed are key to success. HotelREZ believe in tailoring its solutions to hotels to give the maximum competitive advantage, we take pride in the level of detailed training we offer to enable our members to fully embrace the technology we provide so they are able to take a best in class product to generate the best possible result.
We are in the business to drive value to our members, to achieve their financial goals and to reduce their cost base as far as possible, whilst giving them every possible chance to achieve their business objectives. Partnership is crucial.