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Hopefully a long summer is almost upon us, and it's the
time of year most of us are thinking of the hot lazy days
and that cool plunge in the pool. This has never been truer
for hotels and the leisure sector, where everyone's hoping
that this year will see significant improvements over the
disastrous last few years with the dramatic ups and downs
of BSE, Foot and Mouth, and September 11th. I should imagine
that every hotel in the UK has all their fingers crossed.
With September 11th still fresh in everyone's minds it is
difficult to predict what the next few months will bring.
So far the situation is very patchy with figures showing a
reduction in foreign visitors, particularly Americans, but
in some sectors this is more than compensated by UK residents
staying here. With the current uncertainty and changes in
holiday and business patterns, hotels are exploring every
avenue to promote their businesses.
It seems most have chanced a toe into the shark infested waters
of e-business, hoping they will not loose a leg before they
take the metaphorical plunge.
Government initiatives to e-enable Britain such as the recently
announced England.net, the Government appointed on-line tourism
network, overseeing the 10 Regional Tourist Boards and English
Tourism Council were finally implemented in early March. The
conclusions and solutions reached will take some time to filter
through to the hotels on the ground. In the mean time hotels
are looking at themselves and the private sector to produce
interim solutions.
However, the problem is - how best to cast your net?
"No
business can rely on fate for its future…"
The private sector is awash with 'virtual travel agents'
who will accept hotel rooms and sell these for a commission.
Besides the lost profit, the major limiting factors are that
double bookings are common (when the hotel forgets to remove
rooms they have sold) and it's not the hotels website that
is doing the promoting.
Getting your website seen and being able to sell real time
availability without any crippling commissions is where LeisureGateway.com
owned by Creative Data Concepts Ltd comes in.
Andrew Roberts F.D. "We have over 100,000
leisure providers in our database all with a free entry, everything
from hotels and B&B's to restaurants and theatres. We
are concentrating on the hospitality sector by providing links
from Leisure Gateway that drives traffic directly to hotels
websites. We have an on-line booking system called WIRE that
hotels use to control and display their availability. It receives
bookings in real time from their website and automatically
adjusts the colour code if appropriate. All the hotel needs
is a computer with a modem and the system works automatically.
The hotel can then control 100% of their rooms 100% of the
time.
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"We have
just completed the integration with the Welcome 21 reservation
system. This provides seamless integration and control over
inventory both off-line and on the web."
Welcome Computers Ltd. based in Spratton is one of the countries
leading reservation system providers.
Nick Chudley M.D of Welcome Computers has been the
driving force behind this Strategic Alliance "We have
a rising demand from our users to provide integrated on-line
transactions from our Welcome 21 reservation system. Our collaboration
with CDC brings a number of advantages to our clients, such
as web links and bookings without the 10% plus commissions
they would normally pay. This makes for more prospects, considerable
savings as well as greater control."
The Internet offers a valuable addition to the armoury of
a hotel's marketing portfolio. Internet business in general
has been rising at over 200% per annum, with the leisure sector
making tremendous leaps, only being piped for top slot by
sex and gambling. It may require a little effort and education,
but there is no doubt that if used wisely e-business offers
an affordable and achievable method for hotels to gain customers
and control their businesses.
Brian McEwan Marketing Director of CDC has provided
consultancy and marketing solutions for most of the major
hospitality organisations. "To the Marriotts and Hiltons
of this world, probably the most important aspects of their
businesses are Brand Value and the client database. With these
they can control their business. The leisure and hospitality
sector is highly prone to external fluctuations. No business
can rely on fate for its future and expect to prosper. By
using the very latest technology, we believe we are the first
company to provide an affordable means for smaller hotels
to partially emulate what the larger groups have done for
years, such as making purchasing quick and easy, capturing
client data and target marketing we're providing the tools
and control to reduce the fickleness their business sector
is subject to."
The stand alone WIRE product is primarily designed for hotels
without a reservation system although there are integration
options available into some hotels existing systems. The Welcome
Reservation system with integrated WIRE is a turnkey solution
providing complete control and flexibility for your business.
The development of no-commission portals such as Leisure
Gateway.com that bring client traffic directly to your web
site can only help. With the addition of e-business solutions
such as the WIRE product and the Welcome 21 reservation system
it makes taking the plunge into the e-business waters a pleasure
rather than a shock, and you certainly won't loose an arm
or a leg.
For further information contact;
Creative Data Concepts on 0871 2200 199
e-mail info@cdc.uk.net
Welcome Computer Systems on 0845 458 2121
e-mail info@welcome21.co.uk
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