Travel technology consultancy Genesys says the industry has seen a considerable growth in the number of technology suppliers providing channel management solutions.

Published: 02 Feb 2011

Travel technology consultancy Genesys says the industry has seen a considerable growth in the number of technology suppliers providing channel management solutions.

The UK-based company has highlighted that channel management continues to be a top issue for hotels.

“Channel management has become a mainstream issue for hotels. As more and more online distribution channels have been coming on-stream, such as the growing number of bedbanks and online travel agents, hotels have been faced with the issue of where best to place their limited bedstock. If a hotel attempts to distribute its bedstock via poorly performing channels, it runs the risk of being left with empty rooms or having to drastically reduce its room rates. With so many channels now available, it is difficult for a hotel to know which way to turn,” said Paul Richer, Senior Partner, Genesys.

In its latest Hotel Reservations and Distribution Technology Review, the company has mentioned that the industry now has a new breed of technology suppliers that can automate the task of channel management.

These new entrants into the hotel technology marketplace are using the latest connectivity techniques to allow hotels to control multiple channels via a single interface.

Richer added, “Selling online via multiple distriubution channels need no longer be a fraught exercise. Hotels now have a choice of several channel management services. Hotels can see what channels these services connect through and choose the service that will work best for their particular property. Channel management means that hotels no longer need to sub-divide their bedstock across many channels but can simply provide a single set of availability to the channel management service.”

Another trend that hotels are latching onto is dynamic packaging.

Richer explained, “Previously, the province of tour operators, hotels are beginning to realise that there is money to be made in dynamic packaging.”

Some online reservation systems now give hotels the option to sell additional services such as spa services and tee times with the room booking.

Channel management tools definitely help the average hotelier to play with multiple distribution platforms while maintaining rate and inventory integrity to end consumers.

Still, a section of the industry says the bigger chains however probably don't see it as a long term solution as they have the capability of building direct connectivity with most major OTAs.