Paraty Tech, a leader in technology solutions for the hospitality industry, and Spazious, a group and event booking and management platform, today announced a strategic alliance to offer hotels a group and event booking engine.

This partnership will allow hotels around the world to access Spazious' cutting-edge technology in conjunction with Paraty's booking engine and other solutions, greatly simplifying their daily operations.

Spazious automates the reservation and group management process from initial request to final confirmation, reducing manual work and eliminating errors, freeing hotel staff to focus on more important tasks. With this partnership, hotels will be able to:

• Receive all group and event requests centrally.


• Check room and event space availability in real-time.


• Create immersive 3D visualizations of future events.


• Confirm reservations and securely manage payments.


• Access detailed reports on group and event performance.

Thanks to the merger of both technologies, the Paraty Tech API will feed the Spazious platform at the pricing level, favoring and improving the automation of processes related to payment methods, download of reservations, etc.

In addition to the aforementioned benefits, hotels will have access to preferential rates when contracting both package solutions.

Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech, said, “We are excited to partner with Spazious to offer our customers a complete group and event management solution. This partnership will allow us to offer hotels state-of-the-art technology that will help them improve efficiency, increase revenue and provide a better experience for their guests”.

For his part, Antonio Batanero, CEO of Spazious, added: “We are very excited about this partnership with Paraty Tech. This collaboration will allow us to reach a greater number of hotels and help them make the most of our solutions for digitizing the event and group business”.

About Paraty Tech

Paraty Tech helps hotels improve their direct sales by developing customized solutions and tools. Headquartered in Malaga (Spain), with offices in Albufeira (Portugal) and Cancun (Mexico), and sales offices in Colombia and the USA, Paraty Tech works with more than 3,000 hotels worldwide that already benefit from its technology, which includes products such as a booking engine, web design, revenue management tools, online marketing, connectivity and metasearch management, loyalty programs, and its own call center, among others.

About Spazious

Spazious is a solution for booking and managing events and groups in hotels. The company offers a state-of-the-art booking engine that allows hotels to centrally manage all of their group and event requests, as well as a 3D event simulator that allows them to generate virtual tours of the different facilities that the hotel offers to its clients. Spazious is headquartered in Miami, USA, with offices in Madrid and Cancun.

Contact us:
Paraty Tech:
Daniel Romero | dromero@paratytech.com

Spazious
Carmen Benitez | carmen@spazious.com

At Paraty Tech, together with our partners SiteMinder, Duetto and Sojern , we are pleased to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who made possible the resounding success of our recent Roadshow through Mexico HIT' 24: Hotels. Insights. Technology. The training sessions for hoteliers, which took place in Cancun on May 20, 2024, Mexico City on May 21, 2024 and Los Cabos on May 23, 2024, exceeded all our expectations thanks to the active participation and enthusiasm of more than 50 hoteliers in each destination.

We want to extend our deep gratitude to the registered hoteliers and attendees who joined us on these days. Their interest and commitment to continuous improvement and innovation in the hotel industry are a true driving force for all of us. Your questions, comments and participation in the debate tables were crucial for the enrichment of these days and for the creation of a space for learning and mutual collaboration.

We especially thank the main Hotel Associations of each destination and the prominent hoteliers who contributed their valuable experience and knowledge to the discussion tables. Their collaboration not only raised the quality of the interventions, but also strengthened ties within the hotel community.

Short presentations presented by spokespersons from Paraty Tech, SiteMinder, Duetto and Sojern addressed key topics and offered innovative solutions to current sector challenges. The positive feedback we have received fills us with satisfaction and motivates us to continue with this initiative.

The extraordinary reception of this Roadshow 2024 prompts us to enthusiastically announce that next year we will celebrate the fourth edition of this event . We are committed to continuing to provide a space where hospitality professionals can learn, share experiences and find new ways to improve their operations and strategies.

Thank you once again to everyone who made this success possible. We hope to have your presence and participation in the next edition, where we will continue working together for the growth and development of the hotel industry in Mexico.

Did you know that in certain hotel establishments, problems with the payment gateway are responsible for up to 40% of bookings being abandoned in the last step of the process? Fortunately, not all hotels suffer to the same extent the impact of blockages that arise at the very moment of the transaction, but you should always keep in mind that each market has its preferred payment methodology and your website must be prepared to meet that of each traveler profile you receive.

In a sector as competitive as the hotel industry, every aspect of the future guest's experience plays a decisive role in their decision making. From the first impression made by any of your channels, when they are still immersed in preliminary searches and queries, to the last step of the purchasing process, when they are already determined to stay at your hotel, without forgetting the post-stay relationship.

Considering how expensive it is in every way to get a user this far, don't you think it would be a shame to throw it all away because of inconveniences related to international payments, online payment blockages, not supporting a certain payment method or the existence of a pre-set limit on the credit or debit card set by the bank?

Even if the "fault" is not yours, there is a high probability that the reservation will be lost forever. This is why it is essential that you have the means to keep the customer a little longer, to give him a second chance to finish what he started, and to prevent him from changing his mind and choosing another channel to the detriment of the direct one.

Payment methods can also help you generate positive differentials with other channels and, in general, taking care of and optimizing every aspect related to this area will not only take trust, security perception and guest experience to another level, favoring their loyalty, but will also contribute to boosting direct sales and have a direct impact on your bottom line.

What makes a user leave your site?

This is a question you probably ask yourself often. The truth is that there are many reasons, and knowing them is crucial to gradually reducing them:

• A common cause is that the user has only logged in for a quick query (find the phone number, find out if the pool is open, gossip photos, etc.).


• Lack of availability (no desired occupancy, no rates, stay restrictions, etc.) is another common reason. Redirects of all kinds are very effective in avoiding this and approaching the concept of non-availability equal to zero.


• Another common reason is the need to compare prices with other channels (OTAs, metasearch engines, etc.). Having a price comparator as part of the process, such as Rate Check, minimizes abandonment.


• Similarly, a site that is not well structured in terms of content and information architecture, that does not have a well-designed browsing experience, or that does not convey security, will also cause the user to bounce.


• Finally, the cause that concerns us the most, and perhaps the most serious because of the moment in which it occurs: problems at the time of payment.

Well aware of this scenario, at Paraty Tech we strive to offer innovative solutions to reduce leakage points and minimize their impact, with two fundamental objectives: to improve the conversion rate and build customer loyalty.

Latest: Payment error popup

However, this may not be enough, and with one of our recent launches, we added a new variable to the formula: the payment error popup. What does it consist of? Basically, it consists of offering the user different alternatives to try to prevent a payment error from becoming a dead end.

How does it work?

Sometimes simplicity is the key to the effectiveness of certain solutions. This is undoubtedly the case of the new functionality that concerns us, and it is that with two simple popups, 100% configurable from our Paraty Boosters tool, the number of reservations lost in the last step of the process is drastically reduced. How does it work? We will explain it to you below:

• The user reaches the final step, enters the payment information, and clicks the button to pay and complete the reservation.


• For one of the reasons listed above, the payment fails. Instead of the typical standard gateway message informing him that an error has occurred and encouraging him to contact his bank if the problem persists, the first popup appears, offering him two options:
  
  • Try again using the same payment method
  
  
  • Try a different payment method
  
  
• If the error is repeated, the same pop-up will appear again. This will continue until you have tried more than three times. At that point, the second warning pop-up will appear, informing the user that it is no longer possible to continue trying. Otherwise, the user is informed that he/she will receive a pre-booking email with a direct link to continue the process later.


• The offer sent by email will be valid for 24 hours and will include all the reservation details, an assigned pre-locator and a link for the user to complete the reservation at any time. In this way, we eliminate the possibility of the client resorting to other ways to make a reservation. In addition, it should be noted that all the reservations sent are accessible through the manager, in case you want to follow up on them or the ones you are most interested in.

Conclusions: Collection security is critical

Ensuring collections is critical. Ensuring that the payment process does not become a pain point is critical. Payment methods are not a trivial matter. Each market and segment has its own preferences, and your official website's booking engine must be up to the task.

As a hotelier, you should of course know these preferences, but also be more proactive in hiring and implementing more payment methods, and not be satisfied with the gateway provided by your bank, without exploring other more modern options with a more international vocation, such as Stripe, Paynopain, Ayden, etc.

In Paraty Tech we have in-house developments that facilitate this work, and partners that allow us to go where we cannot go by ourselves... Currently, we are integrated with more than 50 payment platforms, with which we are already working to cover this area as much as possible:

• Pay directly at the hotel


• Credit/Debit Card


• Bank Transfer


• POS & Payment Gateway


• Over 50 payment platforms


• Bizum


• Installment Payments


• Paraty e-payments

As always, if you are interested in activating this new functionality, simply contact your account. In the meantime, we will do our best to continue to innovate and improve our systems to provide the best possible experience for our customers and help our hotel partners succeed in an increasingly competitive market. In fact, although we do not yet have an official launch date, we would like to take this opportunity to inform you that our Business Intelligence will soon reflect bounces in the payment gateway, including the reasons why they occurred.

The first consequences of the entry into force of the regulatory framework known as DMA (Digital Markets Act) , proposed by the European Union, with the aim of limiting the power of large technology platforms, and which led to the designation of the so-called Gatekeepers (Alphabet , Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft), are already beginning to become evident.

And Google has surprised us again with the announcement of the discontinuation in the Google Hotel Ads metasearch engine of the Stay Commission and Conversion Commission bidding strategies, which must now be converted into Objective ROAS (or Improved CPC) campaigns and/or o Maximum Performance Campaigns for Travel Objectives.

This measure comes at a time when, according to data provided by the World Tourism Organization ( UNWTO ), more than 88% of international tourism had recovered prior to the Pandemic, and in which Google Hotel Ads stands as the most used metasearch engine , being used by around 75% of travelers, according to the specialized sector media Hosteltur.

A before and after that affects hotels

Google assures that this measure responds to the changes that the sector will experience this year, as a consequence of the aforementioned DMA, such as the disappearance of third-party cookies . But what does it mean for the hotel sector?

Two of the main bidding models that hotels have been using until now are:

• Commission per Stay: in the Commission per Stay model, the hotel paid the agreed commission only if the reservation was made effective, that is, no commission was paid if the reservation was canceled.


• Commission per Conversion: on the contrary, in the Commission per Conversion model, the hotel paid the commission when the reservation became effective, regardless of whether it was subsequently canceled.

The point is that both bidding models require the famous third-party cookies and travelers' information (a circumstance that clashes head-on with the guidelines on data protection and privacy) to determine, for example, when they have stayed at a hotel a specific client and thus be able to correctly measure commissions. Hence its deletion and the imposition of this very delicate change, which requires exhaustive monitoring of the performance of the campaigns after their migration.

As always, there are already deadlines to complete each of the phases involved in this process:

• February 20, 2025: The current commission model will remain in use for new hotels until February 20, after which date it will no longer be available for new campaigns.


• November 30, 2025: Stay commission reconciliation will be offered for 9 months after deactivation, until November 30, 2025. If advertisers do not reconcile, they will be charged for all conversions they received during the period billing.

So how are you going to proceed?

The model that will replace the current model will be CPC with ROAS objective and Maximum Performance campaigns for travel objectives will also continue to gain ground. Likewise, these will coexist with the traditional CPC (Cost per Click) model which, among other things, is useful to achieve visibility in search results on Google Maps.

Therefore, the most sensible thing to do to adapt to this new situation without generating too much friction is to try the CPC model. Always keeping an eye on October 31 , the date on which the bidding model will have to have been changed in all campaigns to ensure that they continue to function normally after discontinuation.

Although it may be a discouraging panorama, at the same time it represents an opportunity for hotels to refine their advertising strategy and gradually adapt to the evolution of the rules of the game of the new electronic commerce. Proactivity will be essential to prosper in the hospitality industry , since it is a tremendously competitive sector.

What are we doing at Paraty Tech?

As always, we try to anticipate these types of situations to minimize their impact and avoid greater evils. Therefore, for now, the steps we are already taking to promote a successful migration from CPA to CPC in Google Hotel Ads are:

1. Evaluate performance: Analyzing the most important metrics to understand how the campaign is performing.


2. Set objectives: by controlling the CPC, we establish performance objectives, depending on whether we are looking for more visibility, profitability or both.


3. Test: Testing with the CPC bidding model before full migration.


4. Optimize the bidding strategy: once the migration to CPC is complete, adjust the bidding strategy to achieve the desired objective.


5. Constantly measure and optimize: comparing key metrics with the previous CPA model to evaluate the success of the migration.

With these steps and a data-centric approach, we will help our clients in an effective migration from CPA model to CPC model in GHA. In any case, as always, if you need more information on how to get the most out of your investment in CPC for Google Hotel Ads, do not hesitate to contact us.

2023 came to an end. And, as usual, we take advantage of the first days of 2024, before the definitive starting signal that represents the end of the Christmas holidays, to review, take stock, look back and, with perspective, once again identify reasons to feel very proud of all the work done, the challenges overcome and the countless milestones we have celebrated.

From event to event

The year began and ended with the first and unavoidable event of the season occupying our minds. And after some complicated editions, we returned to Fitur as exhibitors . With renewed enthusiasm, the agenda is full and the stand is full of colleagues, friends, collaborators and clients, sharing smiles and melting into hugs. We were so looking forward to a fair like the ones before!

Well aware that in-person events were back at 100%, our commitment to them has been stronger (in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia or the United Kingdom) and varied (we have acted as organizers, hosts, speakers, sponsors, exhibitors and attendees) than ever. From training and training, to parties and cocktails, through fairs and conferences of various kinds.

For example, in March we escaped the Spanish pre-spring cold to head to the Mexican heat, where we once again organized our traditional Roadshow , for which we had, on this occasion, the collaboration of Asksuite and Duetto. Under the title "TTT: Trendy Tech Tips '23", the event consisted of a series of free training and networking coffee-break sessions exclusively for hoteliers that took place in different key cities in the country, such as Cancún, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta , and ended up becoming the prelude to one of the most important fairs in the destination, Tianguis Turístico . Precisely taking advantage of our attendance at the latter, we decided to go a little further by offering a satellite party in style: Hotel Dreams Travel Tech Party . Drinks, canapés, music, private security, gifts and the best atmosphere among professional colleagues.

The micro-events that make up our roadshows have already been confirmed as a very well received format and everything indicates that they are here to stay. In fact, we had no problem replicating the same formula, with a different name, in Spain (we brought DISHOT to Mallorca, Tenerife and Gran Canaria), Portugal (with Bedsrevenue, Lisbon, Algarve and Oporto enjoyed Revenue for Breakfast) and Andorra (country where we celebrate Hoteltrends, accompanying Hotelverse).

This year, after the opening of our commercial delegation in Colombia , we will probably decide to hit the road in this country as well. And, giving continuity to our internationalization strategy, the incorporation of Alejandra Hernández as Business Development Manager last August, brought new blood to Latin American territory, taking us to such important events as Search4, ExpoCotelco and TravelExpo.

Sharing knowledge with hoteliers

Our blog has also continued from strength to strength, feeding non-stop on the opinions and knowledge of all our experts, growing both in number of readers and in pages read. Contents that we have combined with others intended exclusively for specialized media in the sector. The truth is that we haven't stopped writing!

From articles to news, through whitepapers, success stories or guides, we have touched on all the topics: collecting the main trends in digital marketing , listing the benefits of SEO for hotels, explaining the types of distribution , remembering the growth of the voice , breaking myths such as price parity , enabling pioneering functionalities such as the sale of experiences at origin , detecting new strategies from OTAs such as Atrápalo , demonstrating the effectiveness of our work to increase direct sales of hotel chains such as Park Royal Hotels & Resorts, the successes of clients like Hotansa or the usefulness of our solutions for unique hotels like El Llorenç, creating interactive checklists with which to make sure you make the most of sales peaks like Black Friday , and even coining new terms, like the one with the technological smile .

And speaking of smiles, we have also had time to air our always welcome achievements and recognitions to the four winds. A plus that pushes us to continue giving our all in our work and reminds us that we are still on the right path. We highlight here certain milestones, such as Paraty Tech's meritorious distinction as a Google Premier Partner , a badge that only 3% of marketing agencies obtain, or the company's inclusion in the ranking of the 40 most innovative companies in the tourism sector , according to Sergestur.

Alliances as a way to grow

If at the time we refer to 2023 as the year of events, 2024 is called to be the year of strategic alliances, a field that we intend to maximize. The first step has been the appointment of Daniel Romero as director of strategic alliances, but it will not be the only one. In fact, this new direction comes to give continuity, organize and reinforce our firm determination to bet on partnerships as a way of growth.

In fact, recapitulating the agreements reached over the last few months, the truth is that they are many and very interesting. Good proof of this is our return to the Hotel Technology Institute with Ring2Travel or our collaboration with the FEHM , but also the integrations we have undertaken and periodic collaborations with top-level players, such as Duetto , Flexmyroom , BeSafe and PortAventura World . In particular, the latter has led Paraty Tech to become the first booking engine to incorporate this add-on that offers hotels in the area the possibility that users of its official website can purchase tickets to visit any of them. the three theme parks offered by the resort, with immediate confirmation, at the time you reserve your accommodation.

Be where the hoteliers are

If in 2022 growth was the word that best summarized our journey (new markets, notable increase in colleagues and substantial increase in clients), in 2023 it could be presence. We have given everything to be present where hoteliers have asked us. Presence, also, in our offices. After the complicated years of the Pandemic, we have once again fully enjoyed unity, work and team activities , managing to enhance the feeling of belonging and expand the Paraty DNA. Presence, finally, in new countries and markets, because in the same way that our technology does not understand accommodation typologies, it does not understand borders either. By the way, next destination… USA!

On behalf of the entire Paraty Tech team,happy holidays and happy new year .

On Friday we returned from Mallorca, where we attended the XIX Congress of Spanish Hoteliers organized by the CEHAT in collaboration with the FEHM, with a good taste in our mouths, the feeling that there is still much to do and a new concept under our arm, the technological smile , coined by Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech, during one of her interventions.

There is a very useful exercise that is asked of telephone agents. It consists of smiling before starting to speak and trying to start a conversation without blurring said smile from their faces. Many are surprised to discover that this mere gesture, whether intended or not, favors the adoption of a friendlier tone that, despite the physical distance, their interlocutor is able to perceive. You can try it.

When Gina thought about the technological smile, she did what many people would do today: ask Chat GPT. She was clear about what this concept, arising from real intelligence, from her human intelligence, meant. But perhaps the artificial could help to finish defining it. Doing so served three things:

• Note again that Chat GPT still does not have all the answers . With its head down, the tool admitted not knowing the term, claiming in its defense that it could be due to the fact that it is only updated until 2022.
• Once again confirm its enormous potential in terms of association, synthesis and interpretation . Although he claimed to be unaware of this expression, he ventured to offer a meaning that denoted a high understanding of the intention behind the metaphorical invention. Gina created it, yes, but she wouldn't have known how to define it better than Chat GPT.
• Once again confirm his extraordinary speed of learning . To write this article, I asked Chat GPT again about the meaning of technological smile, just a few hours after Gina had done so. On this occasion, he ignored in his response the fragment that alluded to his updating period and answered with confidence and vehemence, as if he had known the concept since the beginning of his short life (although, in honor of the truth, he returned a different result depending on how the question is asked).

Connecting successfully: communication, marketing and customer experience

But then, what is the technological smile in the hotel sector? Patience, we'll get to that now. Gina had the pleasure of participating in the round table "Connecting successfully: communication, marketing and customer experience." Moderated by Juan Daniel Núñez , editor of Smart Travel News, and made up of a fairly random panel, a priori it gave the sensation of be more a kind of catch-all of professionals from the most diverse fields, than a properly orchestrated debate: Marta Gutiérrez, VP & CEO of Ogilvy, Javier Guadiana, CEO & founder of Reason Why, Andreu Genestra, Michelin Star chef, and Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech. Let's see what came out of there... However, in the end, life's surprises, it ended up being one of the most dynamic, entertaining, educational and lively events of the entire congress program. shots at the government, another whipping the hoteliers, a third patting them on the back to compensate, and the fourth in discord, adding firewood to fan the flame of all these recently lit bonfires. Marta told how, after having stayed countless times in the same hotel for years for work reasons, she was surprised, almost annoyed, that they had never welcomed her and received her by name. A warmth that she would have appreciated after fifteen hours on a plane, tired and dirty, which is how she used to reach her destination.

For his part, Javier opposed this position, claiming that, personally, he preferred to avoid these gestures and formalities, because in a situation like the one described, what he wants is to avoid the reception and go directly to the room to lie down.

Knowledge of the guest and hyper personalization, storytelling, differential value proposition, etc. were some of the topics addressed. But in front of an eminently hotel audience, only Gina was playing at home, and well, that's just getting noticed, what do you want me to tell you. In other words, the technological smile that he outlined as soon as he started, just as happens with the human one, ended up infecting an audience that he knew how to win over from minute one.

About the XIX Congress of Spanish Hoteliers

Good organization, large attendance, networking and a presenter with a very good attitude and many tables, livening up the event and linking all the ingredients of a slow-cooked meeting, and in which beyond the hypothetical direct return that is expected of any type investment, you simply had to be there. The best, the good vibes between colleagues and competitors in the sector, being able to finally put a face to many of the people behind our daily emails, and see the good health that the industry enjoys. hospitality. The worst thing is to leave there with the feeling that, although big and important changes are expected in the very short term, nothing truly groundbreaking and innovative has been said at these meetings, nothing that both the hoteliers and their suppliers do not already know, which apply to a greater or lesser extent. Well, except for that new concept of a technological smile, of course. It's a joke…

It may be because it is my natural field of operations and, in the end, we all end up sweeping home, but the conclusion I come to is that there seems to be a communication problem on both sides of the board and that, perhaps, the key is not It is no longer so much about what to say, nor about repeating yourself like aioli, but rather about how to say it, about finding new formulas. Will language be the lever that gives the hotelier that little push so that he ends up winning the game in that area of intermediation that takes away so much and seems to care so little at times, and which he uses more out of inertia than out of necessity? ?

Technological smile from ear to ear

But then, now, what the hell is that technological smile? Well, it is nothing more than a concept that refers to the feeling of pleasure that we experience when interacting with well-designed and friendly technologies. A concept that is related to the idea that technology can help improve the quality of life, generate positive experiences, and help guests connect better with the accommodation they choose.

That is precisely what we aspire to at Party Tech. To devise, develop and implement increasingly friendly solutions, technological smiles from ear to ear that, in turn, awaken very human smiles in our clients and their guests. And so we hope to go, once and for all, from accepting the popular Mallorcan saying "I'll tell you things", to something much more effective and proactive: we are going to do things.

The journey of El Llorenç was born in September 2019 with a very clear idea: to create experiences through which its guests could feel and live the most authentic history, culture and gastronomy of the island of Palma de Mallorca. With 33 rooms, this boutique hotel is much more than just a hotel. It is a full-fledged host, whose aim is to make guests feel the true essence of Mallorca.

Paradoxically, its virtue is also the source of the problem. For the same reasons, its distribution is atypical for the destination and, therefore, parity is difficult to control. It is also not easy to decide who should they compare to and defining its competitive set is complex.

The collaboration project between Price Seeker and El Llorenç is a clear example of our willingness to actively listen to the sector. In this sense, the work of Victoria Vergara, revenue & sales manager of the hotel, has been fundamental in creating a tool tailored to its particular casuistry. New levels of filtering, new sites as a source of data and exclusive functionalities have marked the commitment of this unique boutique hotel to our comprehensive price intelligence platform.

Discover all the details of this Business Case.

Paraty Tech, leader in technological solutions for the hotel industry, is pleased to announce its presence, this time as an exhibiting company, at the prestigious Cancún Travel Mart 2023, where it will take the opportunity to present for the first time the update of one of its most important tools. successful: Call Seeker. Those attending the event, which will take place from October 11 to 13, 2023 at the Iberostar Selection Cancún, will be able to see this and many other new developments first-hand at Stand 522.

The Cancún Travel Mart is an annual event that brings together professionals from the primarily Mexican tourism industry, providing the opportunity to establish contacts, promote products and services, and learn about the latest trends in the travel and tourism industry. Paraty Tech, the booking engine that currently manages the most beds in the Cancun hotel zone, and which has the trust of brands such as Park Royal Hotels & Resorts, Oasis Hotels & Resorts, Sandos, Barceló, Iberostar, Viva Hotels & Resorts and Wyndham is enthusiastic about this new appearance at the event, as stated by Gina Matheis, CEO of the company:

"Returning to Cancún Travel Mart is a clear symptom of the good evolution of our commercial relations in the country, where we have felt very supported from the first moment, and we are convinced that our ability to continue adding value to the hotels in this destination booming tourism".

Call Seeker 2.0: The definitive tool for hotel call centers

One of the highlights of Paraty Tech's participation at Cancun Travel Mart 2023 will be the presentation of Call Seeker 2.0, the latest version of its innovative call management tool. Call Seeker 2.0 has been designed to help hotels professionalize their telephone service and provide exceptional service to their guests by optimizing and automating voice channel management.

Since its launch, Call Seeker has become one of the most well-received Paraty Tech solutions in the sector. Not in vain, telephone attention in many cases falls to non-specialized departments, such as reception, which will now be able to save time and make the most of very common tasks, such as sending quotes and generating pre-reservations.

Call Seeker, which is integrated with the hotel's booking engine, payment gateway and loyalty program, already supported these functions, which included additional configuration parameters such as manual price modification and locking, availability and the possibility of ignoring space or minimum stay restrictions, in addition to establishing the validity of the quote/pre-reservation.

Now, the new version includes interesting new features, such as multi-property quotes, integration via API with the popular WhatsApp messaging system, and integration with Paraty E-Payments, the technology company's collection system, as Daniel Sánchez explains, Chief Revenue Officer of Paraty Tech:

"Thanks to the new integrations it is now possible, for example, to send a payment link to the guest directly from the platform itself. Call Seeker 2.0 is the best example of how our solutions improve through active listening to the sector. In fact, Many of its new features respond to specific requests from certain hotels or chains, but they will also serve to benefit many other tourist accommodations."

Visit Paraty Tech Stand 522

Paraty Tech invites all attendees at the meeting to visit their stand, number 522, to obtain more information about how their products and services can help, not only to improve efficiency and the guest experience in your hotel, but also to ultimately boosting the increase in direct reservations and, consequently, reducing intermediation costs. According to the words of Milena Castrillejo, Key Account Manager for Mexico and LATAM, "our participation in the fair represents a unique opportunity to meet again with our clients, but also to connect with industry leaders, establish new alliances and demonstrate that our Technology is a living entity that never stops evolving." For more information and to schedule a meeting during Cancun Travel Mart 2023 with Paraty Tech, you can visit their website or write to them directly by email .

Hotansa, a hotel manager with 18 establishments located in different destinations in Andorra, and Paraty Tech, a company that provides services to hotel establishments with the aim of boosting their direct sales, joined their paths in 2021, when they decided to lay the foundations for a comprehensive collaboration.

The project included the design and development of the official websites of each establishment and the group's corporate page, all of them equipped with the reservation engine of the technology company located in Malaga, and the contracting of other products such as Price Seeker (platform price intelligence), Paraty Digital Suite (digital marketing) and Paraty Metas (metasearch engine management).

In the words of Gloria Paris , commercial director at Hotansa, “every year with Paraty Tech we have improved our numbers.” A statement fully aligned with the results obtained in the 2022-2023 winter season , which reflect an increase of 54.5% in direct reservations compared to the same period of the previous year.

Not in vain, as Daniel Sánchez , CRO at Paraty Tech, comments, “this data is very positive, but it is not the only one to be proud of.” And, thanks to Hotansa's balanced distribution mix, between both entities, combining know-how, technology and efforts, they have achieved that the direct channel , with a 12.5% share , rises to second position in volume of sales, equaling the main OTA and only below the number one national channel in ski travel.

Still, far from settling, "this year our goal is to position direct sales first, to be the first to sell our own product," says Néstor Hernández , marketing manager of the hotel management company, who sees the increase in the budget in digital marketing one of the keys to achieving this, trying to reach an audience located one or two levels lower in the sales funnel, and enhancing the relevance of markets such as the British, French or German.

A strategy that they believe they can afford due to their careful control policy, which has led them to maintain the average cost per direct reservation at very low levels, around 4.2% , and to invest 24% less than estimated in platforms. such as Google Ads and Google Hotel Ads. A situation consistent with the metrics and analytics they manage, which indicate that almost 70% of sales come from organic traffic.

The ultimate goal, Gloria concludes, is none other than “positioning Hotansa as the best option in Andorra, placing the direct channel, our official websites, in first position in sales volume, even if it entails a higher average cost per reservation.”

Let's pull the string a bit. The alerts, fittingly said, went off when Price Seeker detected a series of unexpected price inconsistencies on Atrápalo, causing significant discrepancies between the price offered by this channel and the official website. Our tool was extracting and displaying the price without knowing that, in many cases, the Smart discount was being applied, leading to significant disparities with the direct channel.

Price Seeker now extracts the cheapest price

Already aware of Atrápalo's new program, it is important to know that our Price Seeker price intelligence platform already captures the cheapest price offered by the OTA, whether or not the hotel is included in the Smart program during those dates.

Additionally, we are working to soon indicate if that price includes the Smart discount and, if so, also display the percentage of difference. In other words, the price we capture is the cheapest that the user can end up paying if they register for the program. If not, they will pay more, but never less than the price shown on our platform.

From retail to travel

E-commerce, essentially, involves buying and selling goods and services using the Internet. According to this generic definition, online room reservations, regardless of the channel used, would fall within what is commonly known as e-commerce.

On more than one occasion, we have mentioned that the hotel sector has much to learn and import from others, such as the audiovisual entertainment industry or marketplaces. Leveraging the vast volume of data generated by their users through browsing habits, queries, and acquisitions, these players excel in offering hyper-personalized experiences and deploying aggressive and effective loyalty mechanisms that help retain customers, ensuring future purchases.

Well, it seems that some are already taking note of this modus operandi. This is the case with the new Atrápalo loyalty program. As we have already mentioned, the whistle-blower responsible for alerting us to its existence has been none other than Price Seeker, our hotel price intelligence platform.

What is Smart?

To make sure you understand what it entails, let's establish a brief parallel with Amazon Prime. You may be familiar with it, but if not, let us remind you how it works. Amazon users have access to the Prime subscription, involving an annual fee (currently at 49.90€, though initially, it was half this cost) in exchange for several benefits:

• Fast and free shipping on a wide selection of products
• Free access to Prime Video
• Free access to Prime Reading
• Free access to Prime Music
• Prime Day: an exclusive day of offers for Amazon Prime customers
• Unlimited storage on Amazon Photos

Privileges that not only translate into revenues from the subscription fee, but ultimately invite the consumer to make repetitive purchases on the Amazon marketplace and repeatedly use its complementary services. But most importantly, once the need is created and the customer is caught in their networks, the latter is, in a way, at the mercy of their commercial interests.

Atrápalo's Smart is based on this annual subscription model, and even the cost (50€ per year) bears a suspicious resemblance to Amazon's. In exchange for that amount, the user "can buy with them unlimitedly, benefiting from exclusive discounts during the subscription period" on certain products offered by the OTA and identified with the "Smart" label, such as flights, hotels, flight + hotel.

Atrápalo has been clever in crafting this loyalty program because its legal basis does not specify which products will have the Smart label or the amount of the discount. Therefore, everything indicates that its strategy is designed, on the one hand, to attract repeat customers and, on the other hand, to promote the products they are most interested in selling.

How much are the discounts with Atrápalo's Smart?

This is the million-dollar question, and to answer as accurately as possible, the product being booked and the value of the reservation must be considered because the discount range is very broad.

In the example shown below, a search for Malaga in August, the discounts applied to different hotels range between 6% and 12%. However, for flights and trains, it can go up to 30%.
The subscription to the Smart program is carried out during the same purchasing process, and for future purchases, logging in will be necessary to benefit from the associated discounts. This is similar to the locked rates of loyalty clubs implemented by certain hotels, which are always displayed and can be selected, but when it comes time to complete the reservation, joining the club is necessary to enjoy the best price.
This is how they describe the program on their website:

"The Smart subscription is a new annual subscription service offered by Atrápalo to buy Flights, Hotels, and Flight+Hotel with exclusive discounts for SMART customers. The subscription is contracted simultaneously with the purchase of a flight, train, or hotel. When you buy, we offer you the option to subscribe to Smart and start enjoying exclusive discounts on Flights, Hotels, and Flight+Hotel. By subscribing to our Smart program, you benefit from exclusive discounts on the prices of our flights, trains, and hotels for 12 months. In this way, you can buy with us unlimitedly, benefiting from these discounts during the subscription period."

And here you can check the general terms and conditions of the subscription.

The company has integrated its hotel booking engine with the resort to facilitate the purchase of tickets for visitors when selecting their accommodation in the area.

The technology company Paraty Tech, which provides services to hotels and hotel chains with the aim of boosting their direct online and offline sales, takes another step forward in its commitment to the sale of experiences at source, by establishing a direct integration of its booking engine with the PortAventura World resort. The incorporation of Transfers & Experiences into the Paraty World Group in 2021 was a declaration of intent in this regard. Specializing at the time, as its name suggests, in the sale of experiences of all kinds and transfer services, mainly on the Costa del Sol, its imminent integration with Paraty Tech's booking engine represented the opportunity to offer hotels the possibility of providing a better experience for their guests, avoiding tedious and usual negotiations with local suppliers and providing them with an additional source of income. All this without having to intervene in the management of the service, nor undertake any investment.

The Paraty Tech - Transfers & Experiences alliance has taken a giant step forward in 2023, exponentially increasing the number of destinations they serve and developing their own API. The API facilitates the process of connecting new suppliers, who, as with hotels, have a lot to gain from this initiative with which expanding their online distribution network becomes a very simple task.

This is the case of PortAventura World, one of the most popular theme resorts in Europe, located in Tarragona (Costa Daurada), the new connectivity will allow hotels in the area that operate with Paraty Tech's booking engine to incorporate this add-on and thus offer users of its official website the possibility of buying their tickets to visit any of the three theme parks offered by the resort at the same time they book their accommodation.

As David Gil, CEO of Transfers & Experiences explains, “a careful two-step purchase process, designed to not negatively influence the conversion rate of the engine, allows the potential guest to add this experience as an additional service in the second step of the process, right after the room selection”. After completing the accommodation booking, the guest is informed to finalize the ticket purchase. At that moment he is redirected to the PortAventura World payment gateway, where he will pay for his order, obtaining his tickets with immediate confirmation. Therefore, the hotel does not intervene in the management of the payment of these.

According to Mireia Bové, Head of Sales at PortAventura World, “thanks to our collaboration with a partner such as Transfers and Experiences, we are able to be present at such a decisive moment for our potential clients as the booking of hotel accommodation in our area. For us, the fact of complementing in such a simple way a hotel reservation with the hiring of an experience in the destination undoubtedly contributes to raise the expectations and satisfaction of travelers who visit the Costa Dorada”.

Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech, is convinced that “the sale of experiences at source, in addition to being an unquestionable resource with which to increase their average ticket, brings great value to hotels, while helping them to offer a better service to their guests, who can complete their accommodation experience, in the same process, with a visit to the main attractions of the destination, as PortAventura World certainly is for the Costa Dorada”.

About PortAventura World Parks & Resort
PortAventura World Parks & Resort is one of the largest family leisure and vacation destinations in Europe. Throughout its 28-year history, it has received more than 100 million visits. With a privileged location close to Barcelona, the resort operates 5 4-star themed hotels and 1 5-star hotel (PortAventura Hotels) and has 2 hotels under management outside the resort grounds, with nearly 2,700 rooms, and a convention center (PortAventura Convention Centre) with capacity for up to 6,000 people. PortAventura World Parks & Resort also has a theme park, a Ferrari Land park, the only one of its kind in Europe, and a water park that is a leader in Europe with a range of world-class attractions. In April 2023 it received the B Corp certificate, which recognizes the company's work in terms of sustainability, social responsibility and good governance.

www.portaventuraworld.com
www.portaventuraevents.com
www.fundacioportaventura.com

The sale of destination experiences is a widespread practice. However, if we talk about sales at source, with immediate confirmation and through the hotel's official website, without having to do anything and charging commission for each purchase made by any user, things change. This is already a reality with the Paraty Tech booking engine.

Destination is The King

The traveler does not choose the destination based on the hotel. The process is just the opposite. First you decide where you want to go and then you look for accommodation in that location, except on very few occasions. The sooner we assume it, the sooner we will also understand the importance of trying to go much further than offering a merely accommodation service.

Let us not be misunderstood. The benefits (in terms of gastronomy, entertainment, well-being, security, etc.) that the guest can enjoy behind closed doors of the establishment are essential. The first thing to take care of is our product, of course. But if we are able to complement your stay by making available to you the possibility of contracting experiences (from those usually in demand at the destination, to more exclusive ones, practically tailored to your tastes and preferences), we will be gaining money to capture your attention. , significantly improving the perception of the service you are acquiring.

We are very aware of how tedious it is to negotiate with one and other suppliers to, ultimately, try to resell their products to our guests, once they are in our facilities. In addition to the wear and tear caused by this simple process of closing all these agreements individually, we must add the effort that we must carry out, first, to make sure that our client is duly informed when he arrives, and then, to encourage him to end up hiring one of those activities. To make matters worse, the competition in this sense is fierce, because it is almost a rarity that a hotel does not offer the purchase of experiences at the destination. So how do we differ?

Marketplace of experiences and transfers

At Paraty Tech we knew how to identify this problem years ago and we took an important step by incorporating a very well-positioned company in the world of complementary offerings into the Paraty World group. This movement would allow hotels to have their own marketplace of experiences and transfers with immediate confirmation, under the protection of their own brand, also charging commissions for each sale generated. This meant killing two birds with one stone because, on the one hand, they avoided the problem of dealing with various suppliers and, on the other, they began to have a new source of income that also significantly improved their service in the eyes of their guests.

Obviously, we are not stopping there and we continue working tirelessly on this field of hotel marketing, seeking to meet the expectations of an increasingly demanding traveler profile eager for new sensations. We knew of the attraction potential of a resource of these characteristics.

Only a few months later, it was already possible to contract a transfer service as an additional service within the reservation process on the official website, nullifying the efforts of the OTAs to differentiate themselves from the direct channel (for example, giving away the taxi with the reservation) and facilitating a lot of life to the tourist when it is time to set up your vacations.

Sale at source, a novel differential factor

It was about time. The good reception of this add-on to our booking engine pushed us to continue developing in the same vein. Today, the integration with the complete catalog of experiences is already a reality. As we said, the sale at destination is available to anyone. Now, if we talk about sales at source, the spectrum is reduced. And if we add immediate confirmation to the formula, it directly becomes a one-of-a-kind feature.

If you work with the Paraty Tech booking engine, users of your official website can already book their room and, in the second step of the booking process, as if it were an additional service to use, add any experience they want live during their stay at the destination, and do so with immediate confirmation. Meanwhile, the hotel, which does not have to do anything, continues to commission each of those sales.

We already have API: providers, you are welcome

In parallel, the development of our own API, not only speeds up the integration and start-up procedures of the service, but also greatly facilitates the adhesion of new providers, also avoiding that you have to give up your usual partners, who can now connect with us in a much faster and easier way.

From Paraty Tech, hand in hand with our partner Transfers & Experiences, a company also belonging to the Paraty World group, we have proposed to professionalize the non-hotel activities sector, with a platform that facilitates the connection of local providers with hotels, through of our API, favoring the B2B sale of these at the destination, and the B2C sale at origin, through the official web pages of the tourist accommodation.

We integrate with BeSafe

Paraty Tech, a hotel booking engine, integrates with BeSafe to offer a prepaid rate with insurance included, flexible and easy to integrate into the sales strategy of each accommodation, at a key time and boom in travel policies.

The 2020 Coronavirus pandemic hit the entire world hard. Travel was paralyzed and millions of people were forced, first, to cancel their vacations and then, when mobility was reactivated, with the virus still very present, to assume medical expenses derived from their health care outside their countries of origin. . Having overcome the worst of that situation, today we know that many of the steps that were taken then to try to alleviate, to some extent, the drama that it entailed and its most direct consequences, are here to stay.

In the travel sector, one can speak openly of an evident change in trend. Both in the type of experiences that have become more in demand, and in relation to the preventive measures that travelers seek to safeguard their rights in the event of the unforeseen. Security and the contracting of flexible insurance policies linked to hotel reservations are a priority for what can now be classified as a new traveler profile and a new way of traveling.

We have a very recent example of an insurmountable setback in the early call for general state elections in Spain, scheduled for next July 23, that is, in the middle of the summer campaign. A decision that implies that the options of millions of Spaniards, fearful of being called to occupy a polling station or wishing to vote in person, are basically reduced to three: not traveling during those dates, risking having to cancel without guarantees refund in case of being summoned or contracting an insurance policy such as BeSafe Rate PLUS.

Flexible insurance, the safe way

It is for this reason that the integration of the Paraty Tech booking engine with BeSafe comes at a key moment, precisely when travelers need it most to secure their vacations, offering a safe way with which everyone, hoteliers and guests, win.

Thanks to the suite on which BeSafe operates, whose main differential value lies in its flexible nature, the service directly connects the insurer with the hotel's reservation engine, offering travelers a prepaid rate with insurance included that adapts its coverage to the type of establishment and its main customer profiles. In the event of cancellation or accident, the hotelier will not have to worry about managing the refund request procedures. BeSafe will take care of this, regardless of the contracted variant:

• BeSafe Rate: indicated for hotels that want to offer security to their guests, it offers coverage in case of cancellation or illness. The cancellation guarantee covers a refund of up to 100% of the amount in the event of unforeseen events, such as illness (COVID-19 included), hospitalization, accident, etc. While the assistance coverage during your stay, valid from arrival to departure, allows you to enjoy medical and health assistance, luggage guarantee, theft and roadside assistance.
• BeSafe Summer: suitable for hotels that operate during the summer season, it offers medical assistance for outdoor activities and civil liability coverage.
• BeSafe Business: suitable for mainly urban hotels, it offers a refund in case of meeting cancellations, transport delays, etc. The ideal option for business trips.
• BeSafe Winter: suitable for hotels operating during the winter season, it offers mandatory civil liability coverage, medical assistance in case of injuries, reimbursement for rescue on the ski slopes, etc.
• BeSafe Rate PLUS: indicated for hotels that want to offer full refund guarantees to their guests, it is similar to the BeSafe Rate, with the exception that it offers coverage in the event of almost revolutionary cancellation, by taking any documentable reason as valid, guaranteeing the refund in 7 days, through its automated portal for Refund & Go refund claims.

Both companies very satisfied

The integration process is now completed and it is possible to see this product in operation at the Nura Boreal hotel, belonging to the Nura Hotels chain. Representatives of both companies declare that they feel very satisfied with this alliance.

Thus, in the words of Daniel Sánchez, Chief Revenue Officer of Paraty Tech, "the integration with BeSafe Rate should favor the resurgence of the non-refundable rate, almost extinct during the Pandemic, by encouraging guests reluctant to pay in advance to book without fear of losing their travel money in the event of an insurmountable setback and, consequently, allowing the hotelier to once again enjoy the cash flow that this type of rate provides."

For his part, Alessandro Bartolucci, CEO of BeSafe Rate, assures that "they are delighted to join forces with Paraty Tech and to embark together on this path towards the digitalization of the sector, combining their experience with this innovative hotel reservation engine" , and adds which "aim to provide hoteliers with a unique offering that helps them increase their revenue with a flexible insurance solution, to ultimately protect guests during their stays."

One of the highlights of the first day of the TecnoHotel Forum was the panel The complex world of hotel distribution, under debate , in which we had the pleasure of participating, represented by Daniel Sánchez , Chief Revenue Officer of Paraty Tech . From the start, he had it all, and he did not disappoint. Accompanying our colleague was a daring, funny, expert and hotelier moderator, committed, between laughs, not to mention the word "parity", for a matter of principle and maturity ( Alfonso Pérez , from Only YOU Hotels), a representative of the company that owns the metasearch engine that has grown the most in recent years ( Zuriñe Eguizábal , from Travel at Google), a specialist in one of the most anticipated markets and with the greatest projection for the future ( Guillem Gisbert , from Ctrip) and a true heavyweight in hotel distribution ( Xavier Cortés , from Keytel).

On the table, the most diverse topics and of great interest to hoteliers, especially taking into account that we are facing a rarefied scenario, in which a long period of increased demand, with a customer willing to pay more, It collides head-on with a slowdown in the rate of reserves over the last few weeks and an economic context still marked by an always threatening inflation. The order of the day was established:

• What role will the Asian market play next and when?
• Why invest in Google Hotel Ads
• How to sell more through the direct channel
• What are the potential and emerging markets
• Omnichannel
• Artificial intelligence

Less little birds in the head, better foundations

Although, as we have already mentioned, we are experiencing a period of excess demand, the reality is that this is not the case in all markets and, depending on the destination, these indicators behave unevenly, making it necessary to resort to a mix of channels more varied and appropriate to the destination, without failing to take advantage of the billboard effect of large companies such as Booking.


Daniel Sánchez , Chief Revenue Officer at Paraty Tech , confirmed that "in Spain, the ones that continue to pull the bandwagon the most are the UK, Germany, the US and France" . The rest of the markets represent more residual percentages and to capture demand you have to spend more, knowing that the ROI will be lower. And, although it seems that only digital marketing formats are valued, Daniel assures that "things go beyond online marketing" and that "in certain markets it is essential to have a physical presence".

What do we have to do to sell a lot through the direct channel?

To the million dollar question, Daniel responded forcefully: less little birds in the head, more building a good foundation . Immediately afterwards, he finished explaining himself: "The motor always goes to our heads, but there is an offline part, the telephone, which does not stop growing, especially in vacations, in which important disbursements are made, and the telephone builds trust."

There is no magic formula to sell a lot, but there are some minimums that must be met: "Have a good price, develop a 360 strategy, invest in marketing, be well positioned... start rolling with this and, from there, think about incorporating some of the multitude of add-ons that exist. We have reached a point where the engine and the web are now just commodities, what is important is everything that surrounds it: loyalty, crm, Wi-Fi connection… the options are endless”.

"There is no need to put a ceiling on investment in marketing"

The thing was to obtain irrefutable answers, universal truths, in which to take refuge to increase profitability. However, the goose that lays the golden eggs exists only in stories. An important step, in terms of online marketing, is to assume that investments are being made, not expenses, because there is always a return. For this reason , "there is no need to put a ceiling if the ROI is good, because limited budgets limit the hotelier". Everyone seems to already agree that direct sales can end up being as expensive as brokered ones, "but, even if it ends up costing us 15 or 18%, it will always be more interesting to sell direct than through an OTA". For this reason, Daniel advised to stop thinking in net amounts to start working with “floating budgets, and establish an affordable cost translated into a percentage”.

We hope that 2024 will be the year of full recovery of the Asian market

Despite the fact that in May the volume of international searches grew by 60% and that of reservations by 40%, perhaps the number of Chinese visitors is still not as expected. Something that Guillem Gisbert, Country Manager Spain & Portugal at Trip.com/Ctrip, who is confident that 2024 will be the year of full recovery for this market, attributes to different factors: "China has suffered the biggest lockdown in the world, although its de-escalation has also been faster than that of any other country. Just like in Europe, now that borders have just been opened, they are traveling mostly locally, to the places they know and where they feel comfortable. But it is also that there are handicaps that condition international travel, "we must recover the air routes and solve the issue of visas," he says.

Like the rest of the speakers, Guillem agrees on the importance of knowing the particularities of each market in order to be able to offer travelers the product they want, through the channels in which they feel comfortable, just when the one who demand it. But when we refer to the Asian market, and more specifically, to the Chinese one, this question directly becomes one of the most important.

There you can't kill flies with cannon shots. It is not enough to make a literal translation of our website into your language and wait for reservations to start coming in. Of course, there is the issue of language, but also that of influencing those issues that are most interesting to them, in offering them the payment methodologies that generate confidence: "with them, credit cards are not going to work, translating for the sake of translating It's not going to work either, you have to go further, have someone who speaks the language, maybe set up a Chinese breakfast corner, get to know their needs well, those of each existing profile”. For example, "the generation of the only child is the one that is now traveling the most and has the greatest purchasing power," he says. Not surprisingly, China has 1.4 billion potential tourists, but only 150 million have high purchasing power: "It's about making Spain a top of mind destination for Chinese customers," he concludes.

Hotel demand is growing at double digits

The presence at the table of Zuriñe Eguizábal, Industry Manager at Travel at Google, had also generated great interest. Due to the position he occupies within the American giant, Zuriñe has access to an infinity of data associated with the travel sector. Circumstance that, from the start, allowed him to begin by stating that "hotel demand is growing at double digits in most of the key markets". In his opinion, the pandemic has brought about a great change in people, in all of us, and now we appreciate living experiences more. A circumstance that continues to have a direct impact on tourism, "a vertical that grows more than other verticals".

Again very aligned in his answers with many of the opinions of his panelmates, Eguizábal insisted that "it is important to understand which market you are targeting and adapt your recruitment strategy", and he attributes a good part of the success of Google Hotel Ads, one of the goals that has grown the most in recent years, due to its versatility: "There are different strategies depending on the objective: increase traffic (invest in clicks), generate reservations (CPA), profitability (capture reservations from a minimal return) .

All players invest in metasearch engines and bid for the same terms as hotels, including even their own brand. A practice as unethical as widespread. Competing with giants like Booking or Expedia as a brand defense strategy is profitable, as commented by moderator Alfonso Pérez, Corporate Sales and Marketing Senior Director at Only YOU Hotels. However, he was wondering how to compete with the multi-million dollar investments of other players in generic search. As our CRO already said, the Google representative spoke of assuming a "structural and financial change" and asking herself "how much am I willing to pay for a direct sale by brand, and how much for one from someone who doesn't know me" because, Obviously, we are talking about a very different investment volume.

The distribution is not complex, the complex thing is to find a balanced distribution

Xavier Cortés, Managing Director at Keytel , was expected, above all, to shed some light on the complex (or not so complex) world of current hotel distribution, in which, in his opinion, "there is a loss of control, due in part to the redistribution exercised by all the actors. The hotelier perceives and is aware of this reality, which has led him to bet on the channel that makes the most sense, direct. The truth is that this loss of control translates into a generalized lack of traceability, and the direct channel is the exception that confirms the rule.

The pandemic was a turning point in distribution. As a consequence, the hotelier has reduced channels and there the direct channel has taken advantage, but it has not been the only beneficiary of this situation, as Xavier highlighted when he assured that "the great winner of the Pandemic has been Booking" .

Cortés also shared that feeling of slowdown in reserves in recent weeks: “Europe has behaved very well until this last week, in which there are certain flattening indicators. Internationally, the Latin American market offers very good prospects (especially Brazil, Mexico, Argentina) and the Middle East is also doing very well. It is also hopeful that next year we can once again count on the Chinese market and India, a country with even greater possibilities of adapting in the short term, with fewer cultural and technological barriers". highlight the determining role played by knowledge of the different markets: “Understanding the markets will allow us to diversify better” .

There are markets with a very important offline component. The Latin American, for example, which is controlled by a few operators, and some global player as well. In fact, on occasions, the fact that the two large OTAs are present in certain markets leads us to think that they are enough, but it is a mistake: "It makes us depend, especially at a time like the present, of overdemand, in which everything seems easy. However, when there is a correction in the demand, that is when you see if I have really done my homework."

In short, the key is to manage not to give up any market, to any segment, and it is not just a question of reducing channels, but of finding the ones that generate value for me in each market.

What to expect from artificial intelligence?

It is on everyone's lips and, who else, who less, everyone has an opinion about it, including the participants in this interesting table in which practically nothing was left unanswered.


While Daniel Sánchez was convinced that, in terms of direct sales, "the possibilities of AI are endless" (for content generation, to work on SEO, etc.), Xavier referred to generative AI as "the future of the way to search for trips” and to the blockchain as a technology with “a long way to go” . For his part, Zuriñe spoke of the possibility of "colliding the data we have with that of the hotel's own CRM to find the most profitable customer, who is most interested, and thus end up paying for each channel based on the value it generates, not not just today, but 5 years from now." Lastly, Guillem recognized that Ctrip is already integrated via API with OpenAi (Chat GPT), both internally and at the user level, which translates into greater ease when searching, to they avoid leaks in search of additional information.

Tianguis Turístico will have its own party

Cancun, March 15, 2023

Paraty Tech, a leading technology company for the hotel industry, is proud to announce a new appearance at the Tianguis Turístico, one of the most important events in the sector, which this year will be held in Mexico City, from March 26 to 29.

The agendas of our representatives from the offices in Cancun and Malaga (Spain) have been open for weeks, including that of their CEO, Gina Matheis, who will be part of the five-member delegation that will travel to the country's capital with the aim of to present our most recent solutions to boost direct bookings for hotels, hotel chains and other types of tourist accommodation.

Among them, it is worth mentioning the design of custom web pages, our booking engine, optimized for more than a decade, our suite of digital marketing services, which includes a platform for managing campaigns in metasearch engines, and our wide range of tools revenue management, led by Price Seeker v4, our comprehensive price intelligence platform.

Paraty Tech has just celebrated the free Tech Trendy Tips '23 training sessions for hoteliers with enormous success (March 1-3), framed within our usual Roadshow MX. On this occasion, the chosen destinations were Cancun, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta, and for them we counted on the invaluable collaboration of Duetto and Asksuite, technology companies that will soon be joined by Hotelinking , for the organization of the great party for customers and business partners with which Paraty Tech plans to put the icing on the cake for our presence at the tourism fair.

Baptized under the name of HOTEL DREAMS / Tianguis CDMX Travel Tech Party, this exclusive meeting with limited capacity and aimed at hoteliers, will take place on Tuesday, March 28, starting at 7:00 p.m., at Janis Palmas, a distinguished nightclub located only 10 minutes from the Citibanamex Center. The party will be attended by the main hotel groups and independent hotels in the country, and will be enlivened with live music, drinks, canapés and gifts for the guests. Tickets can be purchased through the following link.

Gina Matheis, CEO of the company, assures that "at Paraty Tech we are excited to be able to present, for yet another year, our technological innovations at the Tianguis Turístico, and excited about the idea of rewarding the loyalty of our collaborators, offering them a high-quality party." level in which to be able to chat in a relaxed environment in equal parts playful and professional”. With these actions, we ratify our firm commitment to continue providing full support to the Mexican hotel sector, through the development of new products and innovative tools and careful customer service, two of our main hallmarks.

For more information and appointments, from Paraty Tech we invite you to visit our website or contact us via email:

Daniel Romero
WhatsApp: (+34) 952 230 887
Phone: (+34) 666 592 008
Email: comunicacion@paratytech.com

We are Google Premier Partner

The creation of Paraty Digital Suite was once a declaration of intent by this technology company based in Torremolinos (Málaga) and offices in Cancún (Mexico) and Albufeira (Portugal). This important step, in addition to ratifying the growing role of digital marketing within the commercial strategy of hotels, implied, above all, Paraty Tech's firm determination to strengthen this department, considering it as a fundamental pillar for direct sales. hotel company , placing itself at the same level as others such as the official website, the reservation engine or the revenue management and price control tools.

Today, this change of direction and the strong investment in resources and personnel associated with it, recently reinforced with the incorporation of Bárbara Balderas as digital marketing director , has borne fruit. And Google has recognized this work by granting Paraty Tech the status of Google Premier Partner 2023 , granted only to 3% and reviewed annually.

To select this select group of collaborators, Google takes into consideration variables such as the volume of investment and optimization of the campaigns, the diversification of channels, technology, or the degree of specialization and certification of the team members who manage all of this. .

Paraty Tech has been developing solutions and implementing tools for more than a decade to enhance the direct sales of hotels, hotel chains and other tourist accommodations. This recognition constitutes not only indisputable proof that, far from having stagnated, they continue to update their range of services according to the new needs of their clients, but it also represents a well-deserved award both for them and for the hotel establishments with which they who work, who have placed all their trust in the Paraty Tech experts and have undertaken the relevant investments, always guided by the recommendations of the members of Paraty Digital Suite.

In the words of Bárbara Balderas, director of digital marketing at Paraty Tech, “we could not be happier with this recognition that, on the one hand, clears up any possible doubt about the contribution of digital marketing to direct sales and the importance of not putting a ceiling on to the investment in this field as long as the return is as expected, on the other hand, it further increases my level of confidence in this wonderful team that I have just joined (all the credit is theirs) and, finally, it opens many doors for us to "to definitively position ourselves as authentic specialists in the field."

For her part, Gina Matheis, CEO of the company, is aware that “thanks to the extraordinary work of the team, we will now enjoy multiple advantages associated with this recognition that will allow us to improve even more, such as access to new Google products in the pipeline.” beta, to the most recent statistics and trends, and to exclusive events organized by the American technology giant.”

Benefits of SEO for Hotels

SEO positioning for hotels can benefit the increase in direct sales for your hotel or tourist business. What are the strategies and tools that Paraty Tech uses to achieve this goal? Join us, we'll tell you everything.

SEO Positioning in the Hotel Sector

First, let's take a look at the hotel sector. According to a report by the consulting firm We Are Marketing, online bookings will grow by 261% in the coming years due to digitization. OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) are one of the most consolidated and preferred booking channels for users. What can be done to increase direct bookings? The answer is a good online marketing strategy.

Users search the internet and compare prices and services before making a reservation. As a result, the website of your hotel or tourist complex must operate correctly (both the booking engine and all integrated functionalities). If the page is not attractive or does not function correctly, it will affect your bookings and the SEO positioning of your hotel.

SEO Strategy for Hotels

The SEO strategy for hotels begins with a study of the potential customer and their journey to formalize the reservation. This data is obtained from the hotel's own database and tools, such as Google Analytics. A family looking for accommodation does not have the same needs and interests as a solo traveler, so these factors must be taken into account when working accordingly.

Keyword Research

Keyword research will improve your website traffic, increase its visibility, and ranking in search results (SERP). There are numerous tools to conduct this type of study, but one of our favorites is SEMrush. The hotel sector is a market niche with high demand and competitiveness, so the keyword strategy to attack should be long-tail and related to the user's search intent, for example:

• Service prices (hotel + location + offers): hotel name in Malaga, offers.
• Service level (hotel + location + with service): hotel name in San Sebastian with parking.
• Target audience and location (hotel + target audience + location + services/service level): hotel name for families in Tenerife.
• Target audience and services (hotel + target audience + location + services/service level): hotel name for families in Tenerife promotions.

Once the keyword strategy is designed, it will be used to:

• Design or optimize the website architecture and URL structure.
• Content curation to promote services and products.
• Update or create content for the blog (we recommend that your site has one).
• Optimize on-page elements (title and meta descriptions).

Mobile Compatibility

According to the 2021 mobile report by Ditrendia, Spain is the European country where we spend the most time on mobile phones, and 76% of users have already made purchases through their mobile devices. Therefore, your hotel's website must be compatible, function correctly, and be optimized so that your potential customer can make reservations through their mobile.

Local SEO for Hotels

Local SEO positioning is essential for your hotel; it provides visibility to your business for users who perform a geolocated search, helps you compete against OTAs, and increases direct sales. The Google My Business listing is the star of local SEO. How can you optimize it? Here are some of our recommendations:

• Upload photos and a 360º video.
• Review and respond to visitor comments.
• Ensure that it is up to date.

Conclusions

In summary, if you leave it in the hands of our team of professionals, who will implement the techniques described above and use the right tools; they will design a SEO strategy for hotels that will provide the following benefits:

Benefits of SEO for Hotels

SEO positioning for hotels can benefit the increase in direct sales for your hotel or tourist business. What are the strategies and tools that Paraty Tech uses to achieve this goal? Join us, we'll tell you everything.

SEO Positioning in the Hotel Sector

First, let's take a look at the hotel sector. According to a report by the consulting firm We Are Marketing, online bookings will grow by 261% in the coming years due to digitization. OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) are one of the most consolidated and preferred booking channels for users. What can be done to increase direct bookings? The answer is a good online marketing strategy.

Users search the internet and compare prices and services before making a reservation. As a result, the website of your hotel or tourist complex must operate correctly (both the booking engine and all integrated functionalities). If the page is not attractive or does not function correctly, it will affect your bookings and the SEO positioning of your hotel.

SEO Strategy for Hotels

The SEO strategy for hotels begins with a study of the potential customer and their journey to formalize the reservation. This data is obtained from the hotel's own database and tools, such as Google Analytics. A family looking for accommodation does not have the same needs and interests as a solo traveler, so these factors must be taken into account when working accordingly.

Keyword Research

Keyword research will improve your website traffic, increase its visibility, and ranking in search results (SERP). There are numerous tools to conduct this type of study, but one of our favorites is SEMrush. The hotel sector is a market niche with high demand and competitiveness, so the keyword strategy to attack should be long-tail and related to the user's search intent, for example:

• Service prices (hotel + location + offers): hotel name in Malaga, offers.
• Service level (hotel + location + with service): hotel name in San Sebastian with parking.
• Target audience and location (hotel + target audience + location + services/service level): hotel name for families in Tenerife.
• Target audience and services (hotel + target audience + location + services/service level): hotel name for families in Tenerife promotions.

Once the keyword strategy is designed, it will be used to:

• Design or optimize the website architecture and URL structure.
• Content curation to promote services and products.
• Update or create content for the blog (we recommend that your site has one).
• Optimize on-page elements (title and meta descriptions).

Mobile Compatibility

According to the 2021 mobile report by Ditrendia, Spain is the European country where we spend the most time on mobile phones, and 76% of users have already made purchases through their mobile devices. Therefore, your hotel's website must be compatible, function correctly, and be optimized so that your potential customer can make reservations through their mobile.

Local SEO for Hotels

Local SEO positioning is essential for your hotel; it provides visibility to your business for users who perform a geolocated search, helps you compete against OTAs, and increases direct sales. The Google My Business listing is the star of local SEO. How can you optimize it? Here are some of our recommendations:

• Upload photos and a 360º video.
• Review and respond to visitor comments.
• Ensure that it is up to date.

Conclusions

In summary, if you leave it in the hands of our team of professionals, who will implement the techniques described above and use the right tools; they will design a SEO strategy for hotels that will provide the following benefits:

Price Seeker v4 Official Release

We are excited. We already told you about it a few weeks ago and, finally, the day has arrived. After months of work, we launched Price Seeker v4 and you can now contract it directly online, from €49 per month + VAT (exclusive launch offer). Furthermore, if you want to try it first to convince yourself of its potential, you have a free 14-day demo at your disposal.

Our rate shopper has undergone a comprehensive renovation to become a comprehensive price intelligence platform and adapt, once and for all, to your needs as a revenue manager.

We have no doubt that Price Seeker was already one of the most powerful tools on the market in its segment. But we have always been very open to listening to those who are called to be its main users, and we are aware that certain aspects required a rethinking.

The keys to change

The Price Seeker update has been undertaken from different sides. The objective, in addition to making it a more intuitive and “hotel friendly” solution, was fundamentally to incorporate new functionalities, visualization formats and indicators, more in line with current times and current work methodologies. Below, we detail some of the keys to the change.

User experience

A simply fundamental point. And although you will have tutorial videos and user manuals, it was important that, from the first moment, you were able to move freely through the different dashboards, and that the reading of the data was clear and simple. We've reordered elements, changed nomenclature and expressions, and introduced new display formats, such as calendar view. We hope you love the final result as much as we do.

New features

This point would deserve a separate article and, in fact, it will come. But, for now, we will limit ourselves to highlighting some of the most interesting new features.

Opportunity cost

A proprietary algorithm, which takes into account different variables, will be responsible for telling you how much revenue the detected disparities are costing you. Because knowing that you have disparities is not the same as knowing how much they cost you.

Real Time Parity

One of the fundamental advantages of all our tools being developed internally is the fluid communication that is generated between them. In this case we use Rate Check, our metasearch engine inserted into the reservation process of your official website, to detect disparities in real time and monitor them through Price Seeker.

Last Rooms Available

Knowing the availability status of your compset is a great competitive advantage that can greatly help you refine your pricing strategy. Now, with Price Seeker v4 you will be able to detect when your competing hotels have only a few rooms available and use that information to your advantage.

New indicators

In the first position of the ranking of new indicators we highlight the data related to flight + hotel. To do this, we have implemented a module from our destination intelligence platform that extracts information from any tour operation channel. We are talking about more than 200 websites, understood as data sources!

3 different packages and online contracting

Without a doubt, one of the great novelties of this new version of our rate shopper is the bundling of functionalities. And each hotel or chain has specific needs. A vacation resort is not the same as an urban boutique hotel, to give two examples.

Therefore, now you have three different packages, Professional, Advanced and Enterprise, and you can enjoy Price Seeker v4 from €49 per month (VAT not included). A more than competitive price, within the reach of any type of establishment.

In addition, you can request your free 14-day demo or contract the tool directly online, by filling out a simple form. Once your user has been created, you will be able to access it to start consulting and analyzing data.

Price Seeker v4 will be one of the main novelties that we will bring to Fitur 2023 , a fair where we intend to give a live presentation of the tool and offer you resources to test it in situ at our stand. You can find us in Hall 8, Stand 8D15.

For any questions or further information, you can contact Cindy Johansson directly, Sales & Project Manager of the tool: cindy@paratytech.com

The Importance of Having a Loyalty Program

The goal of this innovative and technological loyalty program, designed in collaboration with Paraty Tech, is to reward guest commitment, build community, and understand the travel habits of the hotel chain's customers. This aims to continually tailor their offerings to match the preferences and needs of their guests.

After a successful summer season, the thematic hotel chain Casual Hoteles has kicked off autumn with a significant innovation: the launch of the BeCasual Club, its revamped loyalty program, whose new version has been designed in collaboration with its key technological partner, Paraty Tech.

This is a groundbreaking proposal, much like the Valencia-based company itself, including very unique differential services that add significant value to its members, fostering a sense of belonging and community.

Because, according to Juan Carlos Sanjuán, president and founder of Casual Hoteles, this is one of their main objectives, "to deeply understand the guests staying in our establishments, allowing us to continuously adapt our offerings to their tastes and needs."

This sentiment is shared by Daniel Sánchez, Chief Revenue Officer of the technology firm, who adds that this club exemplifies their "ability to adapt to the needs of each establishment or chain, as it has been designed from scratch, 100% tailored to a client who continually pushes us to join their innovation journey."

So, in addition to generating benefits from minute 0, despite its free nature, as users receive 5 euros for free upon registration, redeemable for hotel reservations within the chain; users also enjoy other perks such as accumulating redeemable euros for every 10 euros spent on the group's website or receiving money as a birthday gift.

These perks are complemented by other details such as welcome gifts upon arrival, ranging from a 10% discount on accommodation reservations to extra services offered by the hotel, participation in several annual draws, and the option for a late check-out, subject to availability.

A Scalable Program That Rewards Loyalty Like None Other

According to Juan Carlos Sanjuán, "the BeCasual Club stands out for being personalized, scalable, and flexible." In this sense, he explains, "it's a loyalty program designed to measure by Paraty Tech, our technological partner. It's very intuitive and is designed for both the end customer and our employees, who can benefit from all the advantages on equal terms." It's also scalable, he adds, "because it adapts the benefits to the level of commitment shown by each member, generating 3 categories: BeCasual (available with just registration), BeCasual Fan (for customers who have booked between 4 and 6 stays), and BeCasual Lover (from 7 stays onward)."

Finally, he concludes, "technologically it is very flexible, and that, internally, means that we can manage content and other functions autonomously and be very agile in creating new promotions. For example, in 2023, we plan to incorporate new benefits such as earning free euros for every friend BeCasual members successfully enroll in the program, and the possibility of converting accumulated points into charitable contributions, among other things."

BeCasual stands out for rewarding its members from the get-go and for rewarding their loyal commitment with additional benefits

About Casual Hoteles

Casual Hoteles is a Valencia-based hotel company founded in 2013 by Juan Carlos Sanjuan with the aim of becoming the benchmark for thematic urban accommodations in Spain. All its hotels feature personalized decoration inspired by their locations and offer quality standards and central locations at affordable prices. They are fun, surprising, and provocative, making Casual Hoteles a disruptive chain that was recognized with the Hostelco Award for "Best Hotel Concept" in 2018.

The group also stands out for its strong social and environmental commitment through its own Code of Ethics and collaborations with NGOs such as Save the Children and Unicef, among others. Currently, Casual Hoteles has 22 hotels and 848 rooms in 11 cities in Spain and Portugal, of which 1 is owned, 15 are operated under a rental arrangement, and 6 are franchises.

Countdown to Price Seeker v4

Technology, like the needs of hotels, is in a process of permanent change. Business strategies, revenue, marketing, etc. They are almost exclusively based on data, and these, in turn, are like an entity with a life of its own that does not stop integrating new indicators, formulas, display formats and analytical variants, in response to the constant proliferation of the most varied requirements. by the professionals called upon to exploit them.

What in the past could have been an A, may now barely touch the pass, and the only valid path for tool developers is to adjust their cruising speed to that of this wheel that does not stop turning. Even more. Overcome it to be able to anticipate and overcome unexpected obstacles or sudden changes in direction.

Spoiler alert! We are going to reveal some details of the most recent episode in the history of Price Seeker, our rate shopper, and its mutation into a Comprehensive Price Intelligence Platform.

We like to define the next and imminent launch of Price Seeker v4, and that everyone understands it that way, more than as an evolution, as a true revolution of this product, flagship of our brand. This version, the most ambitious to date, has led us to rethink, even its categorization. And it is that, perhaps, the concepts of rate shopper and rate checker, already fall short.

A bit of background

Before getting into the matter, let's take a look back. It is important to know that Price Seeker arose from the concern of our own colleagues, revenue and account managers who felt the need to automate certain processes in order to carry out more exhaustive monitoring of the growing number of hotels they managed.

In other words, like so many other solutions that we have developed in-house, Price Seeker was originally conceived as a tool for internal use, an ally that would allow us to continue increasing direct sales from our clients through price control. , and those of its competitive set, in its distribution channels. It didn't take us long to realize its potential... The rest came alone, backed by an unwavering argument: if it's useful for us, it will also be useful for any hotel establishment, regardless of its degree of involvement with direct sales. A star was born and his role was none other than to monitor, generate and boost sales in the channels of greatest interest , whatever they were, according to the commercial strategy of each accommodation.

Throughout almost a decade of production, Price Seeker has passed through the hands of revenue managers from leading hotel chains and groups, such as Meliá, Barceló, Blue Bay, Eurostars, Iberostar, RIU, Fuerte or Best Hotels, which It certainly constitutes a guarantee of its reliability.

But it has been by identifying actions or discount programs implemented unilaterally by the large OTAs, to the detriment of the interests of the hotels, when it has hit the table. For example, the detection of the Booking Early Payment Benefit comes to mind, even before its arrival in Spain. Expedia would later follow in his footsteps and, once again, the exclusive was carried out by our tool.

Price Seeker v4, what's new mate?

Now yes, we leave the past behind, we place ourselves in the present and look to the future. As we already mentioned, Price Seeker v4 is the definitive twist. A (r)evolution attacked from all possible sides. From the redesign of the UX, to the implementation of a wide range of brand new functionalities, through the inclusion of new indicators, a vocabulary and a more "hotel friendly" nomenclature, up to three different packages and the possibility of contracting and starting it. directly online. All this, focusing on the management of the establishment, but, above all, on its profitability. Let's see it in detail.

• User Experience : We won't dwell too long on this point. Just to say that we have listened to you and we will continue to do so. We are taking note and the new look & feel will reflect this. In any case, the best thing you can do is try it. By the way, we are going to launch a Price Seeker Beta Testers campaign. Do you want to be part of "The Chosen Ones"? Stay tuned.


• Monitoring of the vacation package / flight + hotel : One of our main objectives is to grow hand in hand with projects in which the flight + hotel is of vital importance. Price Seeker v4 monitors the competitiveness of hotels in more than 200 distribution points, including tour operators and highly relevant platforms, such as Jet2Holidays or TUI. Remember that we work with hotels in multiple destinations, so we can apply this criteria to any channel with which you may be interested in making comparisons.


• Control of disparities taken to the highest level :
  • You will receive real-time alerts of disparities in the direct channel, identifying as priority those with a high probability of abandonment .
  • Price Seeker v4 indicates the opportunity cost , because it is not the same to know that you have disparities, than to know the real cost that they imply for you in each channel.
  • Specific dashboards for hotel chains.
  
  
• Competition : detection of functionalities and promotions, including aspects such as the "last available rooms".


• Market data : online reputation of the destination, prices of the place, tour operators, flights...


• And also : all the advantages of a pricing tool aimed at providing information in an agile and reliable manner, but with a degree of detail prepared to satisfy the highest levels of demand:
  • Competition monitoring.
  • Parity monitoring.
  • Maximum reliability and solidity of the data, supported by screenshots.
  • Personalized alert system.
  • Competition and parity report generator.
  • Events and notes.
  • Daily updates.
  • Selection of your competitive set.
  • Free setup.
  • Free personalized training.
  • Online support.

Up to here we can read... Follow us on our usual communication channels to be aware of new steps. Price Seeker v4 is coming very soon .

We add new alliances

We do not stop! This time, we partnered with Asksuite , the first omnichannel service platform for hospitality . Specialists in hotels, their customer service tool generates direct reservations . A more productive and intelligent function for the hotel, serving customers, optimizing its reservation center and increasing its sales.

Reservation systems have evolved a lot, but even so, the time has come to lead a new significant change, which is why Paraty Tech and Asksuite have decided to advance further in integration with the aim of leaving obsolete methodologies behind and continuing to contribute. to the growth of its hotel clients.

Both companies share the objective of providing innovative solutions to hotel establishments of all types and sizes. This integration agreement is intended, therefore, to come up with new formulas that continue to make it easier for hotels to attract a growing number of reservations.

“We are very proud of our solution, and connecting with other like-minded companies is the boost we need to address everything from the most basic to the most challenging needs for hotels. By adding this integration to Asksuite's growing network of technology providers, we easily get exceptional delivery from both.” Rodrigo Teixeira, CEO of Asksuite

Here are some of the benefits you can expect from the Asksuite and Paraty Tech integration :

1. Instant price quote on different messaging channels such as WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram Messages, webchat and Google Business Messages.
2. When the AI Booking Assistant doesn't find availability for a specific period, it suggests the closest available dates, and when the same is the case with groups, it suggests nearby properties.
3. Integration of the booking engine to make smart quotes via email and WhatsApp.
4. Centralization of the main communication channels.
5. Easy sending of massive WhatsApp campaigns to answer common questions, with calls to action that go directly to the Paraty Tech booking engine .
6. Conversions and tracking data to power the most effective and profitable marketing channels and increase direct bookings.

«Asksuite is much more than a chatbot and we are sure that the fusion of our technologies constitutes a winning bet, both to favor our expansion in new markets, as well as in relation to the increase in direct sales, but also in everything related to alleviate the workload of hotels, which will be able to focus more and better on offering an even more rewarding experience to their guests, while the technology takes care of automatically solving tasks in parallel that do not require human intervention.” Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech

Asksuite

With 2,000+ customers in 40+ countries, Asksuite's AI Booking Assistant is linked to a powerful omnichannel service platform, ensuring hotels can respond to all customer inquiries (both during and after business hours). , also helping teams to organize the workflow with a unified inbox that includes all communication channels.

Why Asksuite?

• Communication channels turned into sales channels
• Increase in direct bookings
• performance metrics
• 100% Omnichannel
• High productivity of reservations and sales agents with reduced task deadlines
• Natural language in more than 35 languages
• Easy-to-navigate AI booking assistant with CTA buttons that keep potential customers from getting lost

Paraty Tech

With +3000 clients, Paraty Tech is a leading technology provider of solutions aimed at optimizing online distribution and increasing direct bookings for hotels , hotel chains and other tourist accommodation. Paraty Tech, a company characterized by having 100% in-house technology, offers a booking engine, revenue management and price control tools, custom web page design, without templates, and a wide range of digital marketing services with the Focus on optimizing investment and maximizing revenue from the direct channel, the hotel's official website.

Why Paraty Tech?

• Official website of the hotel 100% customized, with a clear focus on sales and user experience
• Intelligent and flexible booking engine optimized for a decade for all types of hotel establishments
• Revenue management tools, including a powerful rate shopper , price comparison, and real-time price matcher
• Preparation of the online marketing strategy and a wide range of services to execute it, working tirelessly to reduce the dependency of hotels on OTAs and brokered sales in general
• Active retargeting platform integrated with the booking engine
• Up to 5 loyalty programs suitable for the different types and sizes of establishments
• Average increase of 30% in direct sales of hotels and hotel chains

It's not too late to step up the game

A Google study reveals that 69% of online consumers agree that the quality, timing and relevance of a company's message influence their perception of the brand.

Covering different phases of the purchase process, both Asksuite and Paraty Tech strive to offer quality communication to hotels , help them consolidate their brand message, improve productivity and focus on response speed. The union of both companies creates the complete coverage that hotels need so that travelers choose them.

Through Paraty Tech's Paraty Digital Suite (SEM management, metasearch engine management, emailings, social network management, etc.) it redirects the user to the booking engine of the hotel's official website , while Asksuite offers on-time availability to respond to the new demand.

All flanks covered!

The Booking.com algorithm is capricious and that is why it is sometimes not easy to detect certain functionalities that they implement and that can generate disparities of various kinds with the direct channel. Today we understand as common in the OTA an initiative that they began to put into practice selectively two or three years ago, which consists of offering the guest a free taxi from the airport to the hotel.

This measure is significantly painful for the hotel , especially in those destinations where tourists from certain source markets can only reach by plane. Even more so taking into account the general shortage, and high cost, of rental cars , as a result of the drastic reduction in their fleets as a result of the pandemic.

Paraty Tech, the only engine that allows you to package reservations and transfers in real time, without hotel intervention

Today we are the only booking engine on the market that allows us to head-on combat this type of disparity that both OTAs and tour operators cause. The first, as we have already explained to you, the second, for example, giving away the shuttle bus to their clients.

The Paraty Tech engine enables the option to package transfer (from the guest's arrival point to the hotel and vice versa) and room within the reservation process . The real difference with respect to other engines lies in the fact that direct integration with destination suppliers makes the reservation “fly by itself”, allowing the hotelier to not worry about managing the service.

With a wide range of vehicles available, ranging from standard or executive private cars, to minibuses of different capacities, the cost of this service can be configured depending on the value or duration of the reservation, and even offer it free of charge , as long as the hotel is willing to assume the cost of this added value for its client.

How Booking.com does it

We already told you that they don't always do it, but when the Booking.com algorithm decides that this option comes into action, within the "Your options" column, and in green, so that it is free of charge, they add a tick with the message “FREE taxi from the airport to the accommodation” (see screenshot).


Free Taxi from Booking.com

How we do it at Paraty Tech

As simple as purchasing any additional service:

1. The guest performs a search.


2. In the first step of the process, you select your room/rate/plan.


3. In the second step of the process, you have the possibility of adding the transfer, at the cost previously determined by the hotelier.


4. As can be seen in the following screenshot, a banner informs the user that, once the reservation is completed, they will receive a link to close all the details of the transfer.

Hiring a transfer in the Paraty Tech booking engine

Benefits for the hotelier

The benefits for the hotelier of implementing this option are many. Fundamentally, it will match forces with certain intermediary sales players , but not only that. You will also improve your guests' experience:

• Match the conditions offered by tour operators, which normally include free transfers.


• It matches the conditions offered by some OTAs, such as Booking, which gives away taxis to certain clients.


• Improve the web shopping experience.


• Boost sales in international markets.


• Generates extra income (commission for the hotel for each completed transaction), without having to add or modify operations, or serve the client directly. It is a sale that is automatically generated by the web, in real time and immediate confirmation.

As we have already mentioned, although when the word “disparity” is mentioned it tends to be assumed that we are talking about prices, the truth is that they can be of many more types: payment methods, diets, rates or , as in this case, of extras or additional services.

In fact, it is in these categories that the official website has it easiest to differentiate itself from its competitors , taking into account the economic power of the large OTAs , which allows them to sacrifice part of their commission to try to position themselves as the most cheap, and how difficult it is to identify opaque disparities , a consequence of their agreements with third parties.

We already talked about all this in our article “Against disparities… disparities!” . Now, the topic comes up again due to this improvement that we make available to you quickly and easily. Contact your account for full details.

On Thursday, June 9th, Paraty Tech celebrated its 10th Anniversary. An event designed not only to mark a decade of achievements but also to express gratitude to those who have contributed to our success: the hotels and other tourist accommodations we collaborate with. The evening exceeded all expectations, with a perfect setting, a relaxed atmosphere, and magical weather.

The sun, an impromptu protagonist

The chosen venue was El Balneario, at Baños del Carmen, a location known for offering some of the city's best sunsets. The sun became an impromptu protagonist, not only for shining as usual in Malaga almost year-round but also because Daniel Romero's opening speech revolved around this star, stating, "In addition to giving its name to our planetary system, the solar system, and to our coast, the Costa del Sol, it is at the very center of the activity we develop."

Paraty Sunglasses, our new corporate symbol

In line with this theme, it's no surprise that the gift chosen by the team for attendees was personalized sunglasses, a new distinctive element of Paraty Tech's corporate identity. These sunglasses now carry symbolism beyond their material value as merchandise. In a "Caiga Quien Caiga" style, our communication manager invited everyone to wear them during his speech, where he acknowledged the challenges faced by hotels over the past two gray and cloudy years, praised their extraordinary resilience, thanked them for their unwavering commitment to our technology, and gave them a well-deserved applause.


Paraty Sunglasses

Gina Matheis, emotion, and professionalism

One of the most anticipated moments was the appearance of Gina Matheis, Co-founder and CEO of the company, likely its most visible face. And she didn't disappoint. Gina added an emotional touch by recalling the origins of Paraty Tech, sharing anecdotes about proposing the idea to her brother Franz (Co-founder and CTO), the origin of the company's name, the first reservation from Hotel Puente Real, and how establishments like Gran Hotel del Coto and Hotel Pradillo Conil trusted their word. "None of this would have been possible without you," she concluded, announcing the projection of a video summary of Paraty Tech's journey.

The cherry on top: public entity support

The speeches concluded with two women who, despite their busy schedules, not only attended but also spoke to us. A gesture for which we will always be grateful.

We're talking about Margarita del Cid, Mayor of Torremolinos, and María Rosa Sánchez Jiménez, Deputy Mayor Delegate for Tourism and City Promotion and Investment Attraction. Each, in her own style, emphasized the importance for Torremolinos and Málaga of having technology companies like ours, capable of completing a decade of activity, employing over a hundred people, and generating a sense of belonging, a group, almost a family feeling, despite Paraty Tech's exponential growth over the years. They congratulated the company founders and extended their congratulations to the entire team.

Awards ceremony: congratulations to the winners

The party continued, and people stayed with us, enjoying the positive atmosphere and the good relationships we always seek to build with our clients. As the night progressed, another highlight approached... the awards ceremony.

Our unique way of recognizing the excellence and loyalty of certain clients, without diminishing the efforts of others, was to present awards in six categories. Here are the recipients:

·Premio Honorífico en Agradecimiento a todo el Equipo
·Hotel Puente Real

·Premio a la Fidelidad
·Gran Hotel del Coto
·Hotel Pradillo Conil

·Premio al Hotelero Más Innovador
·ON Hotels

·Premio al Mayor Exponente de la Venta Directa
·Hotel Blaumar

·Premio a la Paridad de Precios
·Hotel La Barracuda

·Premio a la Mejor Progresión en Venta Directa
·Best Hotels

After monitoring the prices of your desktop website, your mobile website or programs and functionalities such as Booking.basic, Genius or Early Payment Benefit, Price Seeker now also differentiates the prices coming from the Booking App

If a good part of the effort you put into trying to achieve the desired parity involves having your establishment's prices well controlled and monitored in the different channels in which your inventory is offered, then you need to make sure you are aware of the multiple strategies used, especially by large agencies, with the aim of generating invisible disparities, or very difficult to detect. What if you are focusing your attention on one point when it turns out that things are happening right in front of it? The stakes are too high to allow avoidable mistakes.

There is no doubt that loyal customers exist (I swear, I think I've seen some myself), and you may even be lucky enough to have a few among your regular guests, but the truth is that, unfortunately, loyalty It is bought very expensive, but it is sold very cheap . A few euros up or down, at the right time and in the right place, tend to make a difference and drastically unbalance that balance that has cost you so much to establish, reversing the weight of the volume of direct reservations in relation to intermediated ones. A fact to which is added another harsh reality: you are not the only one investing resources to get users to return to your website.

Booking perfectly exemplifies this double-edged OTA profile, as necessary as it is uncomfortable for the hotelier. Necessary because it sells a lot and provides visibility of extraordinary value to the establishment. So much so, that only the brave (reckless?) dare to clip its wings. And uncomfortable, because they are true experts in what they do, the best. That's why we always follow them very closely.

Well-known programs, such as Booking.basic or Genius, are joined by the implementation of more opaque actions, such as agreements with private companies, the use of timers for time slots, or the curious case of the Early Payment Benefit, whose existence We were able to alert them before their arrival in Spain, thanks to Price Seeker and the unconditional support of our international clients.

Furthermore, it is common for them to test their new creations, or to activate them permanently, without informing the establishments, who overnight may be forced to call their account in order to stop “enjoying” a functionality. that they have not requested and that does not benefit them at all. Something that has often also aroused irascibility among its clients. If all these stratagems already make it extremely difficult to trace the prices offered by the American giant, we add a new variable that further complicates the equation: the variable pricing strategy depending on the search device.

Either you arm yourself with patience, or you equip yourself with the best possible technology. We recommend that you opt for a combination of both options, and to help you, we bring you good news. Price Seeker , which already detected and monitored the prices of booking.basic, Genius and Early Payment Benefit in a differentiated way, now also distinguishes between the prices of the Booking mobile website and those of its app . We tell you in detail below.

Differentiate the prices of the mobile website and the Booking app

Controlling and monitoring Booking's pricing strategy is not easy. Until now, Price Seeker already offered you the possibility of performing searches and generating reports differentiating between:

• Booking.Basic: Booking functionality through which it offers its users third-party prices, in the event that they are not able to make the best offer available.


• Genius: Booking loyalty program through which users benefit from discounts and direct privileges just for registering and completing at least two reservations.


• Desktop website: Monitoring the prices offered by Booking on the desktop version of its website.


• Mobile web: Monitoring of the prices offered by Booking in the mobile version of its website.


• Early Payment Benefit: Discount program subject to payment by virtual cards.

Now, added to this list are the prices that Booking offers through its app, which (surprise) may be different from all the previous ones. Having the possibility of differentiating prices based on all these cases will allow you to better define your revenue management strategy, also segmenting based on search devices.

How to add the Booking App option when creating or editing a report

It works in the same way as it already did with Booking Mobile. You only need to activate the App Search button.

Setting up a Competition Report in Price Seeker

How prices are displayed in the Analyzer

As we can see in the following screenshot, in the prices of the Hotel Occidental Sevilla Viapol shows us an 'A', highlighted with a dark blue background, which identifies the prices of the Booking App.

However, we can also see how the Ayre Hotel Sevilla shows us the price of Booking Mobile, with a highlighted 'M' with a dark blue background, and not that of the Booking App. This has a logic behind it.

If we launch a report with both options activated, Booking Mobile and Booking App, Price Seeker will return the Booking App price only if it is lower than the Booking Mobile price. On the contrary, if the price of Booking App is equal to or higher than that of Booking Mobile, it will only return the price of Booking Mobile.

Price Seeker Competition Analyzer

To make it even clearer, in the following screenshots we show you the searches carried out in Booking App and Booking Mobile to obtain this test report.

Screenshots of Booking Mobile and Booking App

Direct manual searches

Finally, it is also possible to launch manual searches directly against Booking App and/or Booking Mobile from Price Seeker.

Setting up Manual Searches in Price Seeker

If you combine a Rate Checker with a Chatbot, only good things can come of it. And that's exactly what we've done.

Together with Price Seeker , our rate shopper, and Parity Maker , our exclusive real-time price match, Rate Check is the tool that completes what we have called Paraty Tech's “Parity Triangle”.

For those who are not yet familiar with this solution, Rate Check was created with the intention of minimizing escape routes from the conversion funnel , one of the most common reasons for abandonment being the tendency of users to compare prices from the direct channel. of sale, the official website of the establishment, with those offered by OTAs.

Rate Check comes to combat this circumstance head-on, displaying a comparator widget, a Rate Checker, in the first step of the reservation process. The widget lists the prices offered by three OTAs (to be decided by the hotel) for the same search criteria selected by the user. The logic behind the tool is very simple:

• If the establishment works well on its parity, the hotel price will always appear as the most economical option and, predictably, the user will not feel tempted to consult other options, significantly increasing the probability of conversion.


• Otherwise, the widget will not show the price of the OTA in which the disparity is occurring , and the system will alert the hotelier, via email, so that they can correct the incident as quickly as possible. In the eyes of the user, the official website is still the best option.

Now, as a result of the collaboration agreement reached between Paraty Tech and HiJiffy , a chatbot specialized in automating online communications between the hotel and its guests, the effectiveness of both solutions will be substantially strengthened.

For Rate Check clients, this step will mean a great qualitative leap, as it will be integrated into the HiJiffy chatbot itself, an additional instant communication channel prepared to answer around 80% of the most requested questions.

For its part, for HiJiffy clients it will imply a new fundamental resource to avoid abandonment and discourage their clients from visiting other channels to compare, by offering information that occupies the first position on the list of users' concerns: " Am I really enjoying the best price online?"





There is always strength in numbers and, in this case, combining a Rate Checker with a Chatbot translates into a long list of benefits for the hotelier and the end customer:

• Lower abandonment rate , higher degree of credibility and trust and substantial time savings for users, by being able to make their comparisons without changing sites.


• Full control for the hotelier , who will always have the last word regarding the configuration of control percentages to discriminate prices and results according to their interests.


• Improvement of the user experience , who will not only have information of extraordinary value, but will also have a 24-hour communication channel. a day, prepared to answer 80% of your questions instantly.


• Rate Check's Business Intelligence , through monitoring the activity of the widget, provides very important information to correct incidents and correct disparities.


• All other advantages associated with using the HiJiffy Chatbot:
  
  
  • Very simple installation and configuration.
  
  
  • All relevant channels (web, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Line, WeChat, Booking.com or even emails).
  
  
  • Transfer to a real agent if necessary, and review all unresolved responses to correct and improve automated attention
  
  
  • Access to customer data (name, telephone and email), in accordance with the GDPR, favoring communications with them
  
  
  • Available for both hotels and hotel chains
  
  
  • Reports and suggestions
  
  

Our Lead Developer, Nacho Marín, immerses us in a beautiful story full of nostalgia, which will lead us, in its second installment, to ask ourselves the following question: do I have the right channel for my engine?

In the mid-19th century, a young Thomas Cook planned the first organized trip to a conference for a group of former alcoholics. Seeing the success he had, he founded the first Travel Agency in history, which would eventually become one of the most widespread tourist groups.

Although the first Spanish agency, Viajes Marsans, arrived in the 1930s, it was in the 1960s when our tourism boom shook all the foundations of the national economic structure. Spain became a country of services. Currently, almost 80% of our economy depends on this sector.

With the exception of regular customers, who contacted the hotel reception directly, practically the entire booking flow between tourists and the establishment was managed by travel agencies. At the same time, and almost inevitably, tour operators (or wholesale agencies) emerged, in charge of providing them with all the available hotel offerings, therefore becoming intermediaries in the reservation processes.

In the 90s, thanks to the technological revolution of the Internet, or because of it, OTAS (Online Travel Agency) appeared on the scene. In 1995 Microsoft created Expedia, and in 1999 the first Spanish OTA was created: viaje.com, later acquired by Rumbo.

In the Internet era, the same hotel room was shared by more than 10,000 physical travel agencies, scattered around the corners of each neighborhood, all the dotcoms on the network and, of course, the direct sales of the hotel. With the intention of trying to bring some order to this chaos, around the year 2000, the figure of the Channel Manager appeared, an online software in which the hotelier posted all their availability and rates, with the system itself being responsible for maintaining updated to OTAS and wholesalers.

But to explain this whole process better, I would like to tell you how I personally experienced the transformation of the sector.

In the midst of the crisis, at the beginning of 2007, after several years working in different programming companies, I landed at the dean of Andalusian wholesale travel agencies, located in the heart of the Costa del Sol. Their website, at that time, It was little more than a mere display, with its postal address and a list of telephone numbers. My goal: develop a booking engine for partner travel agencies.

The company consisted of three or four administrative staff, a team of salespeople, more than 30 agents working in the call center , and an IT department made up of two programmers: a man about to retire, and me, a kid about to get married. .

It should be noted that, before my arrival, 100% of the reservations were made by telephone, and that my partner was mainly dedicated to programming those green and black windows where the call guys typed, at a dizzying pace, to create the reservations ordered by the agencies, on the other end of the receiver. These reservations traveled automatically, via Fax, to the hotel and agencies. As a novelty, very recently they were also sent by email... Quite a step forward! And the beginning of a revolution.

A few months later, the first online reservation finally came in. The page was very well received by travel agencies who, right off the bat, could see availability, photos and videos, and view, on a single screen, the prices of all the regimes, without having to wait in line and listen. desperate waiting messages on our Call .

Gradually, more than half of the reservations were made online, although unfortunately many were on request , since real-time availability was not offered, and they still needed to be verified with the hotel before confirming them to the agency.

The company had undergone the first of its major transformations since my arrival: a new department had been created and more than half of the call center staff had been redirected to the web service department , dedicated body and soul to confirming previously made reservations. By the web.

Even so, reservations were still sent by email, with several addresses in copies: two or three from the hotel, as many from the agency and, of course, ours. And yet, it was not surprising that they ended up getting lost along the way, like lost tourists looking at an upside-down map. A large part of my work consisted of fighting with the hotels' computer scientists to prove to them that the email had, in fact, been sent to them. The problem was that there were a thousand reasons why an email could not have been read and all of them were difficult to prove or justify. Although, at the end of the day, the Rooming Lists were sent to the hotels, a way to compare with them all the reservations that had been made, overbookings were the order of the day.

One morning in 2008, my boss asked me: “Nacho, do you know what a Channel Manager is?” “Of course,” I replied (while Googling it). After a while I received my first connection protocol with a Channel Manager , which was nothing more (nor less) than a two-way text file exchange. That is, not only for downloading reservations, but for sharing prices and availability, this time yes... In real time!

These text files were formatted specifically to make them easy to read by computer programs. It was our dear friend, XML. As if it were a viral fad, in just one year, I had 5 more Channels lined up with which to establish a connection. The hotels were requiring the XML connection from us!

It is necessary to clarify that, until then, we had worked with what we called direct contracting, huge Word documents, in which prices and restrictions were indicated, day by day for the entire season, and which required an entire department. dedicated exclusively to entering rates by hand into our internal system. Thanks to the Channel Managers , it was no longer necessary. With a single integration, we could have hundreds of hotels connected. In other words, two weeks of work had been reduced to 5 minutes (the time necessary to ask the hotel for username, password and hotel code).

In addition, availability was in real time. Reservations on request had become a thing of the past. And most importantly, the reserves were directly integrated. A new transformation took place in the company structure: part of the direct hiring department became the XML incidents department, and there were no longer just two computer scientists, but five.

It has been five years since I joined Paraty Tech as technical manager. You have to see how time goes by... Currently, we are connected to more than 40 external systems ( Channel Managers , PMS, Metasearch engines, etc.), in places as far away as Japan and LATAM. We have established connection with Channels of all types: via XML, JSON, CSV, PULL type integrations, PUSH type, etc. Words like equisemeele , endpoint , cache , buffer , mappings , etc. They are no longer exclusive to computer science jargon. However, I think there are still some doubts about what types of Channel Managers can be found on the market and which one is most suitable for each type of engine.

When I talk to hotel reservation managers, or even to colleagues in the Revenue department, about whether the PULL connection has failed, or whether the XML was corrupted, I sense an uncomfortable silence on the phone that I attribute to some confusion. Without wanting to open a debate about which channel manager is better or worse (we can find dozens of articles on the matter), I will venture to give you some advice: if you are interested in hiring the services of a Channel , ask for feedback from companies in the sector. about the technical support they offer. A Channel can be better or worse from a technical and functional point of view, but if at six in the afternoon they do not answer the phone, and they are capable of leaving your sales closed, without providing a solution, for an entire weekend, It seems clear that it is not the appropriate option.

On the contrary, what I will try, in my next article, is to shed a little light on how it works, taking into account the type of connection, so that, when deciding on one, you know exactly how your availability and your reservations, and which one best suits your needs.

Rereading this article, before sending it to our Communications Director, looking for grammatical and spelling errors, I have come to the following conclusion: that first Voucher , our current voucher, created by Thomas Cook in 1887, has traveled a lot. In its journey, it has grown and has come of age, adapting precisely to the Internet revolution. It is no longer necessary to carry it neatly folded in those cardboard folders with the agency logo. It moves at the speed of light (well, really at the speed of the network).

It is difficult to know where the future will take us. This whole story (or trip to the past) that I just told has happened in just fifteen years. Who can venture to describe the next fifteen, given that yesterday, as they say, being in the cloud meant being absorbed? We'll see, but I'm sure of one thing: Paraty Tech will be there.

There are countless ways to prepare and present a signature dish, just as when it comes time to develop an efficient and productive website, the range of options is infinite.

However, given such a magnitude of possible routes, it is essential not to get lost along the way and always keep the final destination in mind: sales. In other words, what has to be, has to be. And around that, let everyone contribute their own personal touch.

We are very aware of the importance of having a good web recipe to increase the number of reservations, and we have all the necessary ingredients to make it. Sometimes over low heat, other times just round and round. But always respecting the essence of the products, their designation of origin and the palates of their potential consumers.

There was a time when it was enough to simply be there. Getting the order on time was enough to satisfy a conformist customer profile, not in the habit of booking online, very easy to surprise and convince. But this is a changing sector that evolves day by day and the panorama today is very different...

The large fast food chains, the OTAS, which can be seen in every corner of the digital world, with their bombastic names and brands, are established in the best streets and neighborhoods of the network. That is your strong bet. The general public comes across them even if they don't want to and they have been satisfying their appetite for years, at a very good price, by the way. They don't make you fall in love, but they fill you up and they don't taste that bad either. Hoteliers, who also end up paying a good part of the bills with their tips, watch as their establishment becomes overcrowded, of course, at the cost of losing gallons . Can they aspire to more? We know that yes.

The true chefs of technology, communication and revenue management, the “Michelin stars” of direct sales, we have put on our apron and hat, we have taken out our best set of knives and, block in hand, we have focused on creating a concept that, without giving up excellence, means a more equitable distribution of the cake for everyone. The recipe is a classic, and sometimes simplicity is the joy. Having a good official website helps not only to sell more, but also to optimize the profit from such sales .

Ingredients of the original recipe

A mere list of ingredients does not guarantee that the experiment will turn out well. Therefore, below we will explain what a good official website should include, but also how to create it, the optimal times for its execution and how it will help us sell more:

Having a good web recipe is essential to increase the number of reservations:

• Select and carefully collect all the quality raw materials: This point may seem obvious, but knowing the product in depth will make it easier for its true flavor, so appreciated by customers, to come out. Previous information about the establishment and the area is essential, always accompanied by photographs treated with care, and carefully prepared texts. This is the basis of the page's sofrito and it is important not to fall short. There will always be time to throw away what is left over.


• Mix it with the most current design and the latest trends: Sorting and distributing all the material according to the current trends and habits of users is decisive. Structure, usability, compatibility and navigation must go hand in hand to present the material to the navigator in a clear, attractive and suggestive way on any device. Let it enter your eyes from the first moment.


• Season everything with the most powerful booking engine and a good dose of control: This is where true masters deploy our full potential. Having a powerful and versatile booking engine , as well as the best revenue management tools, will allow us to always offer the best prices, offers and promotions. Having reached this point, selling as we want, with guaranteed parity and competition under control, we are very close to serving the client the most succulent website, with the best appearance, at the best price.


• Skip all of the above with a good online marketing boost: It will help us a lot to bring customers to our website and remind them where we are and what we can offer them. Email marketing campaigns, loyalty clubs or promotion on social networks are just some of the complements that we can add to our page to continue highlighting our strengths.


• Plating together with the best SEO/SEM positioning and several doses of trust: We may have developed the most complete site, but if they don't find us it will have been of little use. The hotel page must always appear in the best positions in search engines, metasearch engines and OTAs, and once inside, visitors who have arrived at the Official Website must be reminded that it offers them the possibility of making a 100% reservation. % secure, without management fees and at the best price online. All these details contribute, inspire and will prevent escapes to compare or book through other channels.

Hoteliers need an official website that meets all these requirements which, without a doubt, will necessarily lead to an increase in their direct sales. The booking engine, revenue management tools, design, online marketing and a good telephone support service work as a compact and indivisible whole in favor of the official website and the reservations through it.

Removing any of these parties in the development and construction process would mean taking unnecessary risk. Equivalent, for example, to eliminating cucumber from the gazpacho recipe, something very fashionable lately. They may still call it gazpacho, but it will never be the official one. It will neither taste nor sell the same.