Posted on October 17, 2010 by Hotelier MiddleEast.com

GuestCentric extends cloud computing access

Launch of Developer’s Cloud will assist independent hotels with websites

GuestCentric has launched a new e-commerce solutions service designed to help independent hotels offer fully integrated websites without having to go through a lengthy development process.
The Developers Cloud enables web designers and developers to provide an end-to-end solution to their customers based on a leading hotel e-commerce cloud.

GuestCentric VP of product management Filipe Machaz said: “Opening our cloud to web designers and developers around the world provides them the opportunity to take advantage of GuestCentric’s leading web-based platform tailored to the hotel industry. This unprecedented access to the cloud will allow designers and developers to come up with some new ideas and innovations that may not have been previously considered or even thought possible”.

The launch of the Developers Cloud is the second step in opening the GuestCentric community for designers and developers, and follows on from the successful launch of the WordPress booking engine plug-in and Joomla! booking engine module.

GuestCentric user, Rodrigo Costa, managing partner at Monday Interactive Marketing, commented: “Since we moved our website development to the GuestCentric cloud, we were able to deliver top-notch solutions to our customers with very limited effort, since GuestCentric provides a complete e-commerce and social marketing platform, and have been able to focus on what we do best: innovate.

“We are now in the process of developing a mobile reservations application based on the GuestCentric API that will provide our customers a powerful way to engage guests on the day of check-in and GuestCentric already showed interest in potentially reselling it to their growing customer base of properties around the world,” said Costa.

Posted On: 10/12/2010 by Hospitality Technology

GuestCentric Partners with Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association

GuestCentric Systems, the social cloud provider of e-Commerce solutions for the independent hotel industry, announced today that the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association (BLLA) will offer GuestCentric’s integrated e-Commerce platform as part of its distribution solution to optimize online bookings for BLLA member properties that choose to use the system.

GuestCentric’s technology offers independent properties the opportunity to provide a rich online and offline experience to demanding guests, without entering in time-consuming and expensive customization projects.

Through the new consumer BLLA website, boutique hoteliers will have the means to distinguish their properties and brands and easily communicate their offerings directly to travelers. Thanks to GuestCentric technology, boutique hotels are going to be able to expand their guests online activity by allowing them to find a hotel based on experiences. In addition, the one screen-booking engine simplifies the transaction process and provides a fluid shopping experience to guests.

Read press release

More and more independent properties have to adapt online technologies to meet the demands of their customers and overcome rough economic times. Can smaller properties create a strong online presence focused on maximizing online bookings with the help of innovative technologies?

Aware of the new online searching patterns of travelers, StayinEstes.com a 9-loft independent property located in Estes Park, CO was committed to create and control a successful e-commerce strategy. At the same time they were concerned about how to provide a professional looking website that increased their direct bookings. Read more

GuestCentric in Tnooz

Posted by Dennis Schaal on September 20, 2010

GuestCentric, which develops e-commerce solutions for independent hotels, gave developers access to its platform through a Developers Cloud.

Filipe Machaz, GuestCentric vice president of product development, says developers will have access to GuestCentric website and API documentation through the cloud.

In a YouTube video about the Developers Cloud, Machaz says “you’ll have multiple people developing small ideas on top of this infrastructure.”

The company says the Developers Cloud will enhance the GuestCentric platform and give Web designers and developers the ability to add e-commerce solutions to their hotel industry products.

Nuno Silva, a partner in Wiz Interactive, a digital communications agency in Lisbon, Portugal, says the company is using a GuestCentric API to integrate two clients’ websites with the GuestCentric booking system and is working on a mobile app for a customer in Portugal. Read more

Five Reasons why holiday rentals are becoming mini-hotels

by Pedro Colaco

Due to the recent economic downfall guests are searching for alternative accommodation products for their leisure travel.
Vacation rentals are capitalizing on this trend and finding ways to reinvent their offer and look for new online distribution channels.
Firstly, there are now important distribution sites like Homeaway to sell their units.
Secondly, vacation rental owners and managers finally understood that having their own website and a reliable e-commerce system with social marketing tools can help them grow their business.

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Case study published in Hospitality Technology posted on 07/22/2009

The Hotel Cuatro Naciones is an independent property of 55 rooms located in the heart of La Rambla, the most visited street in Barcelona. Like many other hotels all over the world, Cuatro Naciones experienced a dramatic 50% drop in their reservations at the beginning of 2009. Aware of the changes in travelers’ preferences toward online services, the hotel had to look for online solutions to help them to overcome the economic crisis, provide exceptional services for demanding travelers, and increase their direct online booking. After an exhaustive search, the manager of the hotel found in GuestCentric Systems  the solution that best fit their needs.
Hotel Cuatro Naciones adopted GuestCentric’s full-feature platform, which provided them with powerful online marketing and distribution tools. Quickly they were able to deploy a brand new hotel website design powered with an innovative booking engine, a reservation platform and direct social media integration with Twitter and Facebook.
Based on industry best practices and intensive usability tests, the new interactive website provides visitors with all of the necessary information about the property and its surroundings, while improving the visitors-to-booking ratio. By taking advantage of the multilingual website feature, the hotel expanded their target markets and now attracts visitors from Italy, France, the United Kingdom and the United States. With GuestCentric’s InstantHotel Technology, Cuatro Naciones can also take full control of their website by editing information whenever it is necessary, without the need for external programmers or designers.
Because GuestCentric’s platform is fully integrated, The Cuatro Naciones’ website is able to benefit from a best-in-class hotel booking engine that provides a truly interactive shopping experience for visitors. This innovative one-screen booking engine has an interactive calendar that displays up to 550 days of real-time availability and pricing. Due to its ease-of-use, Cuatro Naciones was able to reinvent its online offers and target more sophisticated visitors. Featuring a double security certification with security shields from VeriSign Secured and McAfee Secure, customers are ensured that all personal information submitted stays private.

Centralized reservations

In addition, the Hotel Cuatro Naciones can now simplify the management of both online and offline reservations through GuestCentric’s reservation platform, avoiding controversial issues like overbooking and double booking. The platform also simplifies guest and contacts management by creating an automated database with all the relevant information to help in the optimization of marketing campaigns.
“The analytical information provided by the dashboard helped us understand the importance of the international market for our property. The international traffic of the website accounts for 80% of the visits and more than 50% of our online reservations; after learning this information it was crucial for the hotel to simplify the searching process. That is when we decided to add another language to our website,” says Aurelio Saiz Hotel Cuatro Naciones e-commerce
The interaction with the BackOffice dashboard has helped hotel management to better understand the behavior of their online visitors, and measure the website’s success. With access to easy graphical information that was not available before, the hotel manager can now take timely actions like create and test different marketing campaigns to increase visitor flow and direct online bookings. And through the use of cost effective advertising campaigns combined with the latest trends of the market, Hotel Cuatro Naciones was able to adapt new ways to improve brand awareness and increase market share.

A boost to business

The results for the Hotel Cuatro Naciones exceeded all expectations. Within a month and a half of launching their new website and booking engine, the hotel experienced a 190% increase in their direct online reservations. And in the middle of an unfavorable economic period, within three months of deployment, online reservations alone were responsible for an increase of 180% in the overall hotel business.
Especially important for independent hoteliers, the simplicity of the integrated platform allows the hotel managers to spend more time in strategically planning and taking care of their customers rather than only managing reservations.
“The old website provided basic information about the property, so it was never part of our sales tools strategy. The first time we saw the new interactive website, we immediately saw the benefits of using it as our primarily sales tool,” says Aurelio.

Independent Properties Turning Lookers into Bookers

By Pedro Colaco GuestCentric President and CEO

Nowadays the web has become a powerful search engine tool for travelers. Hence hotels must make sure that their websites transmit quality, professionalism and credibility together with a good design and comfortable look-and-feel. Read more

How to create a sales driven hotel website

Nowadays the web has become a powerful search engine tool for travelers. Your website is your best sales representative, therefore it is important for it to provide the proper tools to engage lookers and turn them into bookers.

By Pedro Colaco GuestCentric President and CEO

Read more

Great savings of up to 31% for integrated e-Commerce and Social Cloud Solutions for hotels

GuestCentric Systems launches new pricing plans

GuestCentric Systems, the social cloud provider of e-commerce solutions for the independent hotel industry just launched the ultimate pricing plan for its customers. Read more

How can independent properties achieve e-commerce success?

More and more independent properties are looking into adopting the best technologies in the market to improve their e-commerce. Here are 4 tips to keep in mind when planning your e-commerce strategy.

By Pedro Colaco, President and CEO, GuestCentric

Read more