Innovative online marketing and booking platform for independent hotels for less than $70 per month

Jul 28, 08 | 1:55 am

GuestCentric Systems (www.guestcentric.com), the premier Software as a Service (SaaS) provider for the independent hotel industry, launched the first easy to use online marketing and distribution platform for independent hotels. Based on GuestCentric's patent-pending InstantHotel technology hotel managers can now have a complete website up and running in less than one hour, complete with new offerings and promotions.

With GuestCentric's platform, independent hotels are now for the first time able to provide the rich online and offline experience that demanding guests expect without entering time-consuming and expensive customization projects.

Bridging the independent hotel gap

Hotels are under pressure to leverage the Internet as a distribution and marketing channel with customers. While large, high-end hotel chains have large budgets and strong brand recognition for global distribution, non-chain mid-market and smaller, independent hotels are left stranded on how to manage this new reality of more demanding guests without the resources or budgets for new software suites or expensive custom development. Recent studies have indicated that the lackluster adoption of online distribution by independents has been driven from a fear of online cancellations and not being able to deal with floods of email, lack of trust in guest's information coming over the Internet, and reconciling online and offline reservations.

"Things are about to get tougher. Sobering economic conditions and a mature online market are forcing independent hotel managers to rethink their products and distribution strategies," said Pedro Colaco, President and CEO of GuestCentric Systems. "To remain independent, hotel managers must adopt new, more intelligent tools that enable them to focus on their core business and differentiate through products instead of being tied down by technology that served them well in the past but is not fit for today's market conditions."

Create a high-end website in less than 45 Minutes

• First hotel-focused website builder - The GuestCentric platform provides the first hotel-focused website builder. It creates an attractive property display using the result of hundreds of hours of intense usability testing with demanding guests. As a result, sites created with the GuestCentric platform include interaction elements like flash banners, Google maps, weather forecasts, and other public web services.

• Patent-pending InstantHotel technology - Combining automatic content creation with the comfort of automatic spell checking, text formatting, and other helpers, GuestCentric's unique InstantHotel technology avoids the need for external programmers or designers. Hotel managers can now have a new website, booking and pricing up and running in less than 45 minutes.

Automate the booking process

• Next-generation booking engine - Based on the latest Ajax technology, GuestCentric's breakthrough booking engine provides unparalleled speed and convenience for guests willing to book online. The shopping experience is uniquely interactive, allowing key features like deal shopping or one-click checkout for returning guests.

• Easily push promotions and special offers - Due to the tight integration between the different components in the platform, the GuestCentric booking engine automatically highlights special offers, packages or special events to encourage upgrades and filling up rooms in dates where occupancy is lowest.

• Eliminate double-bookings, reduce bogus reservations - GuestCentric lifts the barriers currently faced by independent hotels pressured by minimal resources and staff. Guest information is verified and room availability is checked in real-time before confirming the booking. GuestCentric eliminates double-bookings, reduces bogus reservations, and improves the experience for returning guests by providing automated validation of guest information, real-time availability and pricing information and customizable e-mail confirmations.

Leverage online marketing to engage customers and fill up rooms

• Reinforces guest relationships - The GuestCentric platform automatically recognizes returning guests, reinforcing the customer intimacy that guests experience at independent hotels. The GuestCentric platform automatically creates guest profiles and records guest usage patterns and preferences for hotel managers to quickly identify the most profitable guests and target them for special offers, promotions or loyalty programs.

• Leverage e-mail communications - Templates for automatic responses like reservation confirmations can easily be customized to carry additional messages to drive the hotel's brand to the guest.

"GuestCentric's innovative online customer engagement platform is going to revolutionize the way independent properties do business." said Joao Neto, Online Marketing Director at Memmo Hotels. "We can now compete with larger properties by using a more efficient platform. It's like guerrilla marketing".

For more information about the service, visit www.guestcentric.com/tour-the-service

Pricing and Availability

The GuestCentric service is immediately available and pricing starts at $70 per month. Additional pricing information and details on signing up for a free one-month trial are available on www.guestcentric.com/pricing

About GuestCentric

GuestCentric Systems develops and markets web services that revolutionize the way independent hotels work. GuestCentric has built a Software as a Service platform that allows independent hotels to develop long-standing relationships with guests, improve online revenues and lower expenses associated with online distribution. Through the use of Web 2.0 technologies, GuestCentric provides easy-to-use tools at reasonable prices that up until now were only available for hotels with big budgets. For more information about GuestCentric, visit www.guestcentric.com