Hotel overbooking is a problem scenario that occurs when more rooms are sold than it can accommodate. The hotel takes excess bookings, anticipating some cancellations by guests in the future. Real-time channel manager tools are essential for updating the occupancy rate across all portals and third-party online travel agencies. It ensures that all visitors receive accurate information. Any delayed or incomplete information affects the overall revenue of the hotel. The inefficient reservation management results in negative views, dissatisfied guests, and cancellation of bookings. The integration of PMS (property management system) with the channel manager is pivotal to avoid overbooking and maximize the reach.
Best practices by the channel manager for avoiding overbooking
A hotel channel manager ensures the smooth exchange of reservation data between the PMS system and the booking channel. It maintains the synchronization of inventory data throughout the channel on a real-time basis. Effective inventory management ensures reduced overbooking. Still, the hotels should adopt upgrades to offer a superior experience to guests by minimizing the chances of overbooking, as mentioned below.
● Use a robust reservation system
Build a robust system for reservations that updates room availability and manages inventory on a real-time basis. The system must avoid taking more reservations than the actual number of available rooms.