POC Special FESR Section - Complementary Operational Programme Veneto 14-20

3.3.4/C – Support for the competitiveness of businesses in tourist destinations, through measures to upgrade the offer and innovate products and services

This project helped improve the hotel’s performance through the digitalisation of certain services and the adoption of new benchmarking tools. The project was designed around three main objectives:

  • improving dialogue and interaction with the end customer, both when booking and at check-in;
  • computerising the management of booking channels;
  • systematically analysing the hotel’s performance through continuous benchmarking of the property over the years.

Dialogue with the customer and the guest

In order to improve communication with its audience of potential and actual guests, Hotel Orso Grigio invested in an online booking system that makes it possible to:

  • ensure greater flexibility and speed in managing rates, periods and offers, as well as the ability to sell extra services offered by the hotel;
  • make booking easier for the guest, who can check availability and complete a reservation independently, without contacting the property directly and without relying on international OTAs;
  • keep track of user preferences;
  • improve the image of the property itself.

Communication with the guest is further improved through web check-in software that makes it possible to:

  • manage online check-ins, allowing arriving guests to enter their personal details remotely. This system was adopted in order to avoid queues and gatherings at reception, ahead of the opening of the summer season in June 2020 and for the following seasons;
  • manage check-outs, giving guests the chance to review their bill before paying at the desk. This also avoids waits and queues at reception at check-out;
  • upload text, photos, videos and PDF attachments that guests can access before they arrive, create a detailed menu of the services offered, and give guests useful advice with a personalised map.

Contrary to what was planned when the application was submitted, this part was not included in the grant application, because the software originally planned (My Reception), after an initial trial period, was replaced with another, much more effective software, so the costs were different.

Booking channel management

The property invested in computerising booking management processes by acquiring a Channel Manager. The system allows better synchronisation of the various booking channels with the hotel’s property-management system. This significantly reduces errors when entering reservations into the management software and clearly optimises the operator’s time.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking was made possible by the booking engine mentioned above for property-level data (comparison with previous seasons, room occupancy analysis, rate analysis and analysis of guests’ preferred booking channels). Comparison at area level was made possible by dynamic pricing software, which considers a number of external variables in order to manage the property’s rates. These variables include competitor analysis, analysis of historical visitor numbers in the area, and the study of events or particular situations in the area that require rates to be raised or lowered.

Grant amount: € 4,438.90