FormazioneTurismo: Hi Gianfranco, can you briefly tell us what your company does?
Gianfranco Chiaretta: NettoHotel was born eight years ago to meet a need for independent Italian hotels in terms of GDS distribution: there was a lack of a local company that provided an attentive service and did not have the distances and costs of multinationals in the sector. Over time, numerous services were added. In 2009, with the choice of SABRE Synxis technology, there was a turning point towards BOL, which today represents an important part of our business.
TrainingTourism: What exactly is meant by an online booking system?
Gianfranco: In two words: an indispensable tool. No establishment today should be without it, not even the small family-run business. To give it a broader definition, I would say that it is a combination of technology and marketing that allows the customer to book the hotel through the network.
TrainingTourism: Not all accommodation businesses' sites have - yet - a BOL. In your opinion, what are the reasons for the resistance? Economic factors, knowledge, because many establishments are seasonal, or small in size?
Gianfranco: In my opinion, it is mainly a problem of information and knowledge. There is such a plurality of systems that now meet all needs, operational and portfolio. A hotel can find on the market from the system that includes the creation of the site, the photographer, SEM and SEO with 5-figure annual costs, to the simplest product with costs per transaction close to a cup of coffee.
This initiative of yours contributes to spreading information and knowledge.
TourismTraining: Thank you Gianfranco for the appreciation. Let's talk about one of the most important aspects: functionality! What are the most important ones offered by your Online Booking?
Gianfranco: "Guest Connect" was designed based on the evaluation of user behaviour in front of the video, hence one of its main features: ease of use and immediacy of functions. The customer can close a booking in 3 clicks. At the same time, the system invites the customer to register and to provide more information that is valuable for the hotel, which feeds into the statistics and marketing and allows the hotel to maintain contact with the customer over time. Very important are also the functionalities of:
FormazioneTurismo: Let's move on to benchmarking: what kind of added value does the online booking you provide offer compared to the competition? Why should a customer choose your system?
Gianfranco: I would say three things: functionality, support, cost flexibility.
Let's start with the latter: we are able to tailor the offer to the potential and needs of the hotelier. Let me explain: if the need is to have the certainty of the cost of the instrument, we propose a fixed annual cost; if the potential of the structure is reduced or if you prefer to have the costs linked to production, we propose variable costs with competitive percentages. We also have the option of a mixed formula: a lower annual fee but with a transaction/year threshold and a flat cost per transaction above the threshold.
Support is an important aspect and one of our qualities: we are an Italian company and we provide support from Italy up to 7 days if requested. No call centres anywhere in the world and our customer is seen as a partner who contributes to the success of our business.
The functions: I have already mentioned some of the main ones, but I must not make the mistake of forgetting the general ones because they are considered obvious. Looking at the plurality of proposals on the market, one realises that many times they are not so obvious. I am referring to the extensive management of images, to the principles of navigability and usability, to the completeness of the information, to the management of languages, to the possibility of creating specific web pages for an event or for an affiliated client, to the function of crossing out the full price when presenting a promotional one.
TrainingTourism: Essential for an establishment is that the BOL system aligns with their website. Is it possible to adapt the system provided by you to any website? Is an alignment with the hotel's internal management system planned or foreseeable?
Gianfranco: Of course, alignment with the site is a basic aspect. Ours is perfectly harmonisable with any site, with a choice of "iframe" or new page. We also have the possibility of designing the "teaser" (a mask containing the dates to be filled in to request availability and rates) in html, which can therefore not only be integrated, but designed into the site itself. I would like to open a separate chapter on the "reweb" operations that should be carried out on a large number of sites, but I would go a bit off topic. As far as data exchange with the hotel management system is concerned, we have some international software that is directly integrated into the system, while others can be connected through our Channel Manager.
TrainingTourism: I am a hotelier and I have a BOL system. What can I do with it besides managing bookings? Translated: What can a hotelier manage using your company's online booking? Are the offers and packages and content generated with your software SEO friendly? By what standards?
Gianfranco: If a hotelier has a valid CMS at his disposal or has the professional skills to help him manage offers and packages correctly, then these will be SEO friendly. We often suggest creating special pages not only for promotions, offers or packages but also for events both within the hotel (e.g. conferences) and those in the area, which are perhaps considered marginal, and we explain how to configure the button for sending requests to the system. Our BOL is able to respond with the necessary proposals to any need: the price for the specific promotion, availability and confirmation for the conference delegate (who may not even see what price has been agreed with the PCO), the package, the rate agreed for the agenda, the rate linked to the event in the city.
TrainingTourism: A hotel can apply different pricing strategies and marketing actions (advanced booking, or discounts of various kinds, etc.). Is the online booking system you provide flexible enough to allow these operations to be carried out quickly?
Gianfranco: Sure! Not only can you define pricing strategies and marketing actions but, as I've already mentioned, Dynamic Packaging allows you to establish the automatisms according to which you can apply them, open them up or close them on sale. Our BOL works hand in hand with Revenue Management.
TrainingTourism: Let's talk about the plurality of sales channels: how does the BOL system interface with the Channel Managers?
Gianfranco: We have a close collaboration with one of the most advanced Channel Managers which is fully integrated 2-way XML, including the automatic pricing part. I know that many others on the market have implemented one-way html links with our technology.
TrainingTourism: Social media marketing, the new frontier of communication. Nowadays, accommodation facilities have realised that they cannot do without it. How about you? Do you provide a BOL service for Facebook or other platforms?
Gianfranco: We are among the first to have a BOL widget directly on Facebook. To come back to a previous question, the social argument is the fourth, indeed the first argument for a hotelier to point to our system.
TrainingTourism: Mobile applications are also a key tool today that the market strongly demands. Do you provide a mobile BOL service? If yes, what features does the mobile BOL service offer?
Gianfranco: Yes, our BOL is also in mobile technology. Which functions? Obviously all of them.
TrainingTourism: The importance of monitoring everything that happens on your BOL. Are web analytics and statistical data integrated or on demand?
Gianfranco: There are both possibilities: a series of statistics that can be consulted at any time from the control panel and, on request, we can configure and insert tracking codes for Google Analytics. In addition, we have an optional tool called 'RezTrack', which combines internal statistical functions (linked to bookings and/or attempts) and typical web functions in conjunction with Google Analytics.
TrainingTourism: Let's talk about costs, which is what hoteliers really care about, especially these days. What is the price of the BOL system you provide? Are any BOL mobile/Facebook services included in the price or do they have to be purchased separately?
Gianfranco: As mentioned, cost flexibility is one of the qualities, one of the added values of our solution. You can't talk about "one price", but rather the result of many variables. It's like asking a hotel how much a room costs: it depends on when I need it, for how many nights, when I book it, when I pay for it, what type I require, how many people, what other services I require. In our case it depends on the needs of the hotelier (fixed or percentage fee) how many rooms the hotel has, how many transactions are expected to arrive, what other services are required. We always try to strike a balance between the demands of an increasingly busy market and the right minimum remuneration.
TrainingTourism: Does your BOL address businesses with specific needs/characteristics or can it be suitable for any kind of business? Are there any solutions and/or suggestions for e.g. seasonal structures or for some non-hotel types with small size and accommodation capacity?
Gianfranco: The size of the building is not a problem, but its flexibility is a strong point. The 2,000-room hotel in Las Vegas and the Alpine chalet use it profitably. "Guest Connect is unbeatable for hotels that are open all year round, but it also works well for family-run hotels.
