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Paraty Tech strengthens its position as a leading technology partner in the hospitality sector and within the scaleup ecosystem.

Paraty Tech has been included, for the second consecutive year, in the prestigious Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Spain ranking, which recognizes the fastest-growing technology companies within Spain’s entrepreneurial and scaleup ecosystem. In addition, its CEO, Gina Matheis, has been honored with the Women in Tech Award, presented as part of the same program.

The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Spain program identifies and showcases companies that have achieved sustained and significant revenue growth over the past four years, driven by innovation, technology, and scalable business models. It has also established itself as a growth platform for participating companies, facilitating connections with investors, corporations, and institutions, while strengthening Spain’s position as a technology hub.

This new inclusion of Paraty Tech in the prestigious ranking of one of the Big Four validates the strength of its growth strategy, built on proprietary technology development, continuous innovation, a strong commitment to direct hotel distribution, and its ability to adapt in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

“Being part of the Deloitte Fast 50 ranking for the second consecutive year is a recognition of the consistent work of the entire Paraty Tech team and the trust of the hotels that invest in direct distribution. Receiving the Women in Tech Award is especially meaningful to me. It represents not only a personal achievement, but also a clear message: technology and innovation require diversity, talent, and forward-looking leadership. These recognitions motivate us to continue developing solutions that strengthen the competitiveness of the direct channel and support hotels in an increasingly technology-driven and demanding environment”, said Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech.

You dedicate significant resources to driving traffic to your official website, your primary sales platform and the main link to your booking engine, where the reservation will ultimately be completed. Therefore, once you've attracted potential guests, you can't afford to lose them. To prevent this, the first thing you must understand is that they don't want to think; they want convenience.

In this article we focus on three essential requirements to offer the convenience your users crave, and which your direct channel must meet: flexibility, exclusivity, and variety .

Spoiler alert: the solution for each of them can be found in technology.

Flexibility

Non-availability, your main point of leakage

We know you pay close attention to everything related to your sales. In fact, most business intelligence tools offer countless metrics in this area, and that's good, because understanding the reasons behind them allows you to identify patterns that you can, in theory, replicate in the future with the same effectiveness. But… what about what you've stopped selling? You might be missing out on something at least as important.

We're referring to all those inquiries that didn't return availability, becoming a critical point of contention for your direct online channel . Therefore, your primary goal should be zero unavailability , because... how can you implement conversion boosters when there are no results to boost? And from the user's perspective, is there anything more frustrating than not even getting a response?

Studying the reasons for unavailability will allow you to:

• Fixing issues : Sometimes, it's just that, a simple error that you can easily correct. For example, the absence of fares for a specific date.
• Identify opportunities : your booking engine is a source of real-time Big Data and your users' searches provide very valuable information.
• Optimize your business strategy : Properly analyzing all this information allows you to refine your business strategy, for example, by modifying your minimum stay restrictions, creating new room types, or adapting to the lead time of certain markets.

Smart redirects and other allies of interest

Perhaps your hotel doesn't have a triple room, you're convinced that during peak season you only want stays of 6 nights or more, or you simply have 100% occupancy on a particular date. Does this mean you shouldn't return availability when the search parameters don't meet these requirements? Not necessarily, because technology offers the flexibility you can't provide. Here are some solutions to the most common reasons for unavailability:

• Lack of Pricing : Make sure to set up pricing for 1 or 2 years in advance, even if you're not sure what the right price will be at that point and you need to cover your bases. It's better to be considered expensive than to be considered nothing at all.
• Entire Hotel : You can enable On Request Reservations (a cancellation for some translates into a confirmation for others) or offer alternative dates close to the inquiry date. In both cases, you ensure they reach the first step of the process (room selection).
• Minimum stay restrictions : We're not suggesting you change your sales approach, but a smart stay redirect, in addition to restoring availability, can help you increase your revenue. How? By offering the price for 6 nights (your minimum stay) for a 4-night stay (the requested number). The guest might be willing to pay, and you'll double the room's profitability by being able to resell the two nights that weren't occupied but for which the guest paid. Everyone's happy!
• Occupancy restrictions : The user is looking for a triple room that isn't in your inventory, but instead of responding "I don't have a triple room," you respond "I don't have a triple room, but I can offer you a double and a single." This is how smart occupancy redirection works. It might not be their preferred option, but they may be happy with that alternative. When someone is given flexibility, they also tend to be more flexible.

Exclusiveness

It generates positive disparities, but not only in price.

With availability secured through technologies that promote flexibility, it's time to activate all possible conversion enhancers to finalize the booking. Price is king, we know, and we must continue to emphasize the importance of implementing solutions designed to:

• Controlling parity (using a rate shopper like Price Seeker, for example)
• Inform the user that they are enjoying the best online price available on the direct channel (price comparison sites with OTAs and goals within the booking process, such as Rate Check)
• Ensure compliance with this promise with automated tools for matching prices with OTAs in real time, or even improving them (such as Parity Maker), always in accordance with your business rules.

But these are also the disparities that make it harder to stand out due to the economic power of the big players in the intermediary sales sector, whose high commissions allow them to sacrifice part of their profit to be more competitive and encourage more bookings to go to their platforms.

That's why we want to remind you that price disparities can take many forms, and your direct channel should offer advantageous conditions that set you apart from other players and are only available through your official website. Combining these with other aspects designed to build trust, such as consistent URLs between the website and the booking engine, or an endless calendar with different views, including a search for the cheapest month , is a winning formula. Here are some examples:

• Payment methods and options : it's not just about quantity, but personalization. In addition to enabling as many options as possible (card, bank transfer, installments, instant payments, Apple, Google, Amazon, PayPal, etc.), make sure you offer your users solutions that align with their preferences, currencies, and trusted local brands. Up to one in two bookings are lost at checkout, and features like our Retry Payment will provide various opportunities and alternatives to try to increase the likelihood of a successful transaction.
• Unique services and exclusive benefits : If anyone can make a difference by offering in-stay benefits, it's you. Advanced Additional Services allow you, for example, to configure free or discounted extras based on the booking value (transfers, late check-out, early check-in), offer exclusive benefits that will also help you increase the average spend and leverage your facilities (discounts on services or restaurants), upgrades, and more.
• Improved UX and enriched content in room listings : features such as the digital twin or the inclusion of 360º virtual tours and/or videos will elevate the user experience to a higher level.
• Loyalty : The best way to reward your guests from their very first booking is through a loyalty program. A well-designed program tailored to your operations will enhance the booking experience and your guests' stay, encouraging them to become repeat customers. Furthermore, only through direct bookings can you create a fully customized loyalty program perfectly suited to your interests and needs.
• Voice channel : simply having a visible contact phone number increases conversion rates. Leverage a call center to cater to the preferences of your different customer profiles and contribute to omnichannel communication.

Variety

Your direct channel should be just as good as a tour operator's.

Increasingly, we're facing a type of traveler who prioritizes convenience. And thanks to technological advancements from providers like us, your direct booking channel should now be just as good as the experience of booking with a tour operator or an OTA.

However, to achieve this, you need to activate certain conversion levers. Variety is the spice of life, and the more options you offer your users, the less likely they are to look for them elsewhere.

• A diverse pricing structure : Traditional standard, flexible, and non-refundable rates are no longer enough. Your guests need more: more security, more confidence, more variety. Introduce new options such as rates with cancellation or travel assistance insurance (also available as add-ons), resellable rates, semi-non-refundable rates, and more. The goal is for each guest to find a rate that resonates with them. And don't forget to add visibility boosters to the rates that best suit their needs.
• Dynamic packages : Combine services and experiences with accommodation, without limitations, with dynamic packages. Let your guests decide which room to combine with which service, for how long of their stay, and for how many people.
• Upselling and cross-selling : These occur at different points in the booking cycle, as your guest's situation can be very different on the day of booking and two days before arrival. Take advantage of communications such as confirmation emails or pre-stay emails to offer them ways to enhance their experience and, in turn, increase the average ticket price.
• Hotel + Flight Vacation Package : Paraty Tech's booking engine is the only one on the market with native Hotel + Flight integration. This means that without redirects or URL changes, your guests can also book their flight seamlessly, adding another step to the booking process.
• Book experiences at your destination : accommodation, flights, and experiences at your destination, with immediate confirmation. The perfect combination for your guests to plan their entire vacation through your official website. All this is made possible through native integrations with strategic partners.

Bonus track: What about lost reservations?

It goes from capturing to rescuing

Despite all these efforts, many bookings will be lost along the way. Every day, dozens of potential guests abandon the process, representing high-value demand at the bottom of the funnel that, without the right tools, is lost forever. With our new Leads Panel, you can identify and organize this lead and launch outbound campaigns designed to convert that purchase intent into actual bookings.

The stage the guest is at in the booking process is not trivial, and in this case, they have already shown a genuine intention to book. In fact, this is key to the success of the Lead Panel , designed to capture lost demand from Outbound Campaigns , which are more numerous once they reach the Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu).

• EFFECTIVE : the client was one step away from confirming.
• URGENT : the shorter the lead time, the higher the probability of conversion.
• PROFITABLE : prioritize higher value bookings with filters.

The hotel distribution ecosystem is undergoing constant transformation, and OTAs, far from losing pace, seem determined to lead the way. It's no surprise that many of the leading online travel agencies have gradually strengthened their offerings with the option to book Hotel+Flight packages, often through third parties, which has become almost a standard within the segment.


A step that goes beyond improving the user experience and directly aims to strengthen your customer acquisition capacity and control over the entire traveler booking process. What you may not have considered is that if you don't have at least one comparable solution in your direct channel, you're already falling behind . A situation that represents another form of disparity, beyond price (remember that disparity is not just about rates), that directly impacts your competitiveness.

Evolution of the “dynamic package” in OTAs

To provide some context, below we review when and how the various global OTAs were incorporating this functionality , a clear sign of the high stakes.

• Expedia : A pioneer in dynamic bundling, it launched its Hotel + Flight program in 2012, surpassing 3 million package sales just one year later. In 2018, it further encouraged package bookings by applying discounts of up to 50% on hotels when adding a flight.


• Booking : Traditionally focused on hotel bookings, it launched its flight and package offering around 2017 (coinciding with its acquisition of eTraveli, which closed in 2023 after several blockages). Today, it offers flights on various sites on its website, including search results, and has a dedicated Flight+Hotel tab that links to a portal powered by Lastminute. Offering flights through a third party implies a loss of control and a fragmented experience , with frequent complaints about redirects and service (exactly the same as what happened on the official hotel website before the arrival of the native integration we recently launched).

In addition to these two giants, many others (including several owned by their respective holding companies) have long since joined the Hotel+Flight movement, often using third-party engines to power their flight engines or packaging.

• Hotels.com (since 2000, Expedia Group)
• eDreams (fully specialized since its founding, back in 2000-2005)
• Hotwire (since 2003, Expedia Group)
• Priceline (since 2005, Booking Holdings)
• Despegar (2010, main OTA in Latin America)
• Trip.com (2017, Chinese group with a strong presence in Asia)
• Agoda (since 2019, Booking Holdings)

And to top it all off, a probable price disparity

When an OTA offers a Hotel + Flight package, it not only provides a differentiating value compared to hotels that don't, simply by including the flight, but it can also create a potential price disparity that's difficult to overcome, even with a room-only option. Why does this happen?

In addition to OTAs' ability to reduce their commission on accommodation-only bookings, in order to subsidize part of the booking cost and facilitate the closing of the sale (the impact of this strategy can be minimized by disabling online payments on the OTA, but this is not always sufficient), they benefit from the opaque nature of the vacation package .

By accessing highly competitive airfares due to the high volume they manage, they can lower the price of the hotel package without the customer clearly understanding how much they are paying for each component. The result is a package offer that exceeds, in price and perceived value, the sum of the separate hotel and flight bookings , even when the accommodation is booked directly through the establishment's official website.

While Oceanflights allows hotels to compete on a level playing field, in the hands of OTAs, this resource becomes a powerful lever for diverting regular hotel-only customers to their platforms, thanks to a more competitive final price.



Therefore, the disparity is no longer reduced solely to a perception of differential value that improves the traveler's experience, but also to a perception of price, a direct threat to the distribution strategy and customer loyalty: two key pillars to ensure the profitability and sustainability of the direct channel.

The Value of Oceanflights: Why is Native Integration Important?

Oceanflights, our native Hotel + Flight solution, developed in conjunction with Maarlab , allows hotels and hotel chains to offer vacation packages directly through their official website and telephone reservation center. This eliminates the need for third parties, redirects, and URL changes, ensuring a seamless experience for both the user and operational level, and strengthening the value proposition for increasingly demanding and comfortable guests. In short:

• Total control, no redirects
  Allows you to book Hotel + Flight without intermediaries or jumps.
• Reduction of functional disparities
  The disparities aren't just about price: they include payment methods, occupancy, features... If your website doesn't offer packages, the direct channel is clearly at a disadvantage compared to an OTA that does.
• Increase in direct sales
  The package attracts new niches seeking convenience and savings, boosting the reach and average sales of the direct channel, which will increase by around 10% to 15%.
• Reduction in cancellations
  Due to the non-refundable nature of package flights, the cancellation rate for accommodations is reduced by up to 97%.
• Solid user experience
  Complete booking without leaving your website or call center, eliminating friction and building trust.
• Access to 95% of air connectivity
  By integrating Oceanflights, you allow your guests to combine their room reservation with a wide variety of flights, thanks to its compatibility with most airlines on the market.
• Data ownership and management
  Since this is a real direct sale, you have complete control over your customer data. You can integrate it into your CRM, analyze it from your BI, and personalize the experience just like any other booking.
• Full integration into the loyalty program
  Oceanflights adapts to your Loyalty Program. Customers will continue to earn points, retain their benefits, and enjoy an experience consistent with their loyalty status.

Prevent OTAs from gaining ground on you

Given this scenario, staying ahead of the technological curve is no longer just an option, but an obligation. If OTAs offer Hotel+Flight packages, often through third parties, why not take advantage of this unique opportunity to do it better than many of them and provide differentiated value, endorsed by the hotel brand guests trust and supported by the corresponding licenses (ATOL and IATA)?

Beyond price, the real challenge lies in offering a complete, agile, and seamless experience from the hotel's official website. Therefore, implementing transfer and experience sales at the origin with immediate confirmation, and flight sales natively in your booking engine, represents an effective response to counteracting the flight churn to third parties , allowing hotels to:

• Raise your direct sales ceiling
• 100% control over experience and margin
• Eliminate functional disparity
• Weathering the competition from OTAs

This Easter, tourism in Spain grew 62% compared to 2024 , with longer stays and higher spending. Despite rain, cancellations were lower. This highlights the importance of an effective telephone channel like Ring2Travel , which is key to managing high demand, improving results, and preparing for the summer season.

To learn more, read the full article on the ITH blog.

As the year comes to a close, it’s time for the most anticipated moment: to pause, look back with perspective, take stock of everything we’ve built together, and, why not, celebrate more than one unlocked achievement. After a 2024 that we faced with enthusiasm, filled with innovations and challenges overcome, we can only express our sincere gratitude to all the clients who have placed their trust in our services this year, and of course, to those who have been doing so for over a decade.

As always, we’ve worked with dedication and commitment to provide the best technological solutions for the hospitality industry, expanding our reach, growing our team, increasing the markets in which we operate, and reinforcing our mission to boost direct hotel sales.

Today, in this article, we look back at the moments that made 2024 an unforgettable year, fully aware that we continue moving toward a future filled with new challenges.

Tailored solutions for a constantly evolving Industry

At the latest edition of FITUR, we surprised the industry with the presentation of Paraty Campings, an innovative adaptation of our flagship tool, the booking engine, to meet the specific needs of campgrounds and glamping sites. This solution simplifies the management of reservations while respecting the unique operational requirements of these establishments. This launch is 100% aligned with our diversification strategy, aiming to provide customized solutions for every accommodation segment. Another major milestone this year was our expansion into the United States, with the opening of a commercial office led by our Business Development Manager for North America, Rafe Marshall. This move has not only continued our international expansion process but also allowed us to engage with and participate in prestigious events in the country, such as HITEC, Independent Hotel Show, and The Hospitality Show. It has been a challenging few months in a competitive and different market, but we can now proudly celebrate the recent go-live of our first projects in the US, the iconic The Colony Hotel and The Kent Hotel.

Key partnerships driving change

As we predicted in our 2023 recap article, we knew this would be the year of collaborations, and we were right. The debut of Daniel Romero as Director of Strategic Partnerships has marked the beginning of a crucial phase, where the expansion of our partner network has become a major driver of support for growth. Considering the various initiatives we have underway, we can confidently say that this trend will continue to solidify in 2025.

From partnerships like the one established with Spazious, a leading company in the MICE sector with its booking engine for events and groups, to becoming official resellers of the popular channel manager Siteminder, which has undoubtedly contributed—and will continue to do so—to opening more doors and consolidating our presence in key markets like Latin America and the United States, to close collaborations with technologies such as Revbell and Duetto, market-leading RMSs, and pioneering integrations like that with TripResale, creators of the Revendible Rate, a disruptive solution set to become the natural replacement for traditional Non-Refundable rates.

A global presence on the tourism map

As we mentioned, 2024 has been largely defined by strategic partnerships, but it has also been the year of events, both our own and those of others. Staying true to our principle that if it works, don’t fix it, we once again invested in our roadshows. Under the name HIT (Hotels. Insights. Technology.) in Mexico, Colombia, and Portugal, and Hoteltrends in Spain, we traveled through key destinations in the various markets where we operate. Along the way, we partnered with a wide range of collaborators (Hotelverse, SiteMinder, Duetto, Sojern, Host Hotel System, RM Hub, etc.), reaching over 250 hoteliers per country and establishing ourselves as a powerful educational and informative resource.

However, organizing events wasn’t our only focus—we also supported the initiatives of our regular collaborators. In this regard, we were determined to support Smart Travel News in its debut in the complex world of events, which led us to Madrid on two occasions. First, at the Méndez Álvaro cinemas, to participate in Smart Travel News Inspire, and then, at Finca La Alquería, where we were nominated for their unique and original awards.

We also didn’t miss our opportunity to attend Revenue Day, organized by the amazing professionals at Incubadora Revenue, nor the TH500 Gala, where we celebrated with TecnoHotel the publication of its 500th magazine issue. All of these events not only helped us strengthen our global presence but also kept us true to our decision to be where hoteliers are.

Our Blog: a source of inspiration and knowledge for the hospitality industry

Paraty Tech's blog continues to be one of the key sources of information and a central point of connection between our clients, the industry, and innovation. This year, it has served as a platform to showcase new features, such as wallet cards and "on request" bookings, analyze the impact of major changes to current models, such as those introduced by the DMA on platforms like Google Hotel Ads and Booking.com, and highlight the success stories of hoteliers through the publication of case studies.

In this regard, we have shared growth stories, such as the one from Oasis Hotels & Resorts, renovation projects like Royal River Luxury Hotel, examples of customization, such as adapting Price Seeker to the specific needs of El Llorenç Parc de la Mar, and the notable contribution of certain tools like Call Seeker, one of the most well-received recent launches. Articles, videos, and downloadable documents have all played a role in paving the way for optimizing both online and offline direct channels.

All of this has been timed with key dates on the calendar, like Black Friday Black Friday and Buen Fin, which led us to develop pieces aimed at maximizing profitability, such as an interactive checklist designed to help establish strategies for optimizing each area involved in hotel marketing during peak demand periods.

Our team, our strength

Internally, following a trend that has lasted for over a decade, 2024 has also been a year of significant growth. We have added 50 new team members, bringing us dangerously close to 200 employees, 13 of whom started with internship agreements. This is yet another testament to our firm commitment to training and attracting emerging talent. As we’ve always said: our human team is our greatest success story, the heart of our operations, and one of our undeniable differentiating traits. That’s why we continue to work hard to improve internal conditions, nurturing the living project that is Paratyworld All-Inclusive, which this year has added free physiotherapy sessions and weekly yoga classes, also available virtually. The health and well-being of our colleagues is at the core of the Paraty DNA.

A preview of what 2025 holds

With our eyes already set on Fitur 2025, we are working tirelessly to make this new chapter of the popular tourism fair a historic edition. As exhibitors, we will take the opportunity to:

• Reveal a revolutionary tool developed by Maarlab, set to change the game.
• Introduce a new, friendly "ally", a personification of the resistance to direct sales with OTAs.
• Moderate discussion panels at the #techYdestino and #techYnegocio forums within the framework of #FiturTechY, organized by the Hotel Technology Institute.
• Offer a comprehensive live content program at our booth 8D15, with a space dedicated to interviews, talks, debates, and more.

It has been an intense year for Paraty Tech, and we can only express our deepest gratitude to our clients, partners, and collaborators—without whom none of this would have been possible—for joining us on this journey. With less than a week left in the year, we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2025, full of success and, above all, good health.

Paraty Tech, a leader in the development and implementation of technological solutions aimed at boosting direct hotel sales, today announces it has become an authorised reseller of SiteMinder’s leading distribution and revenue platform. The move will enable Paraty Tech’s hotel customers to use world-class technology to reach more travellers globally, and streamline their direct sales and distribution strategies to unlock greater revenue.

SiteMinder’s platform is today used by more than 44,000 hotels globally to power more than 120 million reservations worth over US$50 billion in revenue each year. With its established integration with Paraty Tech’s booking engine, users of Paraty Tech’s booking engine can now benefit from the increased online visibility, operational efficiency and profitability enabled by SiteMinder’s industry-leading platform.

For the properties not yet leveraging sophisticated distribution and revenue management technology, the optimised integration offers an ideal starting point.

Gina Matheis, CEO of Paraty Tech, says, “We have long been a trusted provider of direct sales solutions. In light of the growing need for hotels to turn their attention to revenue and profits, we are delighted to now also be a provider of the global hotel industry’s most widely adopted distribution and revenue platform. Through our new offering, our hotel customers can now not only increase their competitiveness but also offer an enhanced experience to their guests".

The agreement takes immediate effect and applies in all markets where both technology companies operate, including Europe, North America and Latin America.

The data has spoken: the voice channel continues to grow. Compared to the same period in 2023, so far this year we have seen a more than remarkable increase in both bookings made by phone (+40%) and the revenue generated by them (+60%). The desire for vacations and the desire to travel do not cease, and we are on the way to another historic year for tourism.

However, to achieve such positive results, it is not enough to try to answer as many calls as possible. And here's a silly example…

I just booked my hotel room for next week in Madrid because I have the pleasure of being a speaker at the Smart Travel News Inspire event. I did it in a major chain, I will not say which one. First of all, I had to book by phone because the web booking engine did not give me an immediate confirmation. Surprising, isn't it? But let's leave online aside for the moment.

I called the hotel and they treated me well. Friendly and quick. When they have already made my reservation (non-refundable, breakfast included, to be paid directly at the hotel), they tell me that it will be valid until 6:00 p.m. on the day of arrival (my train arrives in Madrid around 11:00 p.m.) and that if I want to protect it until the time of my arrival, I will have to leave the details of a card as a guarantee. Reasonable. So far, barely passed.

The worst part comes when I ask for the method of sending the card number and he tells me to give it to him verbally. No secure payment link to tokenize the card, no recording system to encrypt or distort the voice... nothing. There is still a long way to go.

Innovation is not just about inventing the wheel, it is also about making the best use of it

You may be able to invent something truly groundbreaking at some point in your life. You may even be able to get your creation to catch on and end up being useful to many other people. But let's not kid ourselves... This is really complicated. However, innovation can come in many other ways, such as reinterpretation, finding new uses, or simply making the best use of what already exists.

Outbound Campaigns

Just as hotels use email campaigns to communicate with their guests, someone figured out that agents could do the same over the phone. And the truth is, outbound campaigns have proven to be a very useful resource for rewarding past guests and encouraging them to return to the destination and property in the future.

Quality of service

It is imperative to refine call center operations by designing and implementing a caller identification system that allows, on the one hand, to better identify market needs and, on the other hand, to minimize the intervention of the human factor in those calls that hide an intention more of consultation than of reservation. In this sense, access to the conversion rate and its monitoring provides very valuable information on customer behavior, making it possible to better distinguish between the different existing profiles and to personalize the service much more. Artificial intelligence has a lot to say on this point.

Booking confirmation methods

It is also important to have different methods of confirming reservations and validating personal information so that what happened to me today does not happen again. Sending payment links has proven to be a very effective and secure system that also drastically reduces the cancellation rate.

Unifying Online and Offline Rates

The rapid detection of price discrepancies with other channels and the application of protocols for automated price changes based on pre-configured business rules are common practices in booking engines. Why is it so common for unintended price differences to occur between direct online and offline channels? The answer lies in something as simple as system integration.

When both channels are aligned, at least from the start, with a common pricing structure, integration with loyalty programs and billing systems, etc., it goes a long way toward increasing voice bookings and, ultimately, direct sales.

Multi-quote

In addition, the comfort and well-being of the customer has been prioritized with the implementation of services such as Multi-quote, thanks to which different accommodation alternatives and/or holiday packages can be offered in a single call and all these options can be sent to the customer in a single email, with direct booking links, thus avoiding the tedious task of comparing prices on different websites.

Trust and Personalization

Hotel call centers play a critical role as the first point of contact for guests and a source of valuable information for hotels. The ability of agents to identify emerging needs has led to the development of new tools and services, such as intelligent redirects or the ability to confirm reservations after midnight.

Their conversations provide the hotel with feedback on the reasons why calls did not result in a booking (high prices, lack of availability on certain dates, specific requests, etc.), allowing them to adjust their strategies to improve the customer experience and increase conversions.

In addition, the needs or incidents communicated by guests over the phone reveal the shortcomings of the hotel or hotel chain, some of which can be solved directly by the agents (cards not activated for e-commerce, payment gateway failures, errors in the web content or broken functionalities that prevent the reservation from being completed, etc.).

Put a call center in your life

A call center, contact center, or customer experience center, whatever you want to call it, is about much more than just leaving the phone in the hands of on-duty agents. It is about providing a proactive service, not a reactive one. It is about professionalizing a channel, the voice channel, which, although it is one of the essential pillars of direct hotel sales, often falls to departments that are already saturated with the mere fulfillment of their natural functions.

This process requires resources of many kinds. It requires investments in technology, daily metrics and analysis, specialized personnel, integrated tools, and innovation. The voice channel, due to its opaque nature, cries out for an ad hoc revenue management and direct sales strategy with at least the following five fundamental objectives.

• Optimize service quality
• Maximize agent performance
• Improve customer experience
• Increase conversion
• Build guest loyalty

Fortunately, there is light at the end of the tunnel. You can outsource all or part of the service, or you can rely on tools to help you manage your call traffic more professionally and efficiently. Either way, you can count on us. If you want to know more about Ring2Travel, do not hesitate to contact us.

At Paraty Tech it is clear to us: more and more campsites and/or glampings operate, at all levels, as horizontal hotels. Of course, there are differences. Their casuistry is particular and there are many configuration parameters that must be taken into account when it comes to enabling the complete creation of this type of online lodging experience. We also know that, in general terms, their direct sales rates, per se, are much higher than those of hotel establishments. After all, they have hardly any presence in OTAs (except for some very specialized ones) and practically all their guest flow has traditionally been channeled through requests via their website (usually without immediate confirmation) and the voice channel.

But, precisely for this reason, their digitalization process has advanced at a slow pace, in contrast to other segments, a circumstance from which they now suffer to a greater extent, also due to the irruption and incorporation of new accommodation modalities that are a trend.

The margin for improvement is enormous. The reality is that, today, they are more likely than ever to benefit from all the technological arsenal available in the market to improve the way they sell, to reinforce their way of making revenue, to optimize their distribution and, above all, to take care of every detail of the trip or of the guest's experience. Their owners and managers know this and demand it, and we have decided to take up the baton.

A little context: from camping to glamping

Gone are the days when camping was, yes or yes, synonymous with adrenaline and adventure. Setting up the tent at nightfall, with almost no light, cursing when the pegs were bent due to the hardness of the ground or waking up sweating like a chicken, with your back stiff as a trunk, as a result of the classic standard mats, thinner than cigarette paper, were part of the attractions of a type of getaway that, almost always, turned into a fun (and uncomfortable) experience from which you returned full of anecdotes.

The sector (and the traveler profile) has evolved a lot over the last few years and, although there are still brave DIY (do it yourself) advocates, today they are almost an endangered species and, in their absence, an endless number of accommodation alternatives have proliferated within the framework of what is now known as glamping (a term that combines the concepts of glamour and camping). The purists have been replaced by more comfortable tourists, attracted by this new vacation modality that does away with the usual difficulties and setbacks of this form of active tourism, without renouncing open spaces or contact with nature, inevitably associated with it.

The traveler (especially the post-pandemic) has welcomed with open arms proposals such as Kampaoh, which, after establishing agreements with an infinite number of campsites distributed throughout the national territory, exploits a percentage of its plots to offer different categories of tents, already assembled for their use and enjoyment, or Ohai Nazaré Outdoor Resort (Portugal), which markets plots, yes, but also bungalows, apartments, tents, static caravans, etc., applying a modus operandi that allows for a more flexible and flexible use of the camping area, applying a modus operandi closer to that of the traditional holiday resort (with diets, catalog of complementary activities, facilities with every detail), than to that of the traditional campsite.

Paraty Tech, a technology company specialized in the development of solutions and tools that aim to enhance direct sales of hotels, hotel chains and other tourist accommodations, expands its team in LATAM with the incorporation of Alejandra Hernández as Business Development Manager Colombia.

With headquarters in Spain and branches in Portugal and Mexico, the opening of its commercial presence in Colombia gives continuity to its internationalization strategy and, in particular, to its expansion plans in Latin America, after the establishment of a permanent team based in Cancun last year, in whose hotel zone it is already the booking engine that manages the most beds.

Paraty Tech, which arrived in Latin America in 2017, already has several clients in the Andean country, including independent establishments, such as Hotel Soratama, and hotel chains, such as Spiwak Hoteles and EM Hotels. In the words of Gina Matheis, CEO of the company, "the incorporation of BDM responds not only to the intention of continuing to grow in Colombia, but also to the need to offer a better service to its clients there". A country that, she continues, "has great potential in direct sales and where we can provide great value, backed by our extensive experience in various international markets".

Alejandra Hernández, who assures that she faces this new phase with "high doses of motivation and optimism", has spent a large part of her professional career in the hotel industry, with extensive experience in opening markets, working on both sides of the board. She has served as product and operations manager at technology companies such as Erbon software and Price Travel, and as revenue manager and ecommerce director at Continental All Suites Hotel and Park Inn by Radisson, among others. In her opinion, "having hotel know-how and supplier experience" has allowed her to develop a global vision of the sector, better understand the needs of potential clients and know what the role of each player is at any given moment and situation.

"We are convinced that our differential suite of 360º services will arouse the interest of many other establishments in the country, which will soon benefit from our technology and the permanent support of our team of account and revenue managers", concludes Daniel Sánchez, the company's CRO.

We bring our technology even closer to the Balearic Islands

The first step was to establish a permanent team there. Specifically, in Palma de Mallorca. The objective was none other than to improve our customer service in the Balearic Islands through greater proximity and accessibility. Now, with the collaboration agreement reached with the FEHM Hotel Business Federation of Mallorca, we bring our technology even closer to the Majorcan and Balearic hoteliers with the intention of taking their direct sales further, to another level.

Palma de Mallorca is one of the most popular locations, both by national and foreign tourists. The direct sales potential of the establishments located there is enormous and, by making the appropriate resources and know-how available to you, we are convinced that we can contribute to making the most of it.

Over the last two years we have been gradually increasing our presence on the islands, a variant of tourist destination, for different reasons, full of particularities: the types of accommodation they house, the visitor profiles they attract, the way in which these arrive at the destination, the services they demand, etc. And at Paraty Tech we have a complete 360º suite of products, tools and solutions that come in handy, and that include the booking engine, custom web page design, revenue management tools with specific functionalities and specifically developed indicators. for independent hotels, chains and resorts, digital marketing services, metasearch engine management and a hotel call center with which to enhance your voice channel.

The work that the FEHM has been carrying out for the benefit of its associates, always led by the omnipresent María Frontera, has been truly fantastic for many years now. That is why we have placed great hopes in this strategic agreement, through which we are convinced that we will be able to contribute our bit to consolidate, once and for all, the role of direct sales in hotel marketing.

Special conditions for associated hotels

As part of the collaboration agreement reached with the FEHM, we have prepared a package of special conditions for its associated hotels, with which we hope to favor conversations with the Mallorcan hotelier, facilitating the contracting of our services:

• 3 months free of Price Seeker: our recently renewed rate shopper, now a price intelligence platform, more accessible than ever.
• Elimination of engine implementation costs: Over a decade of optimizing our booking engine has led it to offer one of the highest conversion rates on the market.
• 3 Months Free x2 Call Seeker Jobs: Booking quotes and pre-booking generation will no longer be a problem for reception and sales teams thanks to Call Seeker .

Fitur 2023: we were really looking forward to it

Like before what? Well, you can imagine... The Pandemic was a drastic turning point in many ways, but without a doubt, any face-to-face activity was affected to a greater extent. Events, in particular, suffered greatly. Fitur too, despite the efforts of his organization, determined to row against the tide and public opinion, for not surrendering to the devastating power of the virus. A stubbornness as laudable as criticized , which they have shown off for two eternal years and which, in the end, has been, in some way, rewarded.

Contrary to what happened with other major international fairs, this one never fell into easy temptation, it never bit into the poisoned apple of cancellation. Because, no matter how hard it might be to resign yourself and let yourself be swept away by the avalanche of caution, the comfortable (prudent?) would have been to follow in the footsteps of the majority and wait for better times to come. However, they never did. This quote is different, it is made of a different material.

They created Fitur Live Connect, their virtual platform, aware that the hybrid format, as with cars, offered greater guarantees. They also established strict security protocols, implemented a host of preventive measures and made payment and "no-show" policies more flexible (revenue management in its purest form). They stayed that way until the last moment. Trembling, surely, but firm, with your head held high.

In the end, they had no choice but to postpone, but even doing so, they had set a precedent and sent a message that went very deep: Fitur does not wrinkle. The 2021 edition was reduced to a kind of ghost edition, exceptionally celebrated during the month of May, unanimously remembered as a sad and devastating encounter. However, above all, it was an unmistakable symbol, perhaps the first, of the process of recovery of world tourism. We did not dare then to appear as exhibitors, but we understood that the right thing to do was to attend. To be, had to be .

Just eight months later, in January 2022, the picture was already quite different. In our country, the worst of Covid-19 was behind us. While people lost count of the number of waves surfed, the Coronavirus lost lethality. The vaccine had done its job and society learned to live with this uncomfortable companion, exchanging fear for respect. And Fitur returned to the cold of the capital in winter. It was still easy to find the seven differences between that fair and its pre-pandemic version, but there were clear signs of normality. Once again, Ifema distributed the right dose of optimism that the sector demanded to metabolize so much hardship and impotence.

Last year ended up being a record year in many ways. It would not be fair to say that it has been a bed of roses, but the truth is that nobody seemed willing to turn the other cheek after such a slap in the face. Thus, despite the innumerable crises derived from the war in Ukraine, despite inflation, despite the recession... The whole world has traveled again. No matter who likes it. And at Paraty Tech, we finally returned to a Fitur like before.

With booth. No masks. With sweets. Without hydroalcoholic gel. With quotes. No screens. With desire. No hard feelings. The figures for this edition, recently concluded, have exceeded all expectations: 66,900 net exhibition m2, 222,000 attendees, 136,000 professionals, 8,500 companies, 131 countries, 755 main exhibitors. We are talking about parameters very close to those of his historical record. Something unthinkable weeks ago.

The 40 m2 of our stand have fallen short to satisfy the agendas of the 16 colleagues who have traveled to Madrid. There wasn't room for one more coat in the warehouse, you practically had to take a number to fill one of the six available jobs, and both the cups of coffee and the bottles of water have been gradually gaining ground as the seasons have progressed. journeys.

They have been three intense, exciting, exciting and emotional days, in which we have taken the opportunity to sow, but also to collect. To discover and to spread. To establish new alliances, strengthen relationships and consolidate positions. Except for an alien invasion (the only thing that remains for us to see now), we predict a great 2023 and a long life for the queen (of fairs).

Google adds news

Today we want to talk to you about Performance Max , the new campaign format launched by Google , which aims to maximize performance based on a specific conversion objective (online sales, leads, etc.), using all your inventory to do so:

• Search
• Display
• Youtube
• Gmail
• Discover
• Google maps

What is Google Ads Performance Max?

The first thing you should know is that it is a campaign format based on artificial intelligence and automation . In other words, Google will show all the ads to the users of the different channels of its network that it believes are more likely to convert for the specific objective marked. Even so, the configuration of the campaigns makes it possible to provide indications in this regard. Therefore, when deciding which users the ads will be shown to, the behavior is very similar to display or YouTube campaigns, in which custom audiences provided by Google are used.

In essence, this is equivalent to running most of the Google Ads advertising formats in a single campaign , therefore, without the need to create separate campaigns for each channel. And it is especially suitable for clients who generate conversions in all the channels of the Google network and are interested in using and exploiting all their inventory in a single campaign .

It is worth knowing that, gradually, Google's intention is for Local and Smart Shopping campaigns to become Performance Max campaigns.

What benefits does Google Ads Performance Max bring?

It is a comprehensive automated solution that will allow us to fully track the customer journey , supported by an attribution model based on multi-channel data. In addition, it brings a whole series of new statistics , such as increasing search trends, which will allow us to accelerate the achievement of results.

It also offers complete visibility into auction data across all Google properties , allowing you to optimize retail bids to maximize campaign performance.

In short, Google Ads Permormance Max makes the most of Google's automation possibilities , including campaign segmentation and delivery.

• Comprehensive automated solution
• Full customer journey tracking
• New performance statistics
• Accelerating the achievement of results
• Complete visibility of auction data

When to use Performance Max according to Google

According to Google's opinion, this campaign format is especially indicated in the following cases:

• When you have specific advertising and conversion goals
• When you want to maximize the performance of your campaign without limitations regarding channels
• When you want to access all channels without creating separate campaigns
• When you want to maximize reach and conversion value

What do the Paraty Tech experts think?

According to the specialists at Paraty Tech Performance Max, it is a format that they would include within the "visibility" objective and not short-term reservation conversion. The main advantage of this model is that by using artificial intelligence with different types of campaigns at the same time, you can get better results in terms of visibility than if you launch display or YouTube campaigns separately.

According to this argument, the recommended time to use this type of campaign would be around a month before the start of the high season for accommodation , maintaining it throughout the season (as we do with display or YouTube).

For example, at this time, in peninsular destinations it could be an interesting option for snow and mountain hotels, and not so much for sun and beach hotels, since it would not make much sense to invest in visibility in the coming months. The opposite would happen in markets such as the Canary Islands or the Caribbean, where the high season is about to begin.

What do you need to launch a Performance Max campaign?

For this campaign format we need to have as many resources as possible (images, videos, audiences, texts, etc.) so that Google can use them in the different distribution networks. If you do not have videos, Google will take care of generating a high-quality one from the available graphic resources. The rest is up to us, you don't have to worry about anything.

Max Performance campaign settings. Both the added resources and the selected audiences are grouped into "Resource Groups". On the left we see all the added resources and on the right the selected audiences. At the top it is indicated on which networks the ads are being shown.

Since its creation in June 2014, Google My Business has become a very popular tool due to its usefulness for all businesses and, especially, for hotels. The numbers speak for themselves: 49% of company listings on Google My Business receive more than 1,000 visits per month . In this article, we tell you why Google My Business has become so popular and we give you reasons to integrate it into your digital strategy if you have not already done so.

What is Google My Business and how can it improve the positioning of my hotel?

Google My Business (GMB) is a Google service that displays relevant information about any business on the results page based on the user's search.

This information is stored in files that each owner manages and fills out. On many occasions, our hotel listing is the first point of contact with our potential guest. Our audience will be able to easily obtain information such as the hotel's telephone number, email address, a link to its website, and will have access to reviews from former guests.

These factors make Google My Business automatically improve your positioning on the Google results page:

• You can exploit your main keywords in this additional commercial space. This will make you gain visibility to your target audience.


• You generate traffic to your hotel's website , which will mean an extra influx of traffic and an increase in the number of visits.


• It is essential for local SEO as it is linked to Google Maps. 86% of users find the location of your hotel on Google Maps. With a GMB listing your guests will find you much more easily.


• Positive reviews from your guests attract the attention of Google, which values them highly.

How does Google My Business work?

Signing up for Google My Business is very simple and fluid. You only need a Gmail email account to have access to the service. To create your Google My Business listing you must follow these steps:

• Access the Google My Business registration and enter your hotel's email address.


• Fill in some basic information such as hotel location, categories, contact information, etc.


• Choose a verification method for your GMB account. You can verify it by email, phone number and even through Google Search Console.


• Once verified, Google will take a maximum of two weeks to display your GMB listing. We recommend that you do not modify the initial data you entered while waiting, as the verification process could take even longer.

The best thing about Google My Business is that all its features are 100% free, so you won't have to take out your credit card at any time. Once Google has completed the verification process for your hotel listing, your target audience will be able to easily find it and write reviews about their experience at your hotel. For your part, you can continue perfecting the content of your GMB.

How to optimize Google My Business for SEO?

The first trick to maximizing your hotel's GMB listing is to complete, complete and keep completing. Take advantage of all the space you have to provide relevant data for Google and your potential guests. Don't leave any gaps unfilled as long as you can provide something of value that can help position your hotel.

Keywords

Don't forget to include the keyword your audience is searching for you with in your H1 header (the title) and in the description. If you do not include your keyword, the city where your hotel is located or the name of your hotel establishment in the title, you risk losing visibility.

Avoid keyword stuffing or excessive accumulation of keywords at all costs. Abusing keywords in your posts, descriptions and titles can lead to a penalty from Google. In some cases, your Google My Business may choose to delete your listing directly if it detects this violation.

Images

It is highly recommended that you upload attractive photos of your hotel and its facilities to brighten the eyes of your future guest. Your audience is more convinced by a photo of the rooms and breakfasts than by any list of services and products.

When uploading images of your hotel to Google My Business, we advise you to do the following:

• The ideal size is 720 px high and 720 px wide for mobile and computer of any size.


• Your images must be of high quality . Use a good camera and photograph the most attractive corners of your hotel. Upload them in PNG or JPG format preferably.


• Add categories to your images . These can be exterior, interior, services, products or personnel.


• Encourage your guests to attach their own images to their reviews after enjoying their stay. Google rewards when your guests publish images of your hotel establishment and its services.

Linked

Place the url of your official website to increase your visits and guide users. Google My Business also implements a functionality to redirect your users to a booking page. By enabling a button to check availability, you will speed up this process and your customers will be able to book rooms at your hotel more easily.

Services and prices

If you want to take the price war one step further and cajole your client with your best price, in Google My Business you can indicate your best price on your hotel listing. This functionality is activated in Hotel Ads, also for free. In this sense, we take this opportunity to remember that at Paraty Tech we are Google integration partners and that the mere fact of working with us implies appearing directly in sections as interesting as the Free Booking Links.

Details

The “Hotel details” section lists all the features of your hotel, its facilities and services, namely:

• Payment policy.


• Restaurant and beverage services.


• Car and bicycle rental.


• Parking.


• Spoken languages.


• Health and security.

Frequent questions

Google My Business reserves a space for you that you can dedicate to answering the questions written by users who visit your listing. This way, you will be able to complete your file with information that was previously missing. This also makes it possible for you to engage with your audience and show a more human side of your hotel.

Do reviews influence Google My Business?

The more positive reviews you have, the better. User reviews that contain words with positive connotations such as “phenomenal”, “perfect”, “the best hotel”, etc. They help Google to consider that your brand and your services are valuable to users. In turn, if you get your guests to use keywords from your business, you will further enhance your positioning. Remember that Google trusts your customers more than you.

This is why you should encourage your guests to write reviews on the hotel's Google My Business listing after their stay. Google recommends that you frequently interact with your customers on GMB by responding to their reviews, as it shows special attention to your customers and your company. Customer satisfaction is one of the best means of promotion.

This dynamic can work in the opposite direction, as negative reviews can damage your reputation and ranking. To combat fake and malicious reviews, Google has been adopting stricter measures. Last year, Google removed 55 million reviews and 3 million fake profiles.

Google My Business Metrics

Google My Business also offers metrics so you can measure and analyze your users' interactions chronologically. With this data you will be able to know your audience better and improve the positioning of your hotel on Google.

The most interesting metrics are:

• How users find your hotel : This graph shows the proportion of users who search for you by your commercial brand, who find you when searching for a category or product, or who come from other related brands.


• Where they find your hotel : They can reach your listing through the Google results page or by searching for a location on Google Maps.


• Actions of your users : the data is divided into the interactions that users have made on your hotel listing. These may include calling you, accessing your website, or looking up your address.


• Photo Views : Google My Business also analyzes the number of views your photos receive and comparative data on image views from other establishments.


• What your hotel is known for : Google aggregates and interprets your guest reviews based on term repetition. From this set of data, a graph is extracted that shows what your guests highlight most about your tourist service.

Conclusion

As you have seen, Google My Business is a tool extended to any business due to its ease of use and its free nature. It helps improve your traffic, your web positioning and provides valuable information to search engines and your users.

The best way to optimize your hotel's GMB listing is to fill out all possible fields using keywords and obtain positive reviews from your guests. Google My Business provides you with valuable information by analyzing in detail all user interactions with your hotel listing.

If you liked this article about Google My Business, do not hesitate to leave a comment and share it on your networks so that your contacts discover how wonderful this digital tool is.

Loyalty is a trend. The Pandemic has undoubtedly provided an opportunity in this regard.

Those hotel establishments that, despite the difficulties, have been able to live up to the task, showing themselves to be flexible, understanding and empathetic when it comes to offering solutions to the problems and concerns of their guests, in many cases, beyond their control, have taken a giant step in terms of loyalty.

But this actually comes from much earlier. Traditionally, loyalty clubs have been associated, fundamentally, with large hotel chains. We are referring to the classic programs for accumulating points or nights per stay. However, gradually they have been extended to all types of establishments, to the point of making their implementation almost an obligation.

Loyalty clubs are an effective resource for generating positive disparities, justifying preferential booking conditions and direct channel privileges, and maintaining a one-on-one relationship with guests, making them feel special before, during, and after their stay. The key is to have an affiliation operation and mechanics appropriate to the characteristics of each establishment. Not all hotels require, nor does it work for all, the same loyalty program.

Not only is it much more expensive to get a new customer than a repeat customer, but the figures that the latter leave behind speak for themselves:

• The repeat customer spends up to 23% more


• Repeat customers book stays up to 30% longer


• The repeat customer buys up to 10 times more

Repeat customers, or what is the same, loyal guests are a growth locomotive and exponentially multiply profits. It is worth giving them as much attention as possible and allocating resources to ensure that every customer who stays at our hotel, wherever they have arrived, leaves the door wanting to come back and convinced that the direct channel is the most appropriate to satisfy their interests and needs.

At Paraty Tech we have 5 predesigned loyalty programs, designed to meet the needs of the vast majority of establishments. Even so, we also have the ability to complete them with suggestions for improvement or additional features, and even design them to measure. They all pursue the following common objectives:

• Segment


• Strengthen ties


• Differentiate


• Foster feelings of loyalty and commitment


• Increase profitability

Below, we will briefly tell you what they consist of, as a preview of what you will be able to see in detail tomorrow, November 18, starting at 11:30 a.m., in the webinar "PreFitur Academy: Clubs and Loyalty Programs", given by Silvia Muñoz. You can sign up here!

• PRIVILEGE CLUB


• Designed for those who offer privileges designed to be enjoyed during the stay.


• CLUB PROMO PLUS


• Reward your guest's reservation by offering them a discount promocode, sent on the day of checkout, for use in future reservations. You can establish different discounts according to the value of the original reservation.


• CLUB RATE PLUS


• Create a special rate for members and display it in a separate tab in the search results of your booking engine. The user will only need one click to join and be able to complete the reservation benefiting from the best price.


• CLUB POINTS PRO


• The user registers and from that moment begins to accumulate points with each reservation.


• You decide the equivalence in euros of each point and the guest will be able to use that virtual money in hotel services or allocate it to the use that you decide when defining the club's operating mechanics.


• You can establish levels based on the number of points and associate different benefits to each level (reservation discounts, discounts on hotel services, courtesy gifts, etc.)


• Countdown to reset points


• Microsite


• virtual wallet


• Customer Area (guest) and Management Panel (hotelier)


• CLUB NIGHTS PRO


• The classic program of accumulation of nights, taken to the maximum level of personalization.


• You can establish levels based on the number of nights and associate different benefits to each level (reservation discounts, discounts on hotel services, courtesy gifts, etc.)


• Countdown to the reset of the nights


• Microsite


• virtual wallet


• Customer Area (guest) and Management Panel (hotelier)




Benefits for the hotelier of having a loyalty Club


Definitely, the customer who adheres to a loyalty program is a potential repeater. He has shown interest in the brand and wants to continue to be part of it, which translates into a great opportunity in terms of profitability.


• Promotes the acquisition of new customers


• Promotes the consolidation of repeat customers


• Makes the guest feel special before, during and after the stay


• Provides segmentation and customer knowledge


• It allows generating positive disparities with the OTAS


• Increase guest spend


• Increase the revenue of your establishment

If you want to know more about our Loyalty Clubs, we remind you that you can register here for the webinar that we will give tomorrow, starting at 11:30 a.m.

And finally, the light turned... green! Today, July 2nd, marks a week since the Boris Johnson government announced the advancement of the Balearic Islands from amber to green on its popular and controversial health traffic light.

If the criteria for this sudden change of opinion are exclusively health-related, it's something we may never know. However, everything seems to indicate that the ministries involved in this change of course have somehow yielded to pressures and dissatisfaction, both from their citizens and the Association of British Travel Agents, regarding the strict safety and prevention protocols imposed on those who, against recommendations, decide to visit a destination classified as "not safe". In any case, we didn't want to miss the opportunity to analyze the impact of a decision of this magnitude.

As of today, the Balearic Islands are the only national territory authorized to receive British tourists free from quarantine. This situation has sparked mixed feelings because, while it is a significant step for the Spanish tourism sector, opening the door wide to one of our main source markets, other regions had also speculated about the possibility of finally being included in the list of safe destinations and did not see their expectations fulfilled.

Our experience has taught us that the reflection in purchasing intention and reservations of decisions and institutional statements of this nature is imminent. We observed this in 2020, fully immersed in the de-escalation process (the study we published then was particularly revealing in this regard), and again in 2021 when Pedro Sánchez informed the world that Spain would open its borders to international tourism starting in July. We would have a summer!

This time has been no different. We have turned to our Business Intelligence to analyze the pace of searches and bookings from the British market for any of the Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, etc.), comparing the week from June 25th to July 1st (from Friday to Thursday) with the immediately preceding one, from June 18th to 24th:

• Searches: +148%
• Bookings: +127%
• Room Nights: +89%
• Sales: +56%
• Conversion Rate: 5.5% (unchanged between periods)

At first glance, we can see how both searches and bookings have experienced very relevant increases, resulting in almost double the room nights and a significant rise in sales. Let's delve into these data through the following graphs:

The purchase intention graphs show how a good portion of searches focus on July, some in August, and very few from September onwards, confirming the short-term trend that has been prevailing since uncertainty became part of the daily lives of travelers.

The number of unsatisfied queries, as shown in red, is almost negligible, a sign that hotels know their guests well and are prepared to receive them. Regarding the comparison between the two weeks, those peaks of increases are very evident, especially during the first days of July, a trend that continues throughout the month, as anticipated.

Regarding sales, from June 25th, the date Boris Johnson made public the news that the Balearic Islands were moving from amber to green, until July 1st, bookings increased by 127% compared to the previous week. Up to that point, everything was as expected. Just like with searches, the bulk of bookings concentrate during July. From there onwards, we can see a drastic drop as we move into August, September, October, etc.

However, the graphs reveal a concerning reality that we hadn't mentioned yet: those red bars represent cancellations. The media impact of the outbreaks in Mallorca, allegedly as a result of end-of-school-year trips and the criticized concert in the bullring, has directly affected travelers. This is where we find the justification for such a disproportionate number of cancellations, which multiply by six compared to the previous week. Unfortunately, it hasn't been the only consequence. Only five days after being categorized as a safe destination, the Balearic Islands became part of another list that is not so desirable, the so-called "Green Watch List," including destinations susceptible to being returned to the amber color.

We will have to remain very vigilant in the coming days because the future of the summer season in the Balearic Islands and the rest of the country will depend on the evolution of outbreaks like this and how health authorities manage them. The pandemic is far from over. The virus has simply changed its preferred host profile, now targeting the younger population. Therefore, we continue to appeal to prudence, not only to save tourism but also to continue keeping the situation under control and not undermine all the work and effort carried out to get to where we are.

The Rise of Coronavirus, Implementation of PSD2, etc. The stars have aligned for OTAs to seize the opportunity and gain complete freedom to continue creating disparities.

As staunch advocates of direct hotel sales, at Paraty Tech, we make it a point to closely monitor players in the industry that, in some way, pose a threat to the work we do. Therefore, we are always particularly vigilant to detect the implementation of new features by OTAs.

On one hand, admittedly, we learn from them. On the other hand, despite the reservations they generate, they often directly undermine the interests and strategies of our clients. In this article, we want to focus primarily on Booking.com, which has started 2021 with a strong impact. The stars have aligned (the onset of the Coronavirus, the implementation of PSD2, etc.) to precipitate a series of events that we will list below.

Some of the following initiatives have been implemented unilaterally, without prior notice to hoteliers. Therefore, in addition to listing them, we will emphasize the pros and cons, and provide suggestions as possible solutions to mitigate their impact.

Risk-Free Reservations

A clear example of this increasingly common practice of proceeding without prior consultation that we mentioned earlier. We assume that, from Booking.com's perspective, it is more profitable to ask for forgiveness than permission. In principle, they have enrolled all hotels in their client portfolio in this new program, which basically converts Non-Refundable rates into Flexible rates. Furthermore, it is almost impossible to detect because, from the end customer's perspective, they are being offered a Flexible Rate without knowing that, originally, it is Non-Refundable. To make matters worse, its entry depends on the OTA's algorithm, which decides based on the date and expected demand.

In summary, the hotel has that reservation guaranteed, but the customer can cancel it because Booking.com commits to fill that gap with another guest or, failing that, to assume the cost of the reservation. Smart, isn't it? Certainly, as long as you have the necessary financial cushion to cover possible expenses you may incur.

Pros for the hotelier

• Can reopen Non-Refundable rates, which had practically become extinct due to the pandemic, as they will ultimately be Flexible.


• The On the Books forecast for these types of rates is guaranteed, reducing volatility.


• Does not incur costs beyond the discount decided for Non-Refundable rates.

Cons for the hotelier

• Booking.com, in its effort to fill cancellations, will see an open door to generate price disparities.


• If Booking.com's algorithm does not consider it feasible to guarantee that reservation, it will not activate the program, so the hotelier will have a Non-Refundable rate, which is very unattractive given the current circumstances.

Suggestions

• Opt for Semi-Flexible rates: These rates provide peace of mind to guests and certain guarantees to hoteliers, as they often include a partial prepayment. With our recently launched Paraty E-Payments system, managing payments for these types of rates is straightforward.


• Deactivate the Risk-Free Reservations program: This is easy to do from the Booking.com extranet by following these steps:
  
  • Click on "Improvement Opportunities"
  • Click on "Risk-Free Reservations Program"
  • At the bottom, select the option "Leave the program"
  • Decide for how long (we recommend "Indefinitely")
  • Specify the reason

Online Payments

When we first detected the acclaimed Early Payment Benefit back in March 2019, we were not yet aware of how much OTAs would try to capitalize, just a few months later, on the implementation of the new PSD2 regulation (mandatory since the beginning of this year). A realm, online payments, where we must admit they have always been one step ahead of the rest of the players, including the direct sales channel, the official website.

Thus, simmering in the background, the ideal breeding ground has been created to convince hoteliers that the most convenient thing is to disengage from this "problem" and leave the management of online payments in their hands. A half-truth and also a double-edged sword, as it actually presents the perfect opportunity to create more disparities.

Pros for the hotelier

• OTAs strictly comply with PSD2.


• OTAs have various payment methods (Paypal, Bizum, Amazon Pay, Apple Pay, Wechat, etc.)


• Ultimately, delegating this aspect is convenient because it facilitates their operation.

Cons for the hotelier

• Non-Refundable rates are not charged immediately, so it does not improve cash flow, nor is money received in advance as before.


• Virtual Card payments incur a cost (2%-3% according to the bank).


• Payments via Bank Transfer will reach the hotelier between the 1st and 15th of the following month.


• A new door opens to possible disparities because Booking.com will have the money in advance, so it can afford to partially sacrifice its commission, in addition to taking advantage of implementing features like the aforementioned Early Payment Benefit.


• In terms of invoicing, if the customer requests an invoice at the hotel, they will be forced to invoice for a higher amount than the net amount received.


• Discounts are not easy to detect because they do not always show, complicating the identification of disparities.

Suggestions

• Discounts on the website: Offering discounts on the official website goes from being recommended to practically mandatory. In real terms, Booking.com's Publicly Viewable Price (PVP) is no longer PVP, as they will almost automatically apply discounts of 5%-10%, depending on the hotel.


• Price automation tools: The implementation of tools like Parity Maker, which match the price with the selected OTA in real-time, should be activated by default, although, as mentioned, they will not always detect discounts, so this alone will not be sufficient.


• Manual reviews: In relation to the previous point, it doesn't hurt to conduct random manual reviews. No one knows their rates better than the hotel, and it will be easier to detect these actions by conducting manual searches.


• Tools that justify discounts and increase conversion: Anything we do is not enough. Therefore, initiatives that offer promo codes in exchange for actions by guests will be very useful. For example, activating tools like Rescue Seeker (active retargeting to prevent abandonments) or inviting guests to subscribe to the newsletter to benefit from a discount and, incidentally, increase contacts in our database.


• Loyalty Club: Probably the best way to justify, more than justified, the Booking.com price while taking a step further to make our customers feel special for booking through the direct channel.

Other "Pirate" Disparities

This list will continue to grow over the days, but as of today, we are able to list the following, sufficient reason to remain very alert:

• Discounts, in the form of direct cash to travel, in exchange for inviting our friends to book.


• Promo codes to accumulate money for future trips.


• Cashback after the trip, or incentives to book through the promise of a percentage refund (10%) once the stay is completed.


• Exclusive discounts by platform, for example, in the App. Price Seeker already detects them, but it is advisable not to lose sight of this type of action.


• Temporary activation of the Genius program only by registering or logging in.

If your establishment is located in Andalusia, you can now offer bookings with the Andalusian Tourist Voucher through your official website.

In Paraty Tech, we are introducing a new initiative aimed at mitigating the impact of the Coronavirus on the hotel sector. In this case, our focus is on the recently launched Andalusian Tourist Voucher by the Andalusian Regional Government. Andalusians who book a hotel with the Andalusia Segura (Safe Andalusia) certification through a Travel Agency can benefit from a 25% discount by presenting the invoice after their stay.

To facilitate this, we have entered into a collaboration agreement with the Alsamo Viajes agency. Any reservation made through your official website to take advantage of the Andalusian Tourist Voucher will be managed by Alsamo Viajes using our booking engine for processing, should you choose to implement this recent development.

How it Works

When you decide to implement this functionality, after requesting and accepting inclusion in Safe Andalusia (a straightforward process based on a declaration of intent and compliance with Covid-19 regulations), you just need to inform your assigned account at Paraty Tech. From that point, the relevant departments will initiate the developments and design of the graphical elements associated with the functionality, whose mechanics are summarized below:

• Call to Action on the website's homepage
• Banner designed to inform about the promotion and pique the interest of potential voucher beneficiaries, encouraging them to book.


• Informative Popup
• When the user clicks on the banner, an informative popup will appear with the essential requirements to benefit from the voucher, explaining the steps of the booking process.
• The popup will also include a direct link to a landing page identified under the name Alsamo Viajes, where the user can set the dates and other parameters of their stay through a widget of our booking engine and complete the reservation.
• A contact phone number for Ring2travel, our Customer Experience Center, will also be provided for those who need assistance or prefer to be assisted by an agent during the booking process.


• Virtual POS:
• Specially enabled for the occasion, it will allow Alsamo Viajes to directly handle the reservation payment.


• Confirmation Emails:
  • As a hotelier, you will receive a reservation from Alsamo Viajes.
  • The user, on the other hand, will receive a confirmation email from Alsamo Viajes, using the same data entered in the last step of the booking process to issue the invoice after the stay, which the traveler must present to the Andalusian Regional Government, along with the requested documentation, to benefit from the refund.

This new functionality, in the words of our CEO, Gina Matheis, "represents a significant competitive advantage for our clients, as a very high percentage of their guests can benefit from it."

Specifically, as stated in the Official Gazette of the Andalusian Regional Government on Tuesday, September 29, 2020, all individuals with administrative residence in any municipality in Andalusia and legal residence in Spain, as well as holders of the Andalusian Card residing abroad, who stay outside their municipality of residence for a minimum of three consecutive nights and book for stays between October 1, 2020, and May 31, 2021, in any tourist accommodation located in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia and with the Andalusia Segura certification are eligible.

At Paraty Tech we have taken a new qualitative leap to provide greater facilities to users of the official website of your hotel upon arrival when paying for their reservations online. As if by magic… Bizum!

Once the integration is completed and this new functionality has been put into production, the inclusion of Bizum as an alternative payment method means that it is enough for your clients to enter their mobile phone number and the four-digit pin code associated with their Bizum account to complete the transaction.

Trends change at a dizzying pace and Bizum's popularity has not stopped growing since its birth. So much so, that under the motto "if you carry a cell phone, you carry money", in 2019 they registered more than 60 million operations, for a total value of 2.7 billion euros.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with Bizum, its success lies in the fact that it allows you to send and receive money through your bank's app, in less than five seconds, using only the phone number.

What does incorporating Bizum into your booking engine give you:

• You jump fully on the innovation bandwagon.
• You get your establishment to convey an image of modernity and the impression of being up to date with the latest trends.
• You offer your clients a convenient, fast and secure payment method, from which you will also benefit, especially due to its immediacy.
• You reduce the disparities with OTAs regarding payment methods, placing yourself at the evolutionary level of brands, for example, like Destinia.

How to include Bizum in your booking engine

With Paraty Tech it is a routine process. As long as your bank's payment gateway belongs to the Redsys platform, activating payment through Bizum is as easy as completing three simple steps:

Talk to your financial institution to activate the possibility of payment through Bizum.
1. Include in the last step of the reservation process a button that identifies payment through Bizum.
2. Make a call to the Virtual POS with a specific format that is very easy to implement. This is on us.

The payment conditions that Bizum offers you are identical to those offered when used to move money with your mobile device. That is, once configured in your booking engine, the limits and application parameters depend on you:

Decide for which rate, regime, occupancy, room, etc. you want Bizum to be available
• Decide how many nights you want to be paid for at the time of booking
• Decide what percentage of the total reservation you want to be paid at the time of reservation

How your users pay with Bizum

Here's the good part... When your users reach the last step of the reservation process, they will have a box to select this payment method. Identified for your convenience with the Bizum logo, once clicked, you will be redirected to the payment gateway page where, through a simple panel, you will have to enter your mobile phone number and password. If you have forgotten your password or do not have one, you can request it from that same site. That easy.

In 2019, the data obtained confirms a clear upward trend, and in the first quarter we have already registered an increase of 35% compared to the same period last year.

Portugal is fashionable in Paraty Tech and vice versa. The best proof of this is the extraordinary results we have obtained throughout our three years of activity in Portugal. Since our arrival, the figures recorded invite optimism and confirm the success of our firm commitment to Diana Costa, Business Development Manager Portugal of the company.

With the booking engine, the Paraty support team and the help of our Account Manager, Diana Costa, it has been possible for us to increase the income from our direct sales, as well as improve our online positioning. I would like to highlight that the availability and flexibility of the customer service team has allowed us to deploy, adapt and customize their tools to our needs. Carla Almeida , Revenue & E-Commerce Manager at Vidamar Hotels & Resorts .

Graduated in Tourism, Leisure and Heritage from the University of Coimbra, Diana Costa has developed her entire professional career in the tourism sector, covering different positions in independent hotels. As Account Manager at Paraty Tech, he has always been the person assigned to the largest accounts and the visible face for the majority of our clients in the neighboring country. Thanks largely to his management, after his promotion to Business Development Manager, hiring has multiplied during this period and, as a result, the total sum of direct sales in Portugal has experienced exponential growth between 2016 and 2018.



Currently, Paraty Tech has clients distributed throughout the entire Portuguese territory, including the islands, with special emphasis on the Algarve area. Among all of them, the chains NAU Hotels & Resorts, Luna Hotels & Resorts or Vidamar Hotels & Resorts stand out, and other renowned hotels such as Dom José Beach Hotel, or Douro Royal Valley Hotel & Spa.

Diana is a SUPER Account, always available, very agile and efficient in her responses, as well as in the requested interventions. Without a doubt, it constitutes a key piece to provide dynamism to our direct sales channel, guaranteeing and favoring that we are always up to date with the fierce competition that online distribution entails. Roberto Campos , Revenue Manager at Luna Hotels & Resorts .

The opening of new offices in the Algarve, planned for October, on the one hand, is a direct consequence of the aforementioned growth dynamic in which we are immersed. In fact, the first quarter of 2019 already accumulates more than 30% growth compared to the same period last year. On the other hand, it also constitutes another example of our definitive consolidation in Portugal and, in the words of Diana Costa, a necessary gesture that responds, not only to the express request of our clients in the area, but also to the usual philosophy and intention of the company to be closer to them, with the aim of continuing to offer them the best possible care.