To stay ahead in the industry, you must be updated and advanced, following market trends and client requirements. Because most travel bookings are done online, hotels are forced to rely on online travel agents for bookings. This is because of a lack of reliable online hotel booking engine software. To remain competitive, you must have the ideal Hotel Booking Engine features that allow you to reap all of its benefits. A hotel booking engine is crucial for hotels to combat OTA dominance. An online hotel booking engine is the key to commission-free direct bookings, allowing you to enhance your hotel's marketing approach and maximize earnings. A hotel booking engine is a software program used on hotel websites to acquire and execute direct online reservations. In this blog, we'll look at the features of a hotel booking engine that helps it perform well and the benefits it provides.

Top 10 Features Of Hotel Booking Engine

1.Integration With Hotel Meta-search Websites & Google Analytics

According to several surveys and publications, integrating hotel Meta-search sites for hotel booking engines is critical. Most travellers prefer to book hotels on or through a Meta-search site. To remain competitive and capitalize on this direct business opportunity, you will need a booking engine linked with prominent hotel Meta-search engines to offer your direct prices on these highly capable channels. To gather accurate data on which Meta-search engines to use, you must first understand where most of your reservations are coming from online and where your website visitors are leaving. These statistics might be useful not only in selecting Meta-search engines but also in analyzing the performance of your hotel website. As a result, Google Analytics integration is a must-have tool for your booking engine to measure website visitors and aid decision-making.

2.Multi-device Compatibility

As has been said in several blogs, a website should be compatible with all devices because you cannot expect customers to use only one device to make reservations. People would pick a gadget that was easily accessible when they decided to book a reservation. As a result, your online hotel booking engine must be responsive to all devices.

3.Customizable To Your Brand

A hotel booking engine software's fundamental and most basic feature should be customization. The theme, logo, brand colour, fonts, and other details should be consistent with your brand. Consistency is the key to developing confidence in the guest experience and nurturing the relationship between you and your visitor to establish strong brand awareness for the hotel. You must be able to personalize your booking engine with your logo, photos, and descriptions if you want to define your customer satisfaction and brand strength effectively.

4.Virtual Tour/Images Display

With the bookings, the visual experience is one of the most important factors that drive customers to know your hotel better and make the booking. Displaying high-resolution photographs or virtual tour videos of all the finest things you've done in your hotel will undoubtedly offer hesitant bookers that last-minute boost.

5.Highly Responsive & Engaging Design

People abandon bookings mostly because websites are sluggish and unresponsive. Your web booking engine should be so light and quick that it does not take long to load, regardless of the device. Your website's design should also be appealing. Everything—the location, the colour, the text, the size—plays a significant part in deciding the page's effectiveness. Recognize what works for you and what doesn't, and make informed decisions. Also, make sure your booking procedure is swift and easy.

6.Multi-lingual & Multi-currency Access

Multi-lingual and multi-currency options are required to reach a worldwide audience. People prefer to book in a language that is familiar to them. Booking in a currency that they do not recognize is a major no-no for any consumer. Because the hotel industry has such a diverse client base from many areas and nations throughout the world, your customers should be able to choose the language and currency they prefer and have a simple booking experience free of language or region obstacles.

7.Real-Time Availability For Booking & Confirmations

A reliable Hotel Web Booking Engine enables you to give real-time inventory changes displaying the availability while masking unavailable rooms. Guests should constantly know room availability since otherwise, they risk being overbooked. In addition, as soon as a booking is received, your website should send confirmation emails to the guest. This increases guest loyalty since it provides immediate confirmation that you respect their appointment.

8.Secure Multi-payment Options

Online purchases entail processing your guests' credit card information and other sensitive data. As a result, you must have the most trustworthy and secure payment options available. Aside from that, clients choose payment methods that they feel secure, which may differ from one customer to the next. A PCI DSS certification is a surefire method of determining this. Choose a booking engine that integrates with the most secure payment methods and offers multiple options, too.

9.Social media integration

You may readily reach customers through social media. As a result, your booking engine should be capable of integrating and booking from all of your social network accounts.

10.Promotion codes-Generation & Redemption

Promotions and discounts will entice customers even if they have no intention of booking. A booking engine should allow you to design your promotions and provide a code to your consumers to receive discounts. For example, you may create value-for-money deals for seasons such as school holidays, local festivals, or even for specific groups such as corporate campaigns and sell your rooms much faster.