The Hetras Blog

easyHotel, the owner and operator of super budget branded hotels has chosen Hetras, a Shiji Group brand, to provide guests with a fully enabled and automated mobile guest journey, including Hetras Cloud PMS, a mobile guest app, and internet booking engine.

When you run a hotel, customer service has to be important. When you implement text messaging, you are giving your hotel guests an effective way to communicate with you.

Hetras is pleased to reveal its new logo, part of the visual brand identity update. We have been on a fantastic trajectory with our mother company, Shiji, and, by introducing Hetras to Asia Pacific, are becoming an increasingly important part of their business. We are bringing new products to Europe, like Shiji Distribution and Payment Services, as well as new interface technologies and a cloud-based Point of Sale.

Munich, 27 June 2017. Hetras is pleased to announce the appointment of its new Director of Software Development, Murat Akguen, who joins the company with over 15 years of experience in hotel technology. He will be responsible for all technical and application development activities at Hetras, as well as supporting the expansion and implementation of Shiji Group’s global software development strategy.

People go ga-ga over technology. Even the simple stuff. As innovation barrels ahead, the relative cost of this technology is not that great – implementation may even save money in some cases. In other words, there has never been a better time to set up a couple of fun futuristic gadgets to give your hotel an edge over its competition.

One of the earliest loyalty programs on record dates back to 1793. That's 223 years ago. We've been doing this song and dance for a long, long time. The burning question is: is it still relevant? In this fast-paced, technologically-driven world where the best deals are a click away, does customer loyalty still exist or has the paradigm shifted?  For this three-part series, hetras had a chat to three industry leaders to get some answers.

hetras has gone through an exciting change process recently, becoming part of the Shiji Group, Asia Hotel Technology Market Leader, with more than 11,000 hotel partners worldwide.

Thomas Danielczak has been appointed as the new Director of Sales for hetras, which was recently acquired by the Chinese market leader in hotel technology, Shiji. In his new position, Thomas will oversee and develop hetras' worldwide sales operations.

One of the earliest loyalty programs on record dates back to 1793. That's 223 years ago. We've been doing this song and dance for a long, long time. The burning question is: is it still relevant? In this fast-paced, technologically-driven world where the best deals are a click away, does customer loyalty still exist or has the paradigm shifted?  For this three-part series, hetras had a chat to three industry leaders to get some answers…

One of the earliest loyalty programs on record dates back to 1793. That's 223 years ago. We've been doing this song and dance for a long, long time. The burning question is: is it still relevant? In this fast-paced, technologically-driven world where the best deals are a click away, does customer loyalty still exist or has the paradigm shifted?  For this three-part series, hetras had a chat to three industry leaders to get some answers.

Hotel Management Software provider hetras has appointed Hauke Lenthe as its new Executive Vice President. Hauke succeeds Managing Director Ulrich Pillau, who led the company for 6 years and played the key role in the successful startup development of hetras.

Since the acquisition of hetras by the leading Chinese Hotel Technology supplier Shiji, the company has experienced exciting developments. The steady growth of Shiji over the past years, combined with Alibaba’s  investment in Shiji and Shiji’s investment in Snapshot, hetras and other technologies, shows a clear commitment to global hotel technology services and strategic partnerships.

By now we all know that Social Media postings can generate real world results, from news and politics to advertisement and brand awareness. Top Social Media users have tens of thousands of followers, making User Generated Content a trusted source for people researching travel plans. So how do Hotels capitalize on this, and why?

Your hotel has done well in the past, and your technology is top-of-the-line, with mobile check-in and –out, personalization, and multiple strategic mobile touch points throughout the property. You even have your own website and app, and guests have the ability to book directly through you.

As far as popularity and attention go, Airbnb gets very little of either from hotels. It just kind of sits in the corner, as boutique hotels vie for the attention of the big, shiny OTAs. But, actually, Airbnb has caught onto something great as far as travellers are concerned, so maybe it's time that hotels paid a bit more attention…

I’m sure you’ve already heard about Public, or Open, APIs over the past couple of years and how they are fast becoming an essential part of Software and App Integration. Certainly you have an idea of what an API does and how Open Code has revolutionized Facebook and Google, but you may not understand what a Public API is, exactly, and what problems it solves for the Hotel Industry.

Today we talk to Thomas Landen, who has worked for more than ten years in international marketing and sales within the hospitality industry. He is currently head of marketing for EMEA at Revinate in Amsterdam.

Betterspace, headquartered in Kassel, and hetras are joining forces to create highly efficient energy control technology for hotels that reduces energy costs and ensures guest comfort. In other words, the software systems developed by the two partners not only keep hotel guests satisfied, but also help protect the environment.

Huge temples are built at the Theresienwiese every year for the sole purpose of beer worship. These ‘tents’ are where all the action happens. Tourists flock from all over the world to sit together at tables, listen to absurdly bad (but somehow catchy) music that everyone can sing along with, and drink until either their pockets are empty (happens faster than you’d think) or they pass out. And here’s the amazing thing: the locals are there to do the same thing!

Calculating the right room rate is an integral part of a successful revenue management strategy. Now, an exciting partnership between hetras and BookingSuite, a new unit of Booking.com dedicated to empowering accommodation providers with smart technology that makes it easier to deliver great guest experience and grow their businesses, offers hoteliers a faster, cheaper, and accurate way to price rooms and increase RevPAR.

Business Intelligence (BI) - first of all it is a huge buzzword used for a huge amount of things which are not BI at all. For our understanding it is a dynamic tool that lets you extract data, convert it into information which will give you the understanding you need to make intelligent business decisions.

Beijing Shiji information Technology Co. Limited (Shiji), announced, effective August 3, 2016, it has acquired hetras Deutschland GmbH and all its operations.

Negative reviews don’t have to ruin your day. In fact if handled correctly, they can be a powerful tool. According to recent industry research, most travellers are critical thinkers who can have their opinions swayed if a negative review is addressed in the right way. Study data revealed that the way a hotel reacts to criticism can change a traveler’s opinion and even their actions.

This article was originally published by IDeaS Revenue Solution and has been edited by hetras. In recent years, the hotel revenue management industry has seen a swift transformation – moving past filling as many rooms as possible to approaching their revenue strategies from a more holistic viewpoint.

hetras has reached a milestone in its automated migration process. Since February 2016, the company has successfully gone live with a new Village Hotel property nearly every week.

Somewhere around the end of June I wrote about what Millennials love and what their travel behavior is. My final conclusion was that they love apps and expect a simple and reactive service. Today I will tell you what not to do – if you don’t want to annoy your Millennial guest.

This article was originally published by NetAffinity and written by Chris Kenny. It has been edited by hetras.  Your booking engine has a lot more going on under the hood than you might imagine. Specifically, it has an almost overwhelming amount of data. That data can be used to give your direct bookings a strong boost.

Today we talk to Attila Kecskés. Attila has worked as a software developer for many years in different companies within Romania/Hungary. For the past 6 years, he has been working for hetras as Software Developer.

At hetras, we are frequently asked if we can give a short overview of booking engine providers in the European area and we always answer as much as we can. Luckily to better answer the question, Daniel Zelling, founder of visual storytelling agency opensmjle, did an amazing overview of Internet booking engines using his great network.

To provide a cutting-edge app for hotel guests, hetras has partnered with Hotek. Together with Kaba and Assa Abloy, Hotek is the third key provider that can be used with hetras´ mobile app. hetras CTO Stephan Wiesener adds, “But we also want to encourage other key provider to work with hetras.”

The Internet is full of writing about Millennials: what do they do, what do they want, what defines them as a group? It can feel like there is no clear information, and there are some reasons for that, like the wide timeline of their births (1980 - 2000) along with rapidly shifting job and real estate markets.

Recently we published a white paper where we asked five international revenue managers to share some of their secrets, successes and insights. Each one offers a glimpse into their world; how they view their role, what their everyday business looks like, which areas provide the greatest challenges and the tools they find invaluable.

Today we interview Daniel Zelling, who has worked for several years in the hotel business for various multinational companies, like Micros Fidelio, Pegasus and ReviewPro. He founded opensmjle and DIGITAL AMENITIES and now works with different customers in the hospitality industry across Europe.

But while this strategy may work well for larger chains, smaller independent and boutique establishments may find themselves at a disadvantage. Marketing and differentiating the product, for example, can be difficult and cost-prohibitive without the advantage of multiple channels. This article explores the problem and offers possible solutions.

Optimization and personalization are the name of the game. New generation travelers expect a certain level of customization and service from their chosen accommodation, which means hotels must strike at inefficiencies if they want to remain successful.

Social media is a buzzword thrown about by jazzy marketers. Get social, they claim, and you'll have unbridled access to a youthful, new-generation clientele. It's so quintessentially and irresistibly millennial that resistance seems futile. But how much of this is actually true? And how can hotels benefit from a social media presence?

When travelers start to plan a trip, they often use an Internet search engine, like Google. Some of the first hits to appear are courtesy of TrustYou, a guest feedback platform that gathers content, ratings, and reviews about hotels from different sites, even providing a TrustScore based on combined ratings.

In this three-part series, Matt Langie, CMO of visual commerce platform, Curalate, and Manager of Marketing and Distribution at Ruby Hotels, Tobias Köhler, share their insights on how to best use Instagram in the hotel space.

Today we talk to Jomy Jose. She has worked for several years as a software developer for a number of multinational companies in various fields of business, like banking, insurance, communication, and media. Since February 2011, she has been working for hetras in software development.

It’s time to consider letting a Cloud-based property management system (PMS) streamline your operations and improve your responsiveness, data access and controls. You are likely comfortable with the operation of your legacy PMS; you’ve bought the servers, installed the software and trained your staff to use it.

Social media is a buzzword thrown about by jazzy marketers. Get social, they claim, and you'll have unbridled access to a youthful, new-generation clientele. It's so quintessentially and irresistibly millennial that resistance seems futile. But how much of this is actually true? And how can hotels benefit from a social media presence? In this three-part series, Matt Langie, CMO of visual commerce platform, Curalate, and Manager of Marketing and Distribution at Ruby Hotels, Tobias Köhler, share their insights on how to best use Instagram in the hotel space.

In recent years, the people of China have begun to travel more and more. In addition, the new Chinese generation has different expectations of foreign travel and tends to go abroad in order to find authentic foreign products. Generally, traveling is seen as sign of wealth and is essential to maintaining a certain image. Last year, Chinese tourists spent $215 billion abroad.

With all the changes to travel and hospitality since the onset of smartphones, you’ve likely found yourself suffering from “digital fatigue” trying to keep abreast of all the trends and products offering to bring hotels into the social media age. To be frank, the rapid changes of guest-forward tech have left a lot of us scratching our heads, and that confusion doesn’t just affect the end-user.

In our series, ‘Questionnaire for Revenue Managers,’ managers and consultants describe what their everyday business looks like and what challenges they regularly face. Today, we talk to Kirsten Lang, who works as a consultant for hotel groups. She specializes in revenue management and advising and coaching hotels on ways to optimize their business processes and revenue/PMS system implementations.

Few industries have seen as much upheaval and transformation as hospitality. As technology rapidly advanced and continues to do so, the internet continues to play a larger and larger role — particularly with Gen Y, who have come of age — and global heavyweights throw their weight — and resources — around, the industry has seen a fascinating evolution.

App-use for travel is on the rise

Today let´s talk to Jose Luis Amat Fuster, who is a Product Manager for Mobile Apps and IBE at hetras.

As a revenue manager, you probably ask yourself a variety of questions ranging from how to secure profit increases for your business to finding ways to provide the right price to the right customer at the right time. It might be comforting for you to know that you have an internal ally in this endless battle of driving demand: your marketing department.

Yes, yes you've heard it before — good reviews equal to glory, success and eternal happiness, right? Ummm…no, sorry. Technology has changed, booking trends have changed, even the human brain has changed and it turns out that a positive review is only as effective as the wording it uses.

In our series, ‘Questionnaire for Revenue Managers,’ managers describe what their everyday business looks like and what challenges they regularly face. Today we talk to Maru E. Alemán, who works as revenue manager for Keahotel EHF, chain of hotels in Iceland.

You read it here first, folks: fashion stores have something that hotels are yet to fully embrace — successful social online interaction.  So any hoteliers that want to attract millenials and get ahead of the curve should cast a casual glance at what's happening in the world of fashion and consider joining the Instagram evolution — there are six very good reasons why.

Many people think that accounting and working with figures must be boring, involving an everyday routine with no changes and challenges. We at hetras have specialists in different hotel and tourism topics, and some of them even have a passion for the world of digits, taxes, and reporting.

The hospitality scene is changing constantly. Gone are the days of queuing at reception, replaced by the ease and ultimate convenience of self-service.

It's a big week in the world of travel tourism; not only is Berlin hosting the world's largest travel trade show (9-11 March), but also celebrating 50 years of travel tourism history. The very first ITB Berlin show opened in 1966 — pre internet, pre Expedia, pre keyless entry and pre Kim Kardashian.

Following this new partnership, hetras will leverage Revinate’s industry leading Surveys solution into its its PMS suite, leading to smarter operational decisions, more personalized guest experiences, outperforming competition, increasing review volume and response, and drivingrepeat bookings.

Gone are the days of queuing at reception, replaced by the ease and ultimate convenience of self-service. Village Hotels, the British hotel chain comprising twenty-eight properties with an urban touch, is in the middle of a fast roll-out of the hetras native cloud platform to all of its hotels.

The Student Hotel is an innovative venture and hybrid hotel concept that depends on a highly efficient hotel software platform supplied by hetras. The chain offers both long-term housing for students and accommodation for short-term city breaks.

How can underperforming hotels be brought back on track? In what ways does cloud-based hotel management software drive change? What internal restructuring is necessary for efficient hotel revenue management?

Net Affinity’s booking engine processes and analyses tons of bookings every day. Looking at that data, they realized they’re sitting on a whole lot of information on booking patterns for independent hotels: the pile of gold beneath the mountain of numbers. So, they decided to do a little digging. Today, they are sharing, the most interesting booking patterns of the last quarter of a million bookings to go through their booking engine.

The most essential service a hotel provides is a restful night, making it the most essential aspect of good hotel design. Juan Julia, owner of Axel Hotel Group, has cultivated a strong international brand around the basic concept of guest comfort, inclusiveness and a restful night.

Your favorite drink ready and waiting as you arrive, your room lit just the way you like it, and the pillow exactly the type you prefer … A utopian dream? Actually, it is pretty much reality, thanks to Smart Analytics, a feature of the cloud-based hotel management platform, hetras. And one of the first hotels to use hetras’ Smart Analytics, the hotel chain Qbic, is already impressed with its effects.

Smart Analytics is new Business Intelligence software from hetras that gives hotels and hotel chains a better way to rapidly analyze and evaluate big data. It allows users to obtain valuable information on all of their sales channels by creating their own customized dashboards.

Blogging is more effective than social media and SEO in increasing website traffic. Also, leads attained through inbound marketing methods like blogging cost 60% less than those captured with outbound methods. Inbound marketing is the art of getting your customers to want to come to you – for advice, for inspiration, and ultimately to buy from you.

This adaptation to app use and the accompanying appetite amongst many consumers for more seamless travel experiences has opened up new avenues for hoteliers to tap into.

To provide a cutting-edge mobile app for hotel guests, hetras has integrated LEGIC Connect, a highly secure, cloud-based trusted service platform for mobile key deployments. Thanks to the simple integration of the LEGIC mobile SDK, hetras hotel management platform can now take full advantage of LEGIC’s mobile key solutions.

The new Hotel Ruby Marie, the second property from hotelier Michael Struck, is set to open at the end of 2015 in Vienna. Not only will it feature a super-fast check-in system, but guests will also be able to check out by simply walking out, for maximum convenience.

Previously I had speculated that Google’s expansion into hotel distribution could present hoteliers with a much needed boost in bargaining power when dealing with Online Travel Agencies and instant booking metasearches.

Although they represent two different industries, hoteliers and retailers actually have the same business goal. They’re both trying to maximize revenue for limited, perishable inventory – and they’re doing so for customers with variable price sensitivities over a fixed period of time. A more detailed depiction of this can be found in the chart on page five of Alex Dietz and Kelly McGuire’s white paper.

Aspiring hotel managers studying with the German distance learning provider ILS are now learning how to make reservations for individual, corporate and group travel, operate automated check-in and check-out systems, and use Quick Apps with hetras cloud-based hotel management software.

Earlier this year the New York Times published an article about coming changes in corporate travel plans, "Business Travelers Want to be Left to Their Own Devices", wherein the position was established that leisure travel trends are pushing major changes in business travel.

Looking for hassle-free accommodation in Munich? A great choice is the new Hotel Buddy, where you can manage everything, including booking a room, checking in and out, and paying, from a mobile device. The brainchild of a Munich hotelier, Johannes Eckelmann, who already runs the well-known Cocoon Hotel brand, Hotel Buddy at Stachus Square is a new concept, low-budget hotel that is completely staffless. It’s made possible largely thanks to the cloud-based hotel management platform from hetras.

The old adage goes: "It's not what you know, it's who you know." But, actually, when it comes to your hotel brand's distribution strategy,    it might be more about what you know regarding your guest's motivation and inspiration, rather than who you know them to be demographically.

People are starting to catch on, that user experience intensely affects direct booking. But one aspect is becoming more and more important as technology develops. That’s right, friends, we need to talk about how your internet booking engine interacts with mobile devices.

The competitive landscape in today’s hospitality industry is more intense than ever. Hoteliers need new ways to differentiate themselves in the eye of the customer to provide world-class service, while still driving profitability across every segment and business unit.

In our series, ‘Questionnaire for Revenue Managers,’ managers describe what their everyday business looks like and what challenges they regularly face. Pamela Heimer Braz, revenue manger at Carathotels, is next. Pamela chooses to work for the hotel industry, because she sees the practice of being a great host as a form of art.

The hotelier-OTA relationship has always been a slightly troubled one. On the one hand OTAs bring in customers who would not have been reachable in any other way. On the other hand, however, they try to make away with customers, SEO traffic and commissions — the nerve! Still, if used correctly and with a bit of cunning, they can add great value to your business.

Some might argue that the phenomenal success of Priceline and Expedia altered the negotiating balance of power between hotels and Online Travel Agencies. Hotels feel high-jacked and what began as a symbiotic relationship has, through the OTA’s exorbitant commissions and restricted access to guest data, become combative and controversial.

Revinate, the software as a service (SaaS) company that helps hotels reinvent the guest experience, today announces a partnership with hetras, the German company that supports hotels with the first truly cloudbased hotel management software. Among the first beneficiaries of this integration, Village Hotels—a UK chain with 28 properties—will now automate traditionally manual processes.

The travel industry has always been open to new technological developments, from the telephone call box in the 1900s to automated bookings and in-room pay-per-view in the late 1990s. But while many new technologies have been introduced into the Hotel room, technologies for booking and keyless entry haven’t really developed beyond their earliest iterations.

Nikolay Dreharov, a Business Administration and Information Technology expert, has a very clear vision of the future. He also likes to quote William Gibson, who once said: "The future is already here – it's just not very evenly distributed." Under the direction of Dreharov, the Fraunhofer IAO's Urban Living Lab is already experimenting with turning ideas for the future into reality. This includes producing products for the hotel sector as part of its FutureHotel research project. In this interview, hetras asks Dreharov about his favorite hotel apps and what kind of apps he believes are still missing.

Image: kev-shine/Flick

An interview with Andreas Martin

It’s a given, you want to increase the number of direct bookings on your hotel’s website and increase revenue. Customers find you on an OTA, then check out your website for more information, and then something strange happens: they go back to the OTA and book a room there. Could it be that your IBE is scaring them away? Something you can do today to help increase direct bookings is to simplify your IBE. A customer should be able to navigate and book on your site just as easily as they do on any of the big OTA’s.

This inspiring story is just one example of the large number of initiatives from the hotel and catering sector. Such as that of the famous Michelin star chef Heinz Winkler who, for example, is taking on refugees as apprentices, or the Komarek family, which only opened its Hotel Schani at Vienna Central Station in April this year and announced "24/7 hot meals for refugees arriving at the station" on its Facebook page.

Traditional hotels are exclusive spaces, as much about who is allowed in as who is kept out, offering a specific form of sanctuary from the outside world. New Generation hotels have been leading the way in recognizing that technology-enabled guests value independence and equality, and more slippage between the street and the lobby reflects the slippage between work and leisure for digitally connected travellers. The open lobby format is an inclusive, democratic space for guests to partake in work or leisure when and how they decide, and this is at the heart of the ethos of guest journey design.

In our series, ‘Questionnaire for Revenue Managers,’, manager answer questions to describe what their everyday business looks like and what challenges they regularly face. We begin with Melody Grelat, who describes herself as “a foody and a gym addict.” Pushing herself and relaxing at the same time is, she says with a smile, a very good way to fight stress. Regarding her job, Melody is revenue manager at Qbic Hotels London City. She was hired with the aim of taking over from an external revenue management company and implementing a new and more successful revenue management strategy for the hotel. Below, she discusses why she never gets bored and could not work without the BOB report …

It’s trade show season, and not only that, but the city you're in also attracts a lot of tourists and most hotels are either already fully booked or their prices have gone way up. Here is how to still get a room and beat the odds ...

Negative reviews are more likely to be met with a dejected shake of the head than fireworks. However it may be time to give your harshest critics more attention — if the latest industry research and opinions are anything to go by, a well-managed negative review can yield some very positive results

Istanbul itself is a year-round attraction, and from the 20th to the 25th of October, crime fiction fans from around the world are converging on the Turkish metropolis. In celebration of Agatha Christie’s 125th birthday, Pera Palace Hotel Jumeirah, located in the middle of the vibrant and hip Beyoglu district, is hosting the Black Week.

Using the example of two Munich hotels, carathotel and hotelmüller, hetras and AHM, a Swiss hotel service company, have shown how a hotel's reach, booking rates and RevPAR can be improved in a matter of months.

The new Village Hotel in Glasgow had barely opened its doors before it shot up the ranks to feature as one of the town's top places to stay and gained a rating of 'excellent' on booking.com and ranked top on TripAdvisor. According to one of the reviews left there, "automated check-in is superb as is the very efficient check-out".

Anybody who's ever been to Vienna will know "Vienna Stafa Tower", the historic department store on Mariahilfer street. The top six floors of this landmark round building in the heart of the Austrian metropolis are currently being converted to house the RUBY MARIE – a brand new Ruby hotel with 186 rooms scheduled to open at the end of 2015. We asked Michael Struck, the owner of RUBY SOFIE, which only just celebrated its first anniversary a short distance away, about his second Ruby hotel right in the center of Vienna.

How can underperforming hotels be brought back on track? In what ways does cloud-based hotel management software drive change? What internal restructuring is necessary for efficient hotel revenue management?

If you've ever wondered whether hotels and Generation Y actually go together, you might like to take a look at "So geht Hotel heute", a German blog about the hotel industry, for some refreshing news. That's because, here, in an article titled "Generation wuss?", the author makes it quite clear that: "Generation Y has massive potential for the hotel industry, because it is the biggest driver of innovation yet. And that is something we need to encourage rather than keep trying to put a stop to as this trend keeps gaining in momentum."

Gone are the days of queuing at reception and in are the days of self-service and ultimate convenience. At the new Village Hotel in Glasgow, that means being able to book your room online, checking yourself in, using services like the hotel's Health & Fitness club, Starbucks or restaurant and being emailed your bill after your stay.

If you would like to find out how to make a hotel most viable for the future and position it successfully in a highly competitive environment, the FutureHotel conference is the place to be. The conference takes place on 21 July 2015 and brings together experts from research and industry. This includes hoteliers, partners from the industry and researchers, all of which will present their unique contributions at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart.

Who or what exactly is it that makes a difference when it comes to hotels? On looking into this, there were 5 things that really spoke to us. One of these was the role of history  – the unique story behind a hotel, and another was the question of how to attract guests without being pushy.

New generation hotels are investing less and yet generate significantly higher returns than comparable traditional hotel chains. The most successful hotels are currently generating between 2.5 to 3.2-times the profits (GOPPAR) per room than the average traditional 2 to 4-star hotel in a similar position. Hard to believe, but it's true. Martin Reents, CEO of hetras, explains why some hotels are more profitable than others and what exactly it is that traditional hotel chains can do to improve. The mega trend in hotel distribution is "electronic distribution" and new generation hotels are currently the ones profiting from it most, because they know how to use it to best effect. This is also shown by their room rates and bookings, which are far above the industry average.

Who took the coolest photo of a hotel lobby? The photo contest that hetras held in May has finished. The winning prize went to Gerald Huber from Innsbruck for his photo of boutique hotel Baltazár.

The stuff hotel-owners' dreams are made of: Being able to use their data to personalize their guests’ experience and meet their respective needs. Hotels set on optimizing their guest experiences have long since started doing so and that is not just with respect to single hotels, but across entire chains.