Are you automating your hotel mapping?
Automation in hotel mapping has yet to become commonplace. In fact, most travel companies are unaware that automation is even possible. The result is that the vast majority of travel companies are still relying on manual mapping to get their inventory to market. Those that are aware of the solution are left debating on whether or not the ROI warrants the switch. But what price are travel companies paying when they stick to manual mapping?
Below we’ve outlined 4 primary downsides that are a direct result of manual hotel inventory mapping.
Missing content
One of the issues with manually mapping is that certain data associated with each room gets lost, the end result is listings lacking or with incorrect images, descriptions or amenity data. These incomplete listings have a far lower chance of converting to a booking.
Not being able to sell all your properties.
Every week, tens of thousands of apartments and other accommodation types are added to the global pool of bookable properties. Even with a large staff, it isn’t possible to keep up with the pace at which new properties are added. In today’s world, you either have a limited amount of the inventory which was mapped manually or the full inventory which was mapped automatically. Automation eliminates the content gaps by covering more properties than are possible manually.
Delayed time-to-market
There are consequences to manually mapping each and every property. Top hotel suppliers can add or change over 20,000 properties every week, without automated mapping you’re missing out on those properties that are available to you. By mapping them manually, a significant delay in time-to-market is created, hurting your travel business’s ability to compete. Automated mapping reduces time-to-market from weeks to hours.
Costs associated with errors
Human error is an unavoidable problem in any manual process. A large team creates more opportunities for mistakes to be made. This especially applies to the increasingly complex task of hotel mapping. Without automation, you cannot have a reliable consistency in your results.
These inconsistencies lead to costly errors, which require you to compensate clients. Automation eliminates the errors that plague the manual process.
Does manual mapping outweigh the cost of automation?
Between the tremendous amount of manual labor involved, the loss in sales, the loss in competitiveness and the cost of reimbursement, there can be no doubt that manual mapping is a costly affair. Automation is the way forward for any travel business looking to be competitive. Automation eliminates errors and delays, while improving search results, providing an end to duplicates that fill up search results. These changes lead to a superior customer experience throughout as well as an increase in conversions.