The Glamping Business: How To Increase Your Revenue 

You’ve heard of camping and probably enjoyed a night beneath the stars yourself. 

Make way for camp’s fancy cousin – glamping

With winter around the corner and many tourists wanting the camping experience but not the weather discomfort that comes with it, glamping is a perfect solution.

This blog will discuss how to take your business to the next level. We will also mention some marketing tips and tricks here and there.

Most of all, we will focus on helping you increase your revenue as a business owner.

Let’s dive right into the world of glamour and glitz of glamping!

What Is Glamping?

The word originates from a fuse of two words: glamourous and camping.

As the name suggests, this form of vacationing appeals to travelers who want to experience adventure and nature, but don’t want to compromise on comfort. 

This trend has gained a lot of traction in recent years and has attracted a new audience of nature lovers and luxury tourists.

A glamping accommodation could be:

✅ Luxury Tents

✅ Yurts

✅ Geo Domes

✅Bell Tents

✅Cabins

✅Pods

✅Shepherd Huts

✅Treehouses

How The Glamping Business Rose To Popularity

The hustle of the city never slows down. Gone are peaceful evenings with the family, big cities never sleep.

Paired with the marketing efforts of this new hospitality branch, the glamping experience quickly appealed to a broad audience. Not giving up comfort yet having an opportunity to escape to nature appealed to many.

The main draw for this kind of vacation is the visual experience. Accommodations are usually set in beautiful nature resorts or scenic locations.

Catering to these travelers can be a bit of a challenge. These tourists expect the sites to be sustainable and eco-friendly since their stay is about connecting with nature. 

3 Types Of Glamping

If you want to focus your brand, you should know what different types of glamping there are. 

Once you find something that rings a bell, focus your business plan and marketing strategies according to your brand. 

3 types of glamping: luxury glamping, adventure glamping and eco-friendly glamping. Tips on how to increase your ROI in glamping.

1. Luxury Glamping

Tourists interested in luxury glamping want an exclusive experience and fine dining set in picturesque nature sites. High-end hospitality combined with the beauty of nature is what makes the allure of this type of experience.

💡Marketing Pro Tips

  1. When trying to appeal to these kinds of travelers, emphasize the look and design of the accommodation you offer. Showcase the blend of luxury, comfort, and scenic nature that surrounds it. Focusing on what sort of guest experience you offer can be something that separates you from the crowd in social media marketing.
  2. You can film a video that showcases a day in the life of a guest glamping at your site. Make sure you’re showing both the comfortability of the accommodation and the beauty of nature that surrounds it.
  3. Rainy day? Don’t put that camera down just yet! Showing someone being cozy in your glamping site while the elements rage around them can emphasize what you offer.

2. Adventure Glamping

What are thrill seekers and nature enthusiasts supported to do when they don’t want to compromise on comfort? They should go adventure glamping, of course!

Branding yourself as an adventure glamping site means offering exciting nature-related activities. Being close to hiking trails or bungee jumping sites can also be an added benefit for this sort of glamping business plan.

Collaborating with a local nature guide or a local business that offers quad rental can be an added benefit to your business.

💡Marketing Pro Tips

  1. When trying to appeal to these adventure seekers, don’t forget to list all of your amenities as well. It’s a given you will show beautiful hiking trails and thrilling activities. Don’t forget glamping is all about not compromising comfort.
  2. Do you offer massages after a long and tiring adventure? Or a comfortable chair or a hammock people can relax in? Don’t forget to show it!
  3. These adventurers tend to be rather social as well. Making a campfire in the evening can be very appealing for them. If you don’t mind the noise, you can get them an acoustic guitar and watch them come back to your campsite year after year.

3. Eco-friendly Glamping

Fostering a connection between humans and nature, this accommodation style is all about the green agenda. Tourists seeking sustainability are the target audience here. 

💡Marketing Pro Tips

  1. Showcase sustainable practices. Highlight your environmental commitment by showcasing your eco-friendly practices on social media and your website. Share behind-the-scenes content of your sustainable building materials, energy-efficient systems, and waste reduction efforts. 
  2. Partner with Eco Influencers. Invite them to stay at your glamping site and share their experiences with their followers. Their authentic reviews and captivating content can amplify your message and attract eco-minded travelers eager to support green businesses.
  3. Create special promotions for guests who prioritize sustainability. Offer discounts or perks for those who bring reusable items, participate in on-site conservation activities, or travel using eco-friendly transportation. Highlight these incentives in your marketing materials to attract environmentally aware travelers and build a community of like-minded guests who value and support your green initiatives.
Glamping amenities. List of things to do to upgrade your glamping business and make bigger glamping profits.

5 Make Or Break Factors That Will Determine Your Income On The Glamping Market

1. Tent Type

Running a successful glamping business depends greatly on the tent type you have to offer. This is also a big factor in determining what kind of business model you should choose.

Tent type doesn’t necessarily determine the type of glamping you offer. A lavishly furnished treehouse can be considered luxury glamping. 

Your main focus should be researching the renting cost of the type of tent you offer. It’s important not to overcharge or undercharge your customer. 

2. Location

Location is extremely important in determining your earnings in the glamping industry.

Being located near a national park, ski resorts or hiking trails is what could be drawing the crowds in all year round.

On the other hand, tourists look for easily accessible accommodation. Good roads and parking spots are usually a concern for travelers when choosing their glamping stay.

How To Increase Your Revenue?

Does your location draw tourists in only seasonally? Here’s a fresh idea for you! You could offer event venue services. Register and market your accommodation as available to rent for events. Perties, weddings or teambuildings. This could draw potential guests in during the low-season months!

3. Number Of Bookings You Get Per Month

Your revenue is sure to fluctuate from month to month. This is related to the number of bookings you get. It is completely normal. 

The number of units you offer is also a factor in this equation. 

How To Increase Your Revenue?

Are you trying to get your bookings up? Partner with a company that offers various activities like hiking tours or car rentals in the area. You can link to each other’s websites. An accommodation that offers activities besides just a place to stay will be more interesting to potential customers. 

Besides this, using a tool like a channel manager can help you manage your platform presence. Watch closely which platform brings you the most customers monthly. After that, it’s only a matter of research on how to increase your traffic on each platform.

We have a blog on this subject.

4. Operating Costs

Operating costs will affect your prices and earnings. Watch out for these key expenses: 

  1. Cleaning: Regular cleaning is essential but can be expensive.
  2. Laundry: Costs for washing linens and towels can add up.
  3. Marketing: Spending on ads and promotions helps attract guests, but keep track of these costs.
  4. Maintenance and Repairs: Regular upkeep and fixing issues can be costly. Plan for these expenses to avoid surprises.
  5. Insurance: Protecting your business with insurance is important but can be a significant cost.
  6. Taxes: Be aware of your tax obligations to avoid penalties.
  7. Utilities: Water and electricity bills can vary. Monitor and manage usage to keep costs down.

By keeping an eye on these expenses, you can better control your costs and improve your profitability.

Operating costs of a glaming business. Ways to increase glamping revenue

5. Ameneties You Offer

When you start a glamping business, you know it’s not just about creating a place for someone to spend the night at. It’s making sure guests want to spend time at your accommodation.

The more amenities you offer, the bigger your revenue is going to get.

How To Increase Your Revenue?

Upgrade your amenities and facilities. Some of the amenities glampers love are:

✅ Kitchenettes

✅ Internet Access

✅ Bathtubs

✅ Bars

✅ Televisions

✅ Swimming Pools

Try offering anything that could create an unforgettable experience for them.

Luxury glamping bell tent and yurts. Advice on how to upscale your glamping business.

Top 9 Tips On How To Increase Your Revenue Potential

1. Explore Dynamic Pricing Options

The ever-changing hospitality business calls for a flexible pricing approach. Adjusting rates seasonally allows you to capitalize on high demand during peak times while maintaining steady profits in slower periods.

This requires a careful review of your pricing model to align with regional peak travel times, ensuring you maximize revenue without deterring guests during the off-season.

2. Reduce Costs Without Sacrificing Quality

Every cost-reducing strategy first needs to be weighed with how it affects the guest experience. As a glamping business owner, you should always prioritize the quality of guest experience. This drives your pricing power, after all. 

Analyze your utility costs, as they offer a great opportunity for savings. Consider switching to solar panels or energy-efficient appliances, reducing long-term expenses without compromising guest comfort or your site’s eco-appeal.

Next, review your supply chain. Are you getting the best deals without sacrificing quality? Negotiating bulk discounts or exploring cost-effective alternatives can save money while supporting sustainable practices.

Finally, regular maintenance prevents costly repairs, preserving your site’s high standards and prolonging the lifespan of amenities.

3. Upsell And Cross-sell

Upselling isn’t only about increasing your revenue stream, but also about creating personalized experiences for your guests.  Getting to know your guests and giving them options is what will make them feel valued.

Comparing upselling and cross-selling in glamping. Tips on how to increase your glamping site profits.

Successful upselling relies on time and relevance. Make sure your employees are offering upgrades upon booking or arrival. At this moment guests are the most interested in enhancing their stay. 

Cross-selling is about offering other complementary products. Making dining experience bundle deals or luxury spa offers can be a good idea to boost your business. 

A great tool that can help you with this is a Guest App.

We’re shining the spotlight on OTA Sync’s Guest App.

Ensuring guest satisfaction and more opportunities to upsell, a Guest App is a technological step in the right direction.

4. Streamline Operations For Efficiency

Achieving operational excellence often starts with simplifying and standardizing processes. By eliminating unnecessary steps and reducing complexity, you can ensure that each part of your business operates at peak efficiency.

This emphasis on streamlining helps lower costs and boost productivity, and ultimately enhances profitability by getting more done with fewer resources.

5. Include Add-on Services

To boost your glamping business profits and stay competitive, you need to find new ways to make more money. Adding extra services can create new revenue opportunities and fit well with your overall business plan. Some strategies are particularly effective at increasing profits and improving your services.

To boost profits, carefully plan how you add new services. Make sure each new service fits well with what you already offer. Understand your customers and what they want. Look at trends and preferences to find services that will attract them and increase revenue.

Examples include exclusive workshops, extended warranties, or personalized consultations. Focus on making these services high-quality and relevant for success.

6. Profit Margin Management

Managing profit margins is vital for running a glamping business successfully. It’s not something you do once, but a process that requires constant review and adjustment. By staying on top of this, your business can not only survive but thrive, even with seasonal changes and shifting customer preferences.

To keep a clear picture of your finances, it’s important to have a strong system for regular reviews. These reviews help you make smart changes to your business when needed. Whether you do them monthly or quarterly, check your income, balance sheet, and cash flow to stay aware of your financial situation.

The old saying goes: “If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business.”

7. Adopt Technology Solutions

Using advanced technology can automate routine tasks, provide key data insights, and connect different parts of your business. Tools like property management software and AI can simplify complex tasks and support better decision-making, which helps you stay competitive and boost profits.

In short, combining streamlined processes with smart technology helps you achieve and maintain operational excellence, fostering continuous improvement and long-term profitability.

We’re shining the spotlight on OTA Sync’s all-in-one solution.

OTA Sync can greatly improve your operations by linking your Property Management System (PMS), booking engine, and channel manager. By automating data updates across these systems, OTA Sync streamlines bookings minimizes errors, and ensures real-time availability across all platforms. This seamless synchronization simplifies management tasks, improves accuracy, and boosts efficiency, ultimately leading to better decision-making and increased profitability.

8. Scale Your Glamping Business

Before expanding your glamping business, it’s important to create a clear business plan. Research the market, understand your target customers, and find what makes your site special. A solid plan helps make sure your business meets both market needs and your financial goals.

To attract more guests and grow your customer base, try offering different types of accommodations. You could add options like treehouses, yurts, or luxury tents. Having a variety of choices can bring in more visitors and boost your income.

9. Monitor Guest Feedback

As a glamping site owner, adapting to market changes is essential. Markets shift, new competitors appear, and guest expectations change—your success depends on your ability to keep up. Use customer feedback to improve your services and stay ahead of trends.

✅ Watch social media and review sites to see what guests are saying.
✅ Look at booking patterns to predict changes in demand.
✅ Stay updated on industry trends and innovations.

Managing profit margins and regularly reviewing your finances will help keep your business sustainable and profitable. Listening to market changes and customer feedback is key to running a successful site.

We have a blog on enhancing guest experience in your vacation rental.

Glamping tent with a view. How to increase your revenue as a glamping business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, boosting your glamping business revenue means using smart strategies and good marketing. Expand your offerings, streamline operations, and use the right marketing channels to attract more guests and increase profits.

Adjust your pricing, add unique experiences, and improve your online presence. Small changes can lead to big results, so review and refine your strategies regularly for long-term success.

How OTA Sync Can Help

OTA Sync is a cloud software solution for all hotelier needs.
Automating most of the tasks needed for running hotels, private rooms, or campsites, OTA Sync offers a unique opportunity for hoteliers with their all-in-one solution. Our clients report seeing an increase in revenue and fewer hours spent on doing manual tasks. Their employees were able to focus on creating the best experience for their guests, which tourists greatly appreciated.

The Property Management System offers a top-of-the-line, quick and easy solution, with a soothing layout and intuitive features.

✅ Through a modern-designed Booking Engine allows the guest to make a reservation through the facility’s website, in real-time.
Channel Manager connects all OTA’s channels via a single control panel which prevents overbooking and booking errors.
The Guest App offers quick check-ins, tailored recommendations, and instant notifications, ensuring a unique and seamless experience for every guest.


OTA Sync software is suitable for medium and small hotels, boutique hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and apartments. The company has more than 2.000 satisfied users in 17 countries worldwide.

The software contributes to saving time and costs, increasing the number of reservations, and facilitating communication between the sales and reception departments.
A mobile app is also available for iOS and Android users, for even faster and easier management, from anywhere.

6 Essential Mobile Apps To Help You Grow Your Hotel Rental Business

Nowadays, you can hardly find any aspect of the hospitality industry that mobiles haven’t brushed upon. 

Mobile devices accounted for two-thirds of global travel and hospitality websites’ traffic in 2023. 

Thus, not using mobile apps to improve your hotel business would be a missed opportunity.

Mobile hotel rental apps vary in functionalities and purposes, but we’ve compiled a list covering every major aspect.

Let’s dive in!

6 Mobile Hotel Rental Apps To Boost Your Growth

Let’s highlight our top picks before we dig deeper.

mobile-hotel-rental-apps-overview

1. OTA SYNC — The Best Solution for Full Hotel Management

ota-sync-homepage

OTA SYNC is an all-encompassing hotel management solution that offers a full suite of features to help you streamline everyday hotel operations from a single dashboard.

In addition, OTA SYNC addresses not only efficient hotel management but also enhanced guest satisfaction.

Our software is cloud-based, but a mobile app is also available for Android and iOS systems.

It has the full functionality of its web counterpart and offers many add-ons, such as a Guest App, Housekeeping App, Automation, and Reports functions.

ota-sync-mobile-app

Thus, you can edit reservations in one click, monitor bookings, and change and adjust pricing plans on the go.

Regarding integrations, OTA SYNC has a 2-way XML connection, with iCal and API possibilities.

This way, you can seamlessly sync your availability calendar across different platforms, including:

ota-sync-calendar

Key Features

1. Property Management Solution (PMS)

? The stellar feature within the PMS module is the centralized dashboard, which provides a central view of all properties, channels, and functions without switching tabs.

? Within this module, you’ll also find in-depth statistics that provide insights into categories, such as revenue, average revenue, occupancy by months, etc.

As a result, you can identify areas for improvement but also see top-performing channels, etc.

ota-sync-statistics

? A vast collection of reports ranging from Maintenance and Housecleaning over Employee Stats to Manager reports to provide a clear overview of your property’s overall performance and maintenance.

You can even get your reports by email as often as you wish without logging in to the system first.

2. Channel Manager

? Channel Manager’s core function is to connect your property to a wide range of booking platforms, OTAs, GDS, etc.

? Therefore, a Channel manager is irreplaceable when it comes to increasing your online visibility and reach and tapping into new markets and guest types.

? Additionally, due to its great functionality, it helps you minimize double booking—it simultaneously syncs all the changes and updates in your bookings across all the channels.

? This allows you to manage and update room availability, rates, and bookings in real time.

3. Booking Engine

OTA SYNC’s customizable Booking Engine counterbalances the Channel manager and focuses on your internal channels, like your website.

Thus, you can still reap benefits from OTAs while generating more commission-free direct bookings.

Our widget allows you to fully customize the look of your Engine and apply logos, brand colors, etc.

You can even customize emails with custom headers and footers, customize invoices, etc.

4. Payments

OTA Payments is a fully integrated payment gateway that automatically processes transactions in multiple currencies while safeguarding your data.

It also allows you to charge all virtual cards automatically instead of doing it one by one daily.

OTA SYNC is a robust HMS solution that facilitates and automates hotel management tasks and operations.

2. Hootsuite — The Best Solution for Social Network Marketing

hotsuite-mobile-app-preview

Hootsuite is a popular social media management platform that enables you to:

  • Manage multiple social media accounts, 
  • Schedule posts, 
  • Track social media engagement and 
  • Analyze social media performance from a single dashboard. 

It provides various tools that not only elevate your social media presence but also catch your audience’s sentiments.

In addition to this, Hootsuite also has analytics tools to track your performance.

Key Features

Social Media Management

  • Manage and monitor multiple social media accounts, such as Facebook, Instagram, etc., from a centralized dashboard.
  • Schedule posts in advance, plan content calendars and publish posts across various social media channels simultaneously.

Engagement and Communication

  • Monitor social media conversations, engage with guests, and respond to comments, messages, and mentions in real time.
  • Collaborate with staff members, assign tasks, and streamline social media communication and engagement efforts.

Analytics and Reporting

  • Track social media performance, measure key metrics, such as likes, shares, comments, and reach, and generate customized reports for data-driven insights.
  • Analyze social media data, identify trends, and optimize social media strategies based on analytics and reporting features.

Social Listening and Monitoring

  • Monitor your hotel’s mentions, hashtags, keywords, and social media trends to stay informed about conversations related to your brand or hospitality industry.
  • Engage with guest feedback, track sentiment, and identify opportunities for community engagement and reputation management.

Social Ad Management

  • Create and manage social media ads, boost posts, and analyze ad performance within the Hootsuite platform.
  • Track ad campaigns, monitor ad spend, and optimize ad targeting for increasing social media advertising ROI.

Hootsuite is a versatile tool for streamlining social media management, enhancing audience engagement, and optimizing social media marketing efforts. 

3. Dropbox — Best for Cloud Storage

dropbox-homepage

Dropbox is a cloud-based file storage and collaboration platform that enables you to store, share, and synchronize files and folders across devices.

It also offers file hosting services, file synchronization, cloud storage, and file sharing capabilities for storing and collaborating on documents, photos, videos, and other types of files. 

Its mobile app lets you view, edit, upload, and share files.

Furthermore, you can sync files across desktop and mobile devices, ensuring access to documents and media from anywhere.

Key Features

File Storage and Syncing

  • Store files and folders in the cloud, synchronize content across devices, and access them online or offline.
  • Automatically sync changes to files, documents, and photos across linked devices, ensuring real-time access to the latest versions.

File Sharing and Collaboration

  • Share files and folders with your staff, control access permissions (view-only, edit, comment), and collaborate in real time on shared documents.
  • Collaborate on projects, work on shared files simultaneously, leave comments, and track file version history to streamline teamwork and enhance productivity.

Data Backup and Recovery

  • Back up important files and data to the cloud to protect against data loss and recover files in case of accidental deletion or device failure.
  • To prevent data loss and ensure data security, maintain file versions, recover deleted files, and restore previous file states.

Security and Privacy

  • Ensure data security with encryption, secure file transfers, password protection, and two-factor authentication to protect sensitive information.
  • Maintain privacy controls, manage user permissions, and monitor file access to secure confidential data and maintain compliance with data protection regulations.

File Sharing Links and Folders

  • Generate shareable links or folders to easily share files with others with or without a Dropbox account.
  • Customize sharing settings, set expiration dates for shared links, and track link activity to control file access and distribution.

4. Booking.com — Best for Online Visibility and Reach

booking.com-appstore-page

Booking.com is one of the most popular OTAs, and with 556 million visits in 2023, it is a great candidate for listing your hotel or rental there.

It connects travelers with a wide range of accommodation options, including hotels, apartments, villas, hostels, and resorts.

In addition to accommodations, Booking.com provides options for booking flights and rental cars to facilitate all aspects of travel planning.

But what are its key features that cater to hotels and rentals?

Key Features

When we speak about Booking.com’s features, we actually speak about the benefits it can bring to your property.

✨ Property Listings

  • Create detailed property listings, showcasing rooms, amenities, high-quality photos, and property descriptions to attract potential guests.

✨ Rate Management

  • Set room rates, special offers, discounts, and promotional deals to attract more guests and optimize revenue.
  • Adjust pricing based on demand, seasonality, market conditions, and booking trends to maximize occupancy and revenue.

✨ Availability Management

  • Manage availability, block off rooms, update inventory, and synchronize booking calendars in real time.
  • Control room availability, prevent overbookings, and maintain an accurate availability calendar to optimize occupancy.

✨ Guest Reviews and Ratings

Guest reviews and ratings provide valuable feedback and insights into guest experiences.

  • Respond to those, address feedback, and enhance your reputation and service quality based on guest comments.

✨ Analytics and Reporting

  • Access performance analytics, booking statistics, revenue reports, and financial data to analyze property performance on the platform.
  • Track key performance indicators, monitor booking trends, evaluate revenue sources, and make data-driven decisions to optimize operations.

✨ Promotions and Visibility

Booking.com offers various campaigns, featured listings, and programs to increase your property visibility and attract more guests.

  • Showcase special offers, last-minute deals, and seasonal promotions to reach a larger audience and drive bookings.

?If you want to explore how Booking.com can boost your online presence, then you don’t want to miss our blog, How To Start Advertising On Booking.com [Step-by-step Guide].

5. Trello —Best For Team and Staff Collaboration

trello-mobile-app-preview

Trello is a project management tool that uses boards, lists, and cards to help you and your staff organize and collaborate on tasks and streamline workflows. 

Its visual interface allows you to drag and drop cards across lists, rearrange tasks, add details to cards, and customize boards to suit your workflow.

Trello offers connections with other productivity, communication, and project management tools, such as Slack, Asana, Jira, etc.,

Key Features

Visual Task Management

  • Easily see task statuses, progress, deadlines, and priorities at a glance.
  • Create multiple boards for different projects, lists to categorize tasks, and cards to represent individual to-dos, ideas, or action items.

Collaboration and Teamwork

  • Facilitate collaboration among team members by enabling them to share boards, assign tasks, add comments, mention team members, and attach files to cards.
  • Provide real-time collaboration and feedback among your staff and foster effective communication. 

Checklists and Due Dates

  • Create checklists within cards to break down tasks into smaller sub-tasks, mark off completed items, and track progress toward task completion.
  • Get a clear overview of task deadlines, prioritize work, and manage timelines effectively.

✨  Labels and Tags

  • Add labels or tags to cards to categorize tasks, differentiate priorities, assign labels to specific projects, or denote task types.
  • Visually organize and filter cards based on different criteria, making it easier to locate specific tasks.

Notifications and Activity Tracking

  • Get notifications for mentions, status updates, due date reminders, and card actions to stay informed about task changes and upcoming deadlines.
  • Track activity history, view updates, and monitor changes and task or project progress.

6. FreshBooks Invoicing App — Best for Invoicing and Accounting

freshbooks-mobile-app-preview

FreshBooks is cloud-based accounting software to help you manage invoicing, expenses, time tracking, and financial tasks. 

Moreover, it provides solutions that simplify accounting processes, automate invoicing, and help you stay organized financially. 

Among its features, FreshBooks offers the FreshBooks Invoicing App that helps you create, send, and manage professional invoices on the go.

Key Features

Customizable Invoices

  • Create professional-looking invoices with customizable templates, branding options, and personalized messaging that reflect your business style.
  • Add company logo, colors, and personalized details to invoices for a professional and consistent brand image.

Automated Invoicing

  • Set up recurring invoices for subscription-based services, retainers, memberships, or regular clients to automate billing cycles and save time.
  • To streamline invoicing processes, schedule invoice delivery at specific intervals, such as weekly, monthly, or annually.

Online Payment Options

  • Offer flexible payment methods such as credit card payments, online payments, ACH transfers, and PayPal integration to simplify the payment process for guests.
  • Allow clients to pay invoices online directly through the invoice portal, improving payment speed and efficiency.

Expense Tracking

  • Track expenses, upload receipts, categorize expenses, and attach billable expenses to guest invoices for accurate billing and reimbursement.
  • Capture expense details, monitor spending, and manage costs more effectively to maintain financial transparency.

Guest Management

  • Manage guest information, track contact details, view guest histories, and access their data to maintain guest relationships and streamline communication.
  • Store guest preferences, manage communications, and track each guest’s invoices, estimates, and payments.

Reporting and Insights

  • Generate financial reports, track invoice status, view payment histories, and access guest payment details to gain insights into business finances.
  • Analyze business performance, monitor cash flow, track revenue streams, and assess financial health through data visualization and reporting tools.

Wrapping It Up

The above hotel rental apps are all great for tackling and solving typical hotel and rental business management issues.

However, all of them, except OTA SYNC, focus on a single functionality. 

Although focusing on only one major functionality usually means a tool has mastered it, effectively running and growing your hotel and rental business requires addressing more than one feature. 

This is what sets OTA SYNC apart.

It hosts comprehensive features for efficient hotel management under one roof, saving you the hassle and money of using individual solutions and switching between multiple tabs.

With our solution, you can:

Centralize all bookings and even multiple properties in a single view.

Improve guest experience through our multi-faceted Guest App, which serves as concierge, chatbot, tips and recommendations giver, etc.

Automate invoice creations and apply advanced invoice operations, such as splitting or merging by Item, Room, Guest, or Amount.

Make informed decisions based on the advanced finance, revenue, and in-house reporting tools to track your performance.

Expand reach while driving direct booking simultaneously.

Enticed to see what else OTA SYNC “hides”?

Sign up for a 14-day free trial and equip yourself with tools to grow your business.

Keep Learning:

Top Digital Transformation Ideas For Your Hotel

How To Start On Airbnb And What You Need To Know [Rental Guide]

10 Best Hotel Guest Apps for Your Business

Summer season 2021. – trends & expectations

The second summer season, affected by the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, brings different predictions among tourism experts. While some governments are optimistic, others are skeptical. Certainly, the challenging season is ahead of us, for which similar trends will apply as for the last, 2020 season.

Domestic and regional tourism as a crucial solution for recovery

Variable measures and restrictions, combined with unpredictable circumstances abroad, have influenced the trend of domestic tourism not to change to a greater extent.

Numerous hotels & property management agencies are aimed at promoting local destinations and encouraging customers to contribute to the country’s economy.

Coworking in hotels

The trend, which grew exponentially last year, is coworking in hotels and daily hotel room rentals. It is expected that this year this trend will continue to grow and will represent the potential for hotels that include this type of service in their offer.

Direct sales will be an accelerating factor to increase revenue

Last year showed us how fragile sales outsourcing is and that relying on online channels such as Booking, Expedia and Airbnb, along with foreign travel agencies is not an adequate sales strategy. The ability to generate bookings without commission, through a website or through personal sales channels was one of the main factors for survival in the years of crisis.

Hotels and short-term rentals should ensure that they have an adequate web presentation (website and social networks), and that they also have a user friendly booking engine (online reception), which will help generate more reservations.

Relying on inefficient servers, and outdated booking engine systems is a stumbling block and a slowing factor towards recovery.

Turning to automated systems

Security and reduced contacts have influenced the turn to mobile applications and cloud solutions.

The ability to access information from any location, at any time, is crucial for professional sales managers to modify their sales strategy in real time this year as well. Flexibility is a virtue that separates the successful from those who are not.

Online reservations have enabled hotels to collect information about guests as easily as possible and speed up communication.

There is currently a diverse range of solutions on the market that enable hotels to provide multi-level automation and employee connectivity.

The ability to delegate user access, mobile access to the system in real time and the speed of the system have proven to be effective tools in running a hotel.

Hotel systems and reception systems based on cloud technology will in the coming period almost completely replace systems based on installation technology directly on the computer.

Sustainability

Trends indicate that guests are increasingly interested in hotels that are committed to sustainability and that have green certificates, solar power and similar solutions.

Environmental considerations of hoteliers & property managers should be shaped by decisions that have environmental benefits (simple environmental switches, reduction of energy consumption by LED bulbs, etc.)

Agility

Due to major changes in measures, hotels and apartments must be prepared for a larger number of reservations, but also a larger number of cancellations.

Flexible cancellation policies, automated responses to guest inquiries and a diverse offer are some of the factors differentiating between hotels and short-term rentals that receive a larger number of bookings and those that do not. Whether sales come from online sales channels (Booking, Airbnb, Expedia, Hotelbeds, etc.) or through travel agents or directly, agility is a growing trend.

Top 4 KPIs (key performance indicators) to follow

KPIs (key performance indicators) are key measures by which a business strategy is monitored and improved.

KPIs are the main reporting factors for managers.

KPIs can vary from industry to industry, so the hotel industry does not differ, but has certain, specific indicators. Indicators can help you identify where your business has been successful and where there is room for improvement.

In the following, we will briefly explain, in our opinion, the top 5 key indicators for monitoring:

1. Occupancy rate

Capacity occupancy is the percentage of occupancy of your capacity (rooms, apartments, beds) compared to the total number of available capacities.

Occupancy = Number of occupied units / Total number of units x 100

2. ADR (Average daily rate)

ADR (Average daily rate) is another, very useful, indicator. This measure shows us the income realized from the reserved rooms in a certain period of time.

ADR = Average Price per Night = Income from occupied rooms / Occupied rooms

3. RevPAR (Revenue per available room)

RevPAR is one of the most used and significant indicators in the revenue management process. Revenue per available room helps us understand business performance, combining facility occupancy with ADR (Average daily rate).

RevPAR = ADR x Occupancy or
RevPAR = Total Revenue from Overnight / Total Number of Available Rooms in a Given Period

4. GOPPAR (Gross operating profit per available rooms)

This indicator allows us to have an objective view of the business situation.

GOPPAR = Total Gross Operating Profit / Total Number of Rooms Available

In addition to these indicators, it is very important to monitor the costs per unit, in order to know your profitability threshold. Although many are in a business emergency this year, monitoring the indicators makes business much easier in the future.

Airbnb announces a change in commission calculation

If you advertise your accommodation (apartments, rooms, or villas) on the Airbnb platform, there is a possibility that you have received a notification from the site about the change in the structure of the reservation fee.

What does this mean?

Starting from 7.12.2020. Airbnb has announced a change in the fee it charges for the services it provides.

There are currently two commision systems:

  • Shared fee system – the commission charged by Airbnb is divided between the host and the guest. The host is charged a fixed 3% while the guest is charged up to 20% commission.
  • Fixed fee system – this system is mandatory for companies that advertise on Airbnb and amounts to a fixed 14% of the fee charged by the host

Instead of the existing two systems, Airbnb will introduce one fixed 15% commission system to be charged by the host. This will in fact coincide with the other two world leaders, Booking.com and Expedia.com, who also charge their fees directly from the accommodation and not from the guest.

How does this affect accommodations?

Airbnb believes that this is a simplified method of calculation. The price will be more clearly expressed to the guests, while the owners and managers of the accommodation will have more control over the final price.

Also, the average increase in the number of bookings for hosts using simplified prices in Europe between November 2019 and February 2020 was 17%.

Does this affects existing bookings?

No, this change does not affect existing bookings. It will already automatically apply to reservations arriving from 7.12. and the existing ones will remain the same as before.

We advise owners and managers of accommodation who automate their business and use the channel manager system to prepare new price lists. In accordance with the new calculation of commissions, prices should be prepared by periods to be adjusted in order to avoid pre-Maltese provisions. If your channel manager system does not have this capability, contact us to explain how you can connect to our channel manager solution.