Increase your direct bookings with an online booking engine, commission-free.

A booking engine is software on a hotel’s website that captures online bookings. An online booking page typically consists of a date picker that allows potential guests to select their preferred dates and then shows the hotel’s rates and availability for the selection. It also displays room photos and descriptions along with in-room amenities. With this tool, guests can easily make payments online, and the system will immediately confirm their booking by sending a confirmation email. This ensures that the booking process is quick and hassle-free for guests and property managers. Additionally, the booking engine will communicate with your property management system or reservation software to update availability in real time. This means you can easily avoid double bookings and keep track of your inventory.

Accommodations like independent hotels, hostels,lodges,B&Bs, and serviced apartments without bookable websites are leaving money on the table. Having a website without a booking engine is like owning a restaurant with a beautifully designed menu but no tables for customers to sit and order their food. You've showcased your offerings and made potential diners hungry for what you serve, but without the ability to take their orders and reservations, they'll end up leaving and going elsewhere to satisfy their appetite. Modern travellers expect the instant gratification of online self-service. They desire the ability to swiftly check rates and availability without the hassle of filling out online query forms and waiting for responses. This desire for quick access to information is a key reason behind the popularity of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) among travellers. Finally, acquiring new customers is one of the most expensive aspects of running a hotel. It makes sense to leverage every sales channel, including your website, by equipping it with a powerful booking engine that gives you a competitive edge.

Here are the 10 key features of a modern booking engine:

1. User-Friendly Interface: An intuitive and easy-to-navigate online booking page for users to search, select, and book accommodation in 5 quick steps.
2. Mobile Responsiveness: A responsive booking engine that responds to various screen sizes and works smoothly on smartphones and tablets.
3. Online Payment Processing: Secure payment processing with the option to take pre-payments or full payments at the time of booking.
4. Real-Time Availability: Provide up-to-the-minute availability information, ensuring prospective guests can see current occupancy and rates.
5. Multi-Currency, and Language: Cater to a global audience by offering language options and displaying prices in multiple currencies.
6. Discount Codes & Rate Comparisons: Enable promo codes and rate comparisons to encourage prospective guests to book directly.
7. Commission-Free: Ensure that your booking engine provider does not take a cut of your direct booking revenue.
8. Upsell Capabilities: Enhance your guests' experience and bring in additional revenue by offering them the option to include add-ons to their booking.
9. Dynamic Pricing: Ride the wave of demand with pricing rules that adjust your rates in real-time. Maximise occupancy and revenue with an easy-to-implement smart pricing strategy.
10. Integration with Property Management Systems (PMS): Seamlessly connect with a PMS for automated room allocation, inventory management, and real-time updates.

If you want to avoid a complex tech stack that can result in more frustration, consider using an all-in-one hotel management system like RoomRaccoon. RoomRaccoon's Property Management System (PMS), Channel Manager, and Booking Engine are engineered with compatibility in mind and are fully integrated into a user-friendly platform.

RoomRaccoon's booking engine allows you to track the success of your hotel marketing campaigns by integrating Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and a Facebook Widget. With Google Tag Manager (GTM), your marketing team can track specific user actions through advanced e-commerce event tracking.

Track the e-commerce actions taking place on your booking engine. This includes:
- Hotel availability searches
- Adding or removing rooms and add-ons from the checkout cart
- Initiating checkout
- Logging in as a guest or travel agent
- Completed bookings
- And more!

Tag Manager is a tool that allows you to add and update tags for various purposes, such as conversion tracking, site analytics, and remarketing. To make the process more efficient, it's important to know the event names that are being tagged. These unique tags help you identify which events are being triggered and make it easier to connect your analytics platform to Tag Manager. By analysing these real-time events through platforms like Google Analytics, you can refine and optimize your hotel marketing and spending strategies.

Please note that RoomRaccoon is not responsible for the set-up or management of your GA4 account to Tag Manager.

The RoomRaccoon booking engine is fully integrated into our hotel management platform. This subscription includes our all-in-one Property Management System (PMS), Channel Manager, and Booking Engine for a monthly or discounted annual fee. The Entry Package starts at R2175 per month based on 18 rooms. Discover our range of subscription packages and upgrade features.