It’s still winter in 2022, but the world is about to reopen. There’s always the threat of a new variant coming along to cause us to shut back down, but there are many strong signals pointing to a full-fledged lifting of domestic and international travel restrictions.
Being labeled as ‘Revenge Travel 2.0’ after its modeling from the summer surges experienced by hotels in both 2020 and 2021, we are confident that this surge will be significantly larger than the previous two. And we want your hotel to make as much money as possible!
The Long Tail of Labor Shortages
There are risks in reopening but, now is the best time to prepare your property. Namely, the current labor shortage in hospitality is not letting up and, unlike the positive increase in travel intent, we aren’t seeing any indications of a simultaneous return to normal labor markets. Taken together, this means an outpouring of new demand with no one around to adequately service all the fresh faces, promptly clean rooms and service areas, or inspect a room to ensure that it’s in perfect condition for your next guest.
Often, we call this ‘leaving revenue on the table’. Without a full roster of housekeepers, you can’t max out your occupancy because you can’t turn rooms around fast enough. Without enough servers, many restaurants are forced to open later or close earlier in order to avoid excessive overtime or employee burnout. Without a resilient labor pool, a hotel has to either cut services or find a way to drive more productivity from each associate and manager.
This is a crucial area where TransForm will help: We save you time.
With its simple interface that team members can use from anywhere, such as from home if they are working remotely, and offering a convenient, contactless way for guests to pay from their phones, TransForm makes transactions effortless. Front desk and reservations personnel are no longer bogged down by processing requests, freeing up their time to handle more complex tasks or help out in other departments.
Unprotected Payments
Now compound all those new bookings with your current rate of chargeback disputes. More reservations will ultimately mean more chargebacks and more time spent managing bad debt.
TransForm comes to the rescue yet again by being a fully PCI-compliant payment platform that has been specifically designed to maximize a hotel’s protection from chargeback losses. Our software not only secures online payments, but key integrations with all leading processes and property management systems also mean that preparing documents in chargeback disputes is easy and won’t bog down your accounting team.
Corporate and Groups Revival
So far, we’ve only been talking about Revenge Travel 2.0 in the context of travelling for leisure. But with the loosening of coronavirus restrictions, this also means that groups segment and corporate segment, the other two key hotel segments, will also be returning. With their distinct demands and expectations, servicing these guest types as they reemerge will only further aggravate the labor crunch.
In an industry where every second counts, TransForm can be an essential timesaver during your hotel’s reopening.
But, there’s more. The groups segment has been permanently changed as result of the pandemic. It has shifted from large events booked months in advance to smaller ones where proposals can be submitted within two weeks from the desired date.
The only way to adapt to this new operating model is to be equally as agile. With its SignNow integration, TransForm lets you deliver version-coded electronic contracts on the fly, as well as an intuitive portal for any group to make deposits or automatic instalment payments. With TransForm, everything is secure so your risks of losing a chargeback dispute are minimized.
These are just a few of the essential ways that b4 can help your brand smoothly navigate the big risks in reopening. Don’t leave revenue on the table and don’t incur unnecessary losses from chargebacks. Reach out today to see how we can help!