We are all counting down to Christmas and trust that your holiday season bookings are starting to flow in! This month we offer some great insights and resources featuring how AI Chatbots can help your business, plus:
Tourism Tech Talks Wrap Up: Watch the webinar videos
Your Guide to Facebook Image Sizes
Customer Spotlight: The Old Doctors Residence
October Booking Intelligence: Latest insights & trends π
ResBook Knowledge Base Tips: What's topical?
AI Chatbots: Enhance Service & Grow Bookings
Want to increase your direct bookings by 10%? Save time on answering emails? Get more reviews? Then an AI Chatbot is your answer. They are now a reality for any size business to take advantage of. Find out why, and how you can implement this for your website!
Charlotte & David, along with their team, provide a warm welcome to their charming historic property "The Old Doctor's Residence" in Naseby Central Otago. They fondly describe their B&B as being situated "2000 feet above worry level" and close to the Otago Central Rail Trail.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for this season?
Charlotte: Trying to keep rising costs down but still managing to deliver an exceptional service. Everything has become so much more expensive so by trying to make little changes that can make a difference to the bottom line but still giving the guest an excellent experience, is key. Even little things like giving one chocolate per guest instead of two all adds up!
What is one piece of advice you would give someone who is looking to start an accommodation business?
Charlotte: Your staff are you greatest asset. Choose wisely and then make sure you look after them and treat them well. If you do that they will reward you in spades.
How has ResBook helped your business?
Charlotte: Because we have three staff working on a roster the Calendar feature of ResBook really helps. It seems such a simple thing but we are able to view the guest details and booking information as it comes in. Each staff member can then easily look ahead and they can see at a glance arrival time, bed preferences, dietary requirements etc. The invoicing system is also really easy and user friendly.
What is one of your favourite guest stories??
Charlotte: We have an old historic home and so many people comment on the character and history of the house which we have tried to emphasise and share. But so many of our comments involve our staff and how pleased people are with their service. Our last guest wrote βthe staff were amazing and will forever remain in our overriding impression of the ODRβ. Those sorts of comments are lovely to hear and it is very gratifying to know you are offering the best service that you possibly can.
Our latest Booking Intelligence data reflects the following for October
Booking volumes in October were on par with September, however revenues we down by 6.8% compared to September.
YTD Booking volumes are still similar to 2022 at only 3.6% less, and have recovered to reach 75% of the same period for 2019.
The average booking value in 2023 is noticeably lower, with the YTD value 28.7% down compared to the same period in 2022. So while visitor numbers are similar, the total spend on travel is likely to be affected by lower discretionary incomes.
The graph below depicts booking volume trends each quarter for the past 5 years, and highlights the journey we are taking for tourism to recover. October has kicked off the 2023 Q4 total with still some work to do over the next two months to level up or exceed 2022.
Most Viewed Knowledge Base Articles in October π
Here are the October Top 5 most viewed help articles in our Knowledge Base:
Can't find something in the Knowledge Base? Get in touch with Client Services, we'd be happy to help ππΌ
Get Your Business in the Spotlight! π¦
Any ResBook customer is invited to participate in our spotlight series! Your spotlight will be featured in our newsletter, published in the spotlight & blog sections of our website, and shared on our LinkedIn & Facebook pages!
All you need to do is answer 4 questions and we will do the rest!
If you need support help with ResBook you'll find answers for most questions in the Knowledge Base. Helpful articles with screenshots and videos can assist with resolving the most common issues, however if you still can't find your answer please refer to the following Support Guidelines for next steps. These guidelines also cover what to do for urgent issues.π