To use this functionality, log in to your eTourism extranet and go to the close out section of your Corporation Coupons menu which is found in the Distribution Menu. You simply add the close out dates and click Add Close Out to save the changes. You would also see and be able delete active close out dates.
You could view the yearly summary of the saved close outs in the View Close Outs page.
If you would like assistance with using this functionality please contact our support team via [email protected] or give us a call on 1300 551 448
]]>CTA & CTD are an inventory control mechanism used by managers. It means that no new reservations can be taken for guests arriving or departing on a given set date. It is used with other inventory control mechanism to provide stay pattern management. This can be used to control stays over given busy periods or over given specific dates for example Christmas Day. It means that people can stay throughout the period but simply not checkin or checkout on that set day.
To enable this functionality, log into your eTourism Online extranet and go to the rates/packages screen. You will notice that 2 new options now appear next to the package name. If you click Show CTD or Show CTA, additional fields will appear underneath a given date. Simply click the relevant option you would like to apply to the date. Then click Save to make the changes live.
Please note that this functionality is not currently available through your channel managers. We understand that some channel managers already support this through given channels so our plan is to get this integrated when possible. These parameters must be manually configured in eTourism Online.
Should you require any assistance to get this setup for your eTourism Online, please contact our support team via [email protected] or 1300 551 448.
]]>Due to popular demand – eTourism is pleased to announce that we have now created 2 new pieces of functionality to assist in selling your rooms online.
Advanced Purchase
A very popular room type to sell, where you offer a discounted rate for bookings made a certain number of days in advance.
In eTourism Online you can set this parameter to however many days prior to check in you require bookings to be made for this package.
In the example above, the Advanced Purchase is set to 30 days out. Although you have rates loaded into eTourism Online via your channel manager, the potential customer will not be able to book this rate online unless there is a minimum of 30 days between the booking date and the check in date.
Non-Refundable
Advance Purchase rates often have the condition of requiring pre-payment at time of booking, as well as being non-refundable. This setting overrides the normal payment rules that are set up, and advises the guest that you will be taking full payment at time of booking and that it will be non-refundable.
This setting can be activated without having to make your package an Advanced Purchase rate. This will be useful if you have a promotion or special rate that has the condition of being prepaid and non-refundable.
Both of these settings are found from with the Rates/Package setup screen.
If you currently have rates that fit into either of these categories, please login to your eTourism Online system and update these settings.
If you would like assistance with activating this functionality please contact our support team via [email protected] or give us a call on 1300 551 448.
]]>This means that you can list your booking engine results within your Tripadvisor listing page. This is a cost per click program where you bid against other OTAs for the top position on the listing. You must have control our your Tripadvisor listing to be able to do this.
Want to know how to connect TripConnect to eTourism Online, check out this great video from the TripConnect team:
Related Blogs:
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Each morning we automatically send out a ‘Daily Booking Report’ to each user of our system. In this report we show you which bookings were made yesterday and any arrivals for today. This week we have made the following upgrades:
- There is a new section which details any arrivals for the next 7 days so that you do not have any surprises on the day. We believe that this information is important to ensure that you know and can plan for your arrivals.
- The eTourism Online Daily Booking Report will now be automatically emailed to you each morning, if there is information to be communicated to you. We believe that you need to know who is arriving at your resort and when eTourism sends you bookings.
If you want to know more about using eTourism Online on your own site or any of our online marketing campaigns, please contact us.
Other Important Related Blog Posts:
Using Your Daily Booking Report
]]>In our latest upgrade, we have added in ‘Flames’ to promote your specials in the booking engine. This is something that we have been using in eTourism Holidays and due to client requests, we have now made this available in your eTourism Online booking engine.
How to use?
To enable this feature, simply go the package setup of the desired package that you wish to show the ‘Flames’ and turn the option to YES Packages/Rates > MODIFY on the desired package > Package Options and Rules > Is this a special?
If you would like to more information on this feature or anything to do with eTourism Online, please call our Support Team on 1300 551 448 or [email protected]
Related Blog Posts:
]]>At eTourism we want to ensure we do everything to make sure you know when bookings have been received. Every time a booking is made, you will receive an email notification giving you a summary of the booking and a password protected encrypted PDF with the full booking details.
At the same time, if you are connected to a channel manager, your channel manager will be notified of your booking. If your channel manager drops your booking into your PMS, then this should automatically happen.
As a safety net, eTourism sends out a daily booking report each morning to ensure that you are aware of all the bookings made through eTourism Online. The report details all bookings made yesterday and also any bookings arriving today. We recommend reconciling these bookings with the bookings in your PMS. If you are missing any of these bookings, please contact eTourism Support as soon as possible and we will resend the booking details
Activating your report
If you do not already receive the daily booking report and would like to receive this, you can activate this from your eTourism Online extranet. Login and go to the Tools Menu > Preferences > System Options > Require Daily Booking Report > Turn ON.
If you would like any further information on this feature or anything else in eTourism Online please do not hesitate to contact us via [email protected] or 1300 551 448
]]>eTourism Online works with the major & most popular channel managers in the marketplace including Siteminder, Resonline, HiSite, Ezychannel & Update 247.
How do I Connect to my Channel Manager?
Each channel manager that connects to eTourism Online has a slightly different way to connect, but they all require your property ID. This is found in the information area below your menu in your eTourism Online extranet. Please contact our support team to advise which channel manager you wish to connect to, so that we can give that channel manager access to your account. Your login details will not automatically allow access to the channel manager of your choice.
When you are connected to eTourism Online, the eTourism system has no control over the rates and allotments that are fed to our system. Is it important that you maintain vigilance of your rates being sent to eTO.
Updating Rates & Allotments
The nature of our channel manager connection allows us to receive ALL data from your desired channel manager account. Please ensure that you only update your allotments & rates in your channel manager and not in eTourism Online. Should you experience any differences between the two systems, please notify us as soon as possible.
Please note; if you have a cancellation in your eTourism Online system, it will automatically reinstate the allotment/s in, however the channel manager will need to be updated manually and will not have the allotment added back in.
Listing Rooms on eTourism Online
It is particularly important that you ensure that ALL of your room types and rates are setup on eTourism Online before attempting to map your rooms in your channel manager.
This can be easily setup in your Packages/Rates menu in your eTourism Online Extranet, by clicking ‘Add Last Minute Package’ and completing all the desired information including minimum nights and included guest values.
Once this is done, you should be able to see the package in your channel manager for mapping.
If you are part of the Boost Direct program, it is part of your agreement that ALL your rooms types and rates are the same as your 3rd party websites, so please ensure that everything matches up to ensure maximum exposure.
Important Tip: Make sure that the room type names you have setup in your eTourism Online match a very similar room type name in your channel manager. This will help you to correctly map your room types.
If you are interested in finding out more information about eTourism Online or how to get on our Boost Direct program, please contact us.
]]>How does that benefit me? Well the simple answer is more online bookings.
To achieve this you should have your property management system connected to your channel manager. The concept is that if you have a room available tonight, it is put online for sale. As soon as it is sold, whether it be through an online channel or a walkin, your channel manager is updated with that latest availability straight away. An added benefit is that you don’t have to manage your allotments on a daily basis, you simply have your availability updated online.
Don’t panic, some systems allow you to hold back rooms to have that buffer if you feel you need it but this can still result in not selling all your available rooms. If those last few apartments aren’t available online then you may miss out on sales at peak times.
By manually updating and only having a handful of allotments online rather than them all, you then run the risk of losing sales. If you sell out on a given room type and haven't had the chance to top it up that sale could go to your competitor. As managers, I know you are all very busy, there are times when you might get caught up and don’t update your channel manager for a couple of days. Lost sales means lost bookings for your owners.
Maximise your exposure by putting online as many rooms as possible for all your room types.
Important Tip: Room Linking:
Ensure that you link your rooms together so that your availability is spread over your similar room types. This way instead of putting 1 room on your 1 Bedroom 3 night, 1 room on your 1 Bedroom 5 night and 1 Bedroom 7 night, you can put 3 on each of the room types. When one of them sells then the other 2 room types drop to 2 rooms. Once again this is maximising your exposure and can result in more sales.
The eTourism Online reservations system connects with most of the industries leading channel managers including Ezychannel, HiSite, Siteminder, Levart, Resonline & Update 247.
Talk to eTourism today about how to ensure you are maximising your exposure and putting as many rooms online for sale as possible.
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