This discount campaign arrives on time in November and is gaining more and more strength in all sectors. Our sector, the hotel industry, has also joined this worldwide trend that gives a boost to the economy just before the Christmas season.

Encouraging data from the Hotel Sector Barometer in Spain prepared by STR and Cushman & Wakefield. For the first time since the first quarter of 2020, the third quarter report offers an optimistic view of the sector with an upward trend.

At GuestPro we wanted to take the pulse of the hotel industry and we attended the TecnoHotel Forum held last week at the CCIB in Barcelona. Technology and hospitality during two days of frenetic activity that served to prove that the sector is ready to take off after the pandemic.

Five technology companies took part in the first Hotel Tech Summit in Valencia on Thursday 7 October. The centrally located Ateneo Mercantil hosted this new generation meeting combining the latest trends in hotel technology with a classic and "analogue" environment.

There's no doubt that one of the few weapons you have at your disposal to take on the OTAs is controlling your rates. Keeping the most competitive price on your website is paramount and the mantra of a good Revenue Manager.

So why is Booking.com outselling me when my rates are better? Probably because of Booking.com's Online Payment.

One of our objectives is to facilitate the work at reception. And, when the reception is small, the booking control is simple. The person behind the desk knows perfectly well through which channel the customer's booking has arrived and how to collect it. But what happens at the reception desk of a holiday chain that works with a multitude of channels in different establishments?

With the season already underway, at GuestPro we close the year. And we are giving our tool another twist. That's why we have our sights - and our heads - set on the new features we want to implement in our system for 2022. Conformity doesn't fit inside our walls, so we've rolled up our sleeves to get the next applications ready for next season. Take a look, because we're sure you'll be interested in some of them.

Hands up anyone who has ever looked for a hotel in the middle of London and got lost in the pile of price tags. And you've found the perfect little hotel with the rate that fits your pocket. That's just part of the magic of Google Hotel Ads, the new integration that GuestPro offers you.

One of the keys to the digitalisation of hotel management is to shorten the time required for tasks that until now required the full attention of reception staff. In addition to the human side, which the customer appreciates when they find a friendly smile on the other side of the desk, this is buried by the number of requirements for a simple check-in. The work of data collection, check-in, room allocation, etc. is taking second or third place in terms of customer experience. We want to arrive at the hotel, be greeted, given the key and left in the peace and quiet of our room as soon as possible.

You have been managing a good customer mailing list for some time now. Basically you use it to confirm bookings or resolve queries, but little else. At most, you have sent them a Christmas greeting -hopefully not the typical one with dancing elves- and that's it.

But have you thought about what you can do with that big mailing list?