With a simple widget that is not connected to any API and does not even track conversions in the engine, will you increase conversion by 40%?
Why do we believe that a widget can be very useful, while we have a website with design and usability problems or that doesn't convey anything? Or a bland engine that hasn't been improved in ages, doesn't use CRO techniques or whose subliminal persuasion messages are non-existent or wrong (e.g. sense of urgency in green and positive reinforcement in red -the opposite of what it should be-).
Why do we need an app that connects to our PMS and performs online check-ins? Why do we need a new provider for sending or automating emails? A vendor for every single thing we need to do, isn't that something any modern PMS should do? There are even providers of providers popping up, promising to connect any widget to any PMS?
Have we gone mad? I see how in our sector these types of services are multiplying and growing like crazy. They are very attractive for investors, they represent a low investment for hotels, and they are very easy to set up, it is not an excessive expense or a risky investment for a hotel. That is why they receive large injections of capital for marketing and sales. However, due to their high churn rate, they will soon disappear like froth. They are easily expendable.
I see 500-room hotels with PMSs worth tens of thousands of euros that only use 10% of them, because they don't need the rest, as they don't do what they really need to do. With budgets for integrations or custom developments that take months to prepare, and when they arrive they are like doctoral theses, with a stratospheric cost, in money and resources. And widgets continue to proliferate like wildfire.
Well, I think it is only a matter of time - a short time - before the sector wakes up and gets down to work on the real needs faced by staff in their day-to-day work. As soon as there is a good product on the market, change will come quickly - very quickly, I hope.
WPH CloudHotelier develops effective direct sales and hotel management solutions for the real needs of today's world. API-first, hyper-connected, cloud-native systems. And these solutions are an excellent investment for our customers.
