How to get the most out of the Global Distribution System (GDS)

Long before the Internet changed the landscape of the travel industry, the Global Distribution System (GDS) was created by the airline industry. The airlines created the first GDS in the 1960’s as a way to track flight schedules, availability, and pricing. In the 1970’s, SABRE (owned by American Airlines) and Apollo (owned by United) installed their GDS technology in travel…

No one is immune from credit card Payment Card Information (PCI) compliance

Most people have heard the horrid stories about Internet hackers who compromise large databases and gain access to vast sums of personal information such as credit card numbers, social security numbers, medical histories, etc In the past, Internet hackers have been successful in disrupting services on such websites as E-bay and Authorize.net (one of the largest online credit card gateways)…

Tracking Online Revenue: How to Manage Your Marketing Dollars Effectively

Utilizing a high-quality website tracker is essential in monitoring your online marketing budget. Without the proper tools, it is near impossible to accurately identify what is and is not working in your Internet marketing plan. A tracker allows you to examine your online revenue and make adjustments to which channels you distribute your marketing funds to accordingly. The following RezNEWS…

Link Building and Top Revenue Generating Directories

Website search engine optimization (SEO) requires skill, diligent effort, and diverse strategies. SEO techniques such as adjusting meta tags, page content, and pay per click campaigns, can have almost immediate impact on increasing your website revenue. Other activities such as content building, press releases, and link building, are done to improve the “organic positioning” (i.e. natural ranking) of your website…

Off-Season Moneymakers

This article originally appeared in the November 2006 newsletter. With the off-season upon us, we have updated this article, and hope it will inspire you to seek new ways to enhance your off-season marketing efforts. Unless your business is located in an area that draws tourists year round, there are likely time periods when your occupancy is at a lower…

Effectively Managing Your Business Technology Needs

As the New Year approaches it is a good time to evaluate your technology needs for the upcoming year. While “one size” does not fit all, this month’s RezNEWS feature article will outline some tips for purchasing new computer hardware and other technology services.

Evaluate your short-term and long-term goals before making new technology purchases. How old are your computers…

How to double your online revenue overnight!

Our feature article will begin by defining the term website “conversion.” For our purposes, a website conversion happens when a website visitor books a room online. A conversion rate is the percentage of visitors that come to your website that follow through with a booking. In perspective, if 100 visitors land at your website and two of them make a…

TripAdvisor.com: Don’t let its strength show your weaknesses!

TripAdvisor.com is one of the most popular travel review websites in existence.  Wikipedia lists TripAdvisor.com as “a free travel guide and research website that offers impartial opinions to help plan a vacation.  It is primarily used by people before they book their accommodation when traveling in order to research the thousands of reviews posted on its website each week by…

What is taking so long?  Search Engine Optimization: a marathon or a sprint?

If you have a website for your property, it is likely that you have at some time experienced frustration with the results (or lack thereof) of your Internet marketing efforts.  There are several factors that can play a role in stalling your climb to the top of the search engine rankings.  When you and/or the marketing company you employ understand…

Top Ten Email Marketing Tips by RezStream

The Internet has become a very cost effective way to not only stay in contact with guests who have already stayed at your property, but also to reach new business and encourage reservation activity.  However, many businesses fail to take advantage of this lucrative marketing method.  In this month’s feature article, RezNEWS will share these important, yet often overlooked, Internet…