Travel is projected to add a record $11.1 trillion to the global economy in 2024. According to the Sports Business Journal, 63% of respondents in a 2023 travel study for the sports sector identified youth and amateur sporting events as the top generator of room nights. Economically, the sports travel industry had a direct economic impact of $52.2 billion in 2023, driven by over 200 million travelers and 73 million room nights, according to the Sports ETA State of the Industry Report.
This surge in travel, particularly for youth sports, highlights the growing need for an efficient hotel booking management system (or process), also known in the youth and amateur sports world as “event housing management”.
As more Americans travel for youth and amateur sporting events (and other types of events as well), housing companies and event producers must identify ways to streamline and simplify their event housing management processes. Coordinating accommodations can quickly become overwhelming with tasks like managing hotel blocks, tracking team details, and accessing real-time analytics.
The right hotel booking software can centralize all housing management tasks, simplifying the process and improving efficiency. This blog post covers what a hotel booking software system is, why modern housing companies are embracing technology and the impacts to your bottom line.
Hotel booking software brings the entire event housing process under one roof. With a best-of-breed, all-in-one software platform, a user can manage hotel RFPs, create booking sites in minutes, monitor pickup in real time, and much more.
Everyone. Whether you’re an event producer interested in making it easy for your away teams to find accommodations, a housing company tasked to manage teams and their room blocks, or parents booking rooms for the event, hotel booking software is required to bring all of it together.
Before we dive into what a well-oiled hotel booking software platform should have, let’s first examine how things were traditionally done before top housing companies began harnessing the power of technology to boost efficiency and generate more housing revenue.
Before the advent of hotel booking or “event housing” technology, many housing processes and procedures were manual, disjointed and a bit of a headache. As we outlined in a previous blog post, there are five key components of event housing management: hotel selection and negotiation, team block management, booking, attendee support and post-event analysis, reporting and accounting.
Before hotel booking software, housing companies would be tasked with managing these key components in an old-fashioned, obsolete manner. Housing companies were used to fragmented processes like managing spreadsheets, playing phone tag with hotel sales departments, and overall, the risk of losing sight of the entire event lifecycle. But there’s a better way with technology.
In a nutshell, best-in-class hotel booking software platforms will help housing companies stay organized, get a better grasp on the overall health of the events they manage, provide better booking experiences for event attendees, and easily understand the revenue they are generating from events.
Here’s a more comprehensive list of what housing companies ought to look for in a hotel booking platform:
Now that we have the basics, let’s dive a little deeper into the ideal set of features of a hotel booking software platform.
As you compare your options, it’s important to look for these eight key features when choosing a hotel booking software platform or provider.
1. Multiple RFP Functionality: The ability to create multiple RFPs and all contracted blocks will flow into one booking site for reservations in one event, allowing for greater flexibility in sourcing.
Did you know? EventPipe’s hotel booking software platform helps you accomplish all of the above, plus more. Here’s what sets EventPipe apart from the rest:
EventPipe is the fastest-growing hotel booking software platform on the market. We’re a startup company dedicated to putting customers first and delivering solutions that help them grow their businesses. Our team is led by a group of software operators, who have 10+ years of prior experience at various software companies who made successful exits.
Want to learn more? Schedule a chat with our team today.
In conclusion, it’s time for housing companies to convert from outdated, manual processes to a technological approach with hotel booking (or event housing) software. This transition will revolutionize how housing companies manage and monetize their hotel bookings.
By centralizing the entire event lifecycle under one platform, tasks are streamlined, attendee experiences are enhanced, and more housing revenue may be generated. As a lifelong hockey player who spent my early years traveling to many tournaments, I’m sure my parents would have appreciated a more seamless hotel booking experience than what was available back then!
From RFP management and customized booking sites to pickup reports and analytics, adopting a technological approach is the way to go. EventPipe’s hotel booking software platform is a rising star in the world of event housing management.
Want to chat and learn more? Schedule a demo with our team today and learn how you can take control of your event housing management with a modern, all-in-one housing software platform.