WEBCONPRO Distribution Channel Manager News & Updates

Next Generation of WEBCONpro

News from 10. NOVEMBER 2011 - Bulletin 6

CultSwitch Basic & CultSwitch-PLUS powered by on of ou Partners offere now a great new opportunity ! Each CultSwitch User can now decide if he like to use CultSwitch Basic or CultSwitch-PLUS.

CultSwitch-PLUS open up the door to significant number of Internet Distribution Channels, that are NOT inlcuded in the CultSwitch Basic Model.

<<<< View List of CultSwitch-PLUS on demand connecteable channels >>>>>>

CultSwitch PLUS ( will become available soon - we will keep you updated ! )

Setup of first channel 200.00 EUR
Setup of each additional channel 50.00 EUR
CultSwitch commission (% of booking volume) 0.8 %
CultSwitch Extension of liability (% of booking volume) 0,2%
plus third-party fees per booking 2.50 EUR

* minimum 10.00 EUR per month and channel

CultSwitch Pricelist english | CultSwitch - Preisliste deutsch

For the extension of liability, here is the excerpt from the contract:

Extension of liability

Cultuzz provides an option to an extension of liability for CultSwitch.

If the delayed data between the hotel PMS and booking engines or not are synchronized and thus it comes to an overbooking, takes over Cultuzz the cost differential for accommodation in another room or another, at least equivalent standard. If Cultuzz too low a price, and transmits the room will be sold at that price, Cultuzz takes over the loss of income. The amount of any Liability is limited to 12 times the average monthly premium of Cultuzz (net of fees of third parties).

News from 06.JULY 2011 - Bulletin 5

• The allotments are managed at room type level. A reservation for a certain room type will be debited to the same allotment, independent of the rate category for which the reservation was made.

• You can link the price of one room type to that of another room type. E.g. the price of a double room with balcony is equal to the price of a double room standard plus Euro 10,00 or 15%. If you change the price of the standard room, the price of the linked room type changes too.

• You can link one price category to another one. E.g. the price category “Standard with Half Board” is equal to the price category “Standard with Breakfast” plus Euro 10,00 or 15%. If you change the price of the standard rate category, the price of the linked rate category changes too.

• With the above “derived prices” you will have far fewer rate categories to manage.

• You can manage your room prices per room per night, per occupation per night or per person per night.

• You can manage your room prices according to the room occupancy (different price for the room if it is used by 1, 2, 3, or 4 persons).

• You can manage your room prices according to the age of the person who uses it (different price for the room if it is used by a child or an adult).

• A comprehensive overview of the connected room types shows you the room types linked to each of the online reservation sites in one glance.

• A comprehensive overview of the connected rate categories shows you the rate categories linked to each of the online reservation sites in one glance.

• A comprehensive overview of not connected room types or rate categories lets you identify them and have appropriate measures taken.

• More complete information in the confirmation message. In addition, a PDF file will be attached to the e-mail.

News from 15.MAR 2011 - Bulletin 4

You can use the room rates per room per night, per occupancy per night or per person per night manage.
You can use the room to manage the room occupancy rate (would different prices depending on whether 1, 2, 3 or 4 people in the room).
You can manage room rates by age score (different rates for children and adults).
A complete overview of the connected rooms, allows you to see at a glance which rooms were joined together at which site.
A complete overview of the attached price ranges makes it possible to see at a glance what price ranges were joined together at which site.
A complete overview of the non-connected rooms or price ranges makes it possible to identify and correct this leave.
The full range of configuration options that offer reservation sites are using XML, is available.

News from 01.MAR 2011 - Bulletin 3

The allotments or availability are managed on a room-category level. A reservation for a room will be chargedon the the same allotments or availability,regardless of price category for which they were made.
You can make the price of a room type now dependendet from the price of another room type. For example: the price for double room with balcony is the same as the price of a standard double room plus € 10,00 or 15%. If the price of double room standard is changed, the price of the room is also dependent.
You can now make a price category addictive of another price category. For example, the price category "standard half-board" is equal to the price category "standard breakfast" plus € 10,00 or 15%. If the price of the price category "standard breakfast" is changed, the dependent price catorgy level also changes.
Use the above described combined price models, you will have to manage much less price categories.

News from 16.FEB 2011 - Bulletin 2

In four bulletins we will inform you about the new webconpro.eu version. Compared with the current version it has an even more user-friendly and a much enhanced functionality.

The daily updates of the room & room category informations (prices, rates, availabitly, etc.) will be shown up on a smaller number and much more structured screens.
The user can determine which properties are displayed, and save this election. It will be shown again next time.The displayed period starts by default with the current date.
The start date and duration of the period shown, can be chosen by the user.In a clear overview screen the new version will show up which room categories on WEBCONPRO are connected with which room categories on each reservation site or distribution channel.
To increase data security on, the transmission of information from WEBCONPRO are send with the highest level is encrypted. In addition, the screens are certified hacker-proofed. And WEBCONPRO is PCI-compliant, that is consonant with international safety standard for secure transmission of credit card information.

News form 15.JAN 2011 - Bulletin 1

Dear Colleague, dear users

As you know since the beginning of this year we are working feverishly to develop the next WEBCONpro - generation. End of this month the first hotels will start using this new version, giving us feed-back on all things that in their opinion still might be improved. By mid January we intend to start migrating all existing WEBCONpro clients. This will be done one after the other, not in one big bang.

But already now it is important for you to know what is new in this version, as this will help you convince potential customers. For that reason we have listed on the next pages the main differences compared to the existing version. These fall into the following categories:

Pricing possibilities
Inventory management
Derivation
Full portal configuration
PMS connectivity
Logging
User friendliness

Main differences WEBCONpro Version 3 compared to Version 2 (the actual one)

Pricing possibilities

Although most reservation sites only support room-based prices ( the price of the room does not depend on the number of persons using it ), some support “Single Use" of a Double Room (Booking), others support "occupancy-based prices" ( the price of the room depends on the number of persons using it ) and again others even support " age-based prices " ( the price of the room not only depends on the number of persons using it but also on their age. The price is calculated on a per person basis ). The new WEBCONpro version is able to support all these options. Depending on the hotel manager’s preference and the sites he wishes to be connected to, you can configure WEBCONpro.

Inventory Management

In the current version of WEBCONpro, allotment is managed based on the combination of room type and rate plan (I.O.W. on product level). This decision was taken mainly because Booking.com does it this way.

The disadvantage of this choice is that if the hotel manager uses different rate plans for a room type, each combination has its own allotment. So he either has to allocate some of his rooms to one combination and some to another. Or allocate all of his rooms to each combination, leading to far more rooms than he has in reality.

The new version manages the allotments based on room types. So the hotel manager attributes an allotment to a certain room type. If a reservation for this room types is made, independent of the rate plan, it is debited to the same allotment.

This greatly simplifies the way inventories are managed and reduces the risk of overbookings.

Derivation

In the current version of WEBCONpro a hotel manager has to enter prices for each room type and rate plan he creates.

In the new version he can enter his prices for a “standard” room type or rate plan, then create another one and define the relationship between the two. That way the rate for the new room type or rate plan is derived from the standard one

Room derivation

The hotel manager creates a “Double Room” and then a “Superior Double Room”. Next he defines the first one as the Standard” and defines that the prices for the second one should be derived from the Standard room type. They can be x % higher (or lower) or an amount 25,00 higher (or lower). The amount is in the hotel’s currency unit.

Rate derivation

The hotel manager creates a “Rate without breakfast” and then a “Rate with breakfast”. Next he defines the first one as the Standard” and defines that the prices for the second one should be derived from the Standard rate. They can be x % higher (or lower) or an amount 25,00 higher (or lower). The amount is in the hotel’s currency unit.

Or he creates a “Rate for one night” and then a “Rate for more than 3 nights”. Next he defines the first one as the Standard” and defines that the prices for the second one should be derived from the Standard rate. They can be x % higher (or lower) or an amount 25,00 higher (or lower). The amount is in the hotel’s currency unit.

Full portal configuration

All the functionality offered by a portal via its XML interface will be supported
For example: The day-to-day catering type for Hotel.de will be configurable on a day-to-day basis by the hotel
Another example: The exact Fair conditions for HRS on a day-to-day basis
Another example: Should the Minimum Length of Stay in the Booking.com be a staythrough or an arrival date based minimum length of stay.

PMS Connectivity

Connecting a PMS cannot be made easier. Simply select the name of the hotel’s PMS amongst the list of certified PMS providers
A certified PMS provider will be able to dynamically access the room types, the rate plans and the rate tiers via OTA XML.
A PMS will have exactly the same updating capacities as the hotel Extranet. Including room derivation and rate derivation.

Logging

Already in the current version, most of the changes made in of WEBCONpro are logged. However these logs are only accessible to the WEBCONpro Help Desk.

In the new version these logs are available to the affiliate’s Help Desk as well as to the hotel itself.

So whenever a hotel believes something not to be correct, instead of contacting the affiliate’s Help Desk, who in turn now contacts the WEBCONpro Help Desk, the hotel can see in the logs who changed what and when. This will greatly reduce the hotel’s level of anxiety as well as the work load on your helpdesk as well as on the WEBCONpro Help Desk.

User friendliness

All functions related to inventory management can be used in one single screen
The hotel manager can define different rights to different persons. E.g. the reception manager can only see reservations; the back office manager can see and manage prices and allotments; the financial director can see invoices, etc.
The period for which the user can see the rates or allotments can be selected.
The start date of the period for which the user can see the rates or allotments can be selected.
The user can select what he does and does not wish to see in the rate and allotment screens. E.g. which room types, the MLOS, CTA, etc.
For better visibility the user can expand the size of the cells that are displayed.
The Extranet will be iPad and iPhone compatible ( to be confirmed ).

WEBCONPRO Distribution Channel Manager The Innovation of Distribution Channel Management