First feature-based solution for the individualized sale of hotel rooms
Solution already successfully implemented at owner-managed hotels in Europe and New Zealand
Third place in the "Travel Technology" category of the Travel Industry Club Awards
Frankfurt, September 15, 2021
GauVendi, the innovative platform solution for individualized, feature-based room sales, supports hotel operators with a unique customer-centric sales approach that focuses on the needs of the guest. Despite the constraints and challenges faced by the hotel industry due to the Covid-19 pandemic worldwide, GauVendi can look back on a successful year. In recent months, six owner-managed hotels in the DACH region, Belgium and New Zealand have already successfully implemented the GauVendi system. Another 18 hotels from the DACH region and Southeast Asia, including the flagship property of an owner-managed hotel chain, are currently in the onboarding phase. In addition, GauVendi has been accepted into the partner network of the Boutique & Lifestyle Leaders Association, an association of independent boutique and lifestyle hotels, small brands and boutique companies worldwide.
Markus Müller, co-founder of GauVendi, takes stock: "We are very proud that we have already been able to implement our solution at owner-managed hotels despite the difficult market environment and are currently working at full speed on the onboarding of further hotels. Just a few days ago, we were awarded third place in the "Travel Technology" category by the Travel Industry Club. All this shows us that we, as a young company, are on the right track and that genuine personalization for guests is an increasingly important factor in their decision to stay at a hotel. Especially in a competitive environment, true differentiation in booking is of great importance for hoteliers."
Feature-based room sales - a guest-centric experience approach
During their 25+ year career in the hotel and travel industry, founders Carina Stegmayer and Markus Müller were repeatedly confronted with the fact that the booking systems available to hotels only partially met guests' needs and desires for personalization. Too often, guests were not getting the rooms or services they asked for and really wanted. To address this problem, the two partnered with HCG, a Singapore-based technology company founded by Duy Nguyen, to create GauVendi in 2019 with the goal of revolutionizing the hotel booking experience by introducing a feature-based room shopping approach.
GauVendi's "Feature-based Hospitality System" enables hoteliers to granularly manage room inventory, availability and pricing by digitizing all dimensions of the room experience (location, design, bathroom, etc.). Inventory is packaged into room feature combinations optimized for all distribution channels and travel segments. Hoteliers are now able to implement attribute-based selling and apply the latest e-commerce practices, supported by artificial intelligence. Hoteliers thus gain more control over their room management, data and sales directly on their own websites and sales channels, as well as through third-party sales channels. At the same time, hoteliers can differentiate themselves with their own distribution and branding strategy, for example, as part of a repositioning or to reach new guest target groups in less attractive regions.
"We have implemented a new concept for our traditional hotel in the last twelve months. In doing so, it was important to us that we not only adapt our premises and services to the new concept, but also reposition ourselves digitally," says Irmgard Wiener, Hotel Director of Hotel Edelweiss in Zürs. "The guest and his or her wishes are the focus of all our projects - which is why we also rely on the booking solution from GauVendi and offer our guests the opportunity to personalize their stay with us via a `wish room configurator`. This helps us stand out from our competitors in the Arlberg region not only because of our highly individualized concept, but also in terms of personalized digital booking."
"A new generation of hosts, the generational shift at many owner-managed hotels, guests' desire for even more personalization and advances in digitization are, in our view, the drivers of change in the hotel industry. The Covid-19 pandemic will only accelerate transformation in our industry. In our discussions at HSMA E- & MICE DAY 2021 in Düsseldorf, the use of innovative digital solutions as a differentiator was a recurring theme. We see great potential here, especially for owner-managed hotels, medium-sized hotel chains and boutique hotels," adds Markus Müller.
The GauVendi system can be connected to most common property management systems for hotel properties worldwide and can be integrated into hotel websites as an additional or primary booking engine.
***
About GauVendi
GauVendi, founded in 2019 by experts from the hotel and tourism industry, offers hotels a new digital solution to increase their competitiveness and strengthen customer loyalty. The key to this lies in the individual and distinctive characteristics of the room inventory, which can be managed and sold through the GauVendi Inventory Sales Engine.
The GauVendi system is based on the company's proprietary "Inventory Management Intelligence" technology. It breaks away from traditional inventory management characterized by room type clusters such as standard or deluxe rooms. With GauVendi, guests can be offered room options that map to their pre-determined preferences. The offer that suits the guest can then be booked directly through the hotel's own distribution channels. The GauVendi approach enables operators to price, sell and market room and stay experiences in a differentiated way. This results in higher value bookings and reduced acquisition costs per guest.
The GauVendi system can be connected to common, globally available hotel property management systems. It offers seamless interfaces, intuitive pricing and inventory management features to support a holistic sales strategy and maximize property returns.
For more information, visit: www.gauvendi.com