HOTEL CASE STUDY
FORUM HOMINI | TAKE A STEP BACK IN TIME
Forum Homini delivers a remarkable stay in the cradle of humankind. Since implementing RoomRaccoon, the hotel successfully promoted its ancillary services and enjoyed a 41% increase in direct bookings! Find out how they achieved these incredible results.
About Forum Homini
Since opening its doors in 2004, the luxurious boutique hotel, Forum Homini, has been a shining beacon of sophistication and quality service. Owned by Mr. Hendrik Maree, this establishment is situated in the cradle of humankind and embodies the area’s rich history through its design and features. In addition to providing a tranquil atmosphere for guests to enjoy, one of their most popular attractions is their restaurant: Roots. Here visitors can savor an array of exquisite dishes and experience exceptional luxury.
Making the Guest’s Stay Count With Exceptional Value
Challenge
With their previous service provider, Forum Homini was limited in the ways they could advertise luxurious extras to their guests. These included wine and cheese platters, spa treatments, and specials through their restaurant – Roots. Unfortunately, this resulted in missed opportunities to sell these extras to their guests and generate additional revenue.
Solution
To make their guests’ stay at Forum Homini even more enjoyable, the hotel implemented RaccoonUpsell, the automated guest service menu. The upgrade module makes it simple to promote special packages and add-ons prior to the guests’ arrival. The module also provides useful insights into the most popular items so Forum Homini can keep up with its customer’s preferences.
Result
Since implementing RaccoonUpsell, Forum Homini has seen an astonishing return on investment of 191%, proving the value of the automated tool.
“We didn’t promote our add-ons as much previously because it wasn’t easy - we had to call guests or send them an email manually. With RaccoonUpsell, it’s all automated.”
MARLIZE DAVIDS - MANAGER
Driving More Direct Business Opportunities
Challenge
Forum Homini faced difficulty controlling their variable expenses – most notably the commissions paid to Booking.com. These costs could be avoided by converting more visitors into direct bookers. Sadly though, there was no online booking tool available on their website, meaning those who did visit were likely to turn elsewhere and book through OTAs instead. Additionally, taking manual bookings over the phone or email posed risks such as double bookings or inaccurate details being inputted and also required significant amounts of effort – detracting attention from important operations within the business.
Solution
Forum Homini turned to RoomRaccoon to address these challenges and increase its direct booking performance. Taking advantage of two core modules, they were able to achieve their goal. Firstly, the RoomRaccoon booking engine allows direct bookings through their website with only five easy steps. They also used RoomRaccoon’s integrated Property Management System (PMS) with a reservation booking calendar, enabling them to streamline and document online bookings and guest data effortlessly.
Result
By implementing RoomRaccoon’s booking engine and PMS, Forum Homini achieved remarkable results. Their direct booking performance improved significantly, increasing to 41%.
Leveraging a Powerful Distribution Strategy
Challenge
Forum Homini relied on an Excel sheet to manually track and update their rates without channel management software. This process was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors. Additionally, the lack of channel management software meant Forum Homini missed out on valuable opportunities to expand its reach through online travel agencies (OTAs). The staff had to manage rates individually across multiple OTAs, leading to inefficiencies and missed revenue potential.
Solution
One of RoomRaccoon’s core platform modules, the channel manager, provided them with a centralized system to manage and update their rates across various channels, eliminating the need for manual tracking and reducing the risk of errors. They also gained access to a wide range of OTAs, expanding their online presence and reaching a larger customer base.
Instead of individually updating rates on each OTA, Forum Homini could now make changes efficiently and simultaneously across all channels from a single platform. This streamlined process saved time and ensured consistency and accuracy in their pricing strategy.
Result
The adoption of RoomRaccoon’s channel manager transformed Forum Homini’s distribution strategy, leading to a significant increase in RevPAR of 41%.
"Before we found RoomRaccoon, we ran everything through spreadsheets - which was a nightmare! It takes a lot of time because you are working off a single spreadsheet that needs to work for everyone.”
MARLIZE DAVIDS - MANAGER
See our customer stories:
RoomRaccoon offers a host of features to elevate hotel operations and boost revenue. Get to know what’s worked well for our hoteliers!
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