We recently sat down with Robert van Vliet, co-owner of Hotel la Reine in Eindhoven. Robert is an avid user of SnapShot Analytics and Stardekk's Booking Planner PMS. He also offers consultancy services to hotels in revenue management and online marketing. Read on for Robert's top tips on how hotels can successfully market themselves online.
Interview with Robert van Vliet
In your opinion, what are today's top challenges for a hotelier?
In my opinion, the biggest challenge is not daily operations. This generally works well. More often, challenges revolve around SEO and how to stand out from the competition online, as well as in website structure.
How does Snapshot Analytics help you in your daily work?
Last year, I moved to the Booking Planner PMS because of its user-friendliness and great overview of the business. Many aspects of the system make life easier for us. For me, Snapshot Analytics was the right reporting tool, providing us with the extra insight we needed. Now, I not only have a great reporting tool for the coming year and a clearer understanding of my business on the books, but above all I can compare current and historical data.
Which function of SnapShot Analytics do you find the most interesting?
Snapshot Analytics is entirely web-based and therefore I can use it anywhere. I am also very pleased with the enthusiastic support I receive from the Snapshot team.
Which advice you would like to share with your fellow hoteliers?
A tip I would like to share is to take a good look at your own website, pretending you are a potential guest. Try to make a reservation at your own hotel and remember that a visitor will judge your website within the first 5 seconds. Also, focus on generating organic traffic and a high conversion rate. Good luck!
About Robert van Vliet
Robert has 30 years of hotel industry experience. During this time, he held various operational and commercial positions at Dorint Hotels & Resorts. For 13 years, he was the General Manager of three different Accor Hotels, including the flagship Mercure Hotel in Benelux and the Mercure Hotel Amsterdam City.
Since April 2016, he has been the co-owner of Hotel la Reine in Eindhoven, a boutique hotel with 25 rooms in a beautiful location in the picturesque district of “De Bergen”. In addition, he offers consultancy services (hotelrevpar.nl) to individual hotels in Revenue Management and Online Marketing.
