Pact to Promote Kenyan Hotels Online

Nairobi — Kenya’s hospitality industry is now better placed to boost its online and global presence thanks to a partnership between local consultancy firm Barefoot and a global leader in hospitality technology solutions, RateGain.

RateGain’s solutions are currently being used by more than 1,700 hotels worldwide, while Barefoot Consultancy provides its client hotels with online business strategy, revenue management services, eCommerce and online distribution as well as online reputation management.

Barefoot Consultancy Director Catherine Gachie said that RateGain products are complementary to their business solutions as they seek to optimise online business performance for their clients.

“The consumer will benefit because the price that they will actually get will be truly representative of what is happening on the ground,” she said.

“When you use RateGain’s products such as RezGain, it allows you to communicate specials and offers as a company to social media networks, so that it gives customers the opportunity to get the information directly,” she explained.

Earlier this month, Barefoot Consultancy secured an Africa-wide contract to market hotels via a new mobile phone app called HotelMobile, in addition to signing a contract with RateGain as they look to help hotels maximise access to clients, increase their revenues, and increase their billboard effect on the sector.

“When it comes to the future of the mobile app, we are very dynamic and willing to change because the app is made by hoteliers for hoteliers,” she said.

“As the industry evolves, we will evolve as well. We also have another section that will provide apps for any industry as the requirements are identified,” she added.

She revealed that RateGain is already present in 72 countries with over 4,500 hotels already using the system worldwide.

Vice President for Strategic Alliances at RateGain Sapan Anand noted, “With tourism growing at 3.7 percent per annum in Kenya its hotel pipeline has more than doubled in the past year.”

“With more and more hotels coming up and tourism increasing at a very fast pace, hotels would need our advanced solutions to help them keep up and attract more traffic from across the globe. Partnering with Barefoot Consultancy Ltd is a strategic move to broaden our reach into this fast growing market,” he explained.

Gachie revealed that the Kenyan market is still in a fledgling state and there is a lack of understanding about eCommerce and the various services available.

“It also lacks in house skills to drive eCommerce in many hotels. This is the right stage to introduce hotels in this market to RateGain’s smart solutions as they will help the hotels increase their billboard effect on international OTAs and therefore increase their revenue,” she said.

She added that the user friendly interface of RateGain’s solutions will make it easier for first time users to smartly optimize their revenue.

source: Capital FM (Kenya)