For many hotels, group bookings are an important part of revenue. At the same time, they are often themost error-prone and time-consuming part of the reservation process. The reason behind that? Because the group process has never really been set up in many hotels. It grows organically, with emails, Excel and separate appointments.
Increasingly, the question then arises: can't we organize or automate this more intelligently? But automation also immediately raises questions:will it become impersonal? Will we lose control over the booking? And perhaps most importantly: does automation mean we have to let people go?
Those questions are understandable. Especially in an industry where people make the difference. Therefore, it is important to first get clear on what automating group bookings does and does not mean.
Automation is often seen as a technical operation. In practice, it is mainly about eliminating unnecessary manual work.
Automation does not mean:
Automation in hotels mainly means:
A well automated group process supports the team. Automating these parts of the process allows people to focus on exceptions and true guest contact.
In many hotels, a group booking goes something like this:
In itself, this is a workable way of working as long as it is not too busy and everyone remains available. But as soon as the pressure increases or a colleague drops out unexpectedly, problems arise.
Information gets scattered across emails and loose files, making it difficult for someone taking over a booking to quickly get the full overview. Tasks are more easily forgotten because it is not always clear what has already been taken care of and what is still open. It takes a lot of time to retrieve all the necessary information. Time that is often not available at the time.
This increases the chance of mistakes and makes it more difficult to consistently provide the same service. Towards arrival, this creates additional stress in the team. For the booker, it is also annoying when a new contact person does not have all the details and information has to be supplied again. This takes extra time and can ultimately be detrimental to the guest experience.
So the complexity is not in the group, but in the process around it.
That group bookings are often perceived as a "hassle" is no coincidence. In many hotels, groups structurally cost more time and money than necessary. Mainly because of how the process is set up. 👉 Read here why group bookings in hotels structurally cost more time and money than necessary
Hotels that successfully automate group bookings work with one clear process from request to arrival.
1 Request & quote2 Confirmation & capture
3 Lists of names & room distribution
4 Changes & communication
5 Arrival & execution
A persistent misconception is that automation automatically leads to job loss. With group bookings, this is actually almost never the case. What disappears is mainly administrative work:
What comes in return is time for work that really matters:
Automation does not make teams smaller, but more effective. People are freed up to do what they are good at and what makes the difference in the hotel industry: attention for the guest.
Automation also sometimes evokes the fear of "yet another extra system."In practice, it works differently when the group process is centralized.
With Groupz, hotels automate the entire group process from request to arrival. Requests, quotations, lists of names, changes and internal coordination are recorded centrally, so e-mail and Excel lose their leading role.
This ensures:
Not by working harder, but by organizing smarter.
Automation only works when:
Automation without process leads to digital chaos. Automation with process ensures overview, peace and predictability.
Automating group bookings is not about technology, but about setting up a complex process properly. Automating repetitive work creates space for human work. And precisely that makes hotels stronger.
Automation is therefore not a threat to teams, but a way to:
That's exactly where the real profit of a streamlined group process lies.
Then schedule a free & no-obligation appointment with Jenneke so you can walk through your current situation together.