With the entry of online platforms into the tourism sector, the sector, which had a difficult time due to the pandemic, started to recover rapidly. Hotels started to increase their sales revenues. The digitalization of the tourism sector, which was discussed at the technology summit held in Antalya, revealed the increase in the sector's revenues. With smart price management implemented after contactless applications, hotels' sales increase by 10 percent and revenues by 20 percent. The world tourism industry, which has suffered billions of dollars in losses due to the coronavirus outbreak, will heal its wounds with digitalization. Accommodation facilities, which started to host guests again with contactless applications despite the pandemic, increase both sales rates and revenues with smart hotel management systems based on artificial intelligence. Many topics, including contactless hotel management applications and smart price management, were discussed at the 'Digital Transformation Summit in Hotels' organized by Elektravveb Hotel Management System in Antalya. TURKEY'S PRIDE IN TEKNOKENT Within the scope of the summit, Talya Bilişim Managing Partners Nilüfer Durukal, Kemal Oral and Levent Tural stated that they are happy and proud to export technology to 17 countries in 3 continents as a Turkish company. At the summit, it was also conveyed that the technology of the future is in the web and cloud environment, artificial intelligence has started to come into play in hotel management and those who can make the transition to digitalization can exist in the future. "With artificial intelligence, hotels' sales increased by 10 percent and profitability by 20 percent" Speaking at the opening of the summit, which brought together professionals from the tourism and IT world, Nilüfer Durukal said, "The use of artificial intelligence has become a necessity in sectors such as tourism, where last-minute reservations are intense. The reservation-price balance, which has become the biggest problem of the sector with the pandemic, offers an important opportunity when it can be managed well. The smart price management system we have developed instantly interprets hundreds of variables that are impossible to be evaluated simultaneously by humans with artificial intelligence and offers the optimum price to the hotel. The sales and profitability of the hotels where we installed this technology increased by 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively." ONLINE SALES BREAKING THE MONOPOLY Durukal stated that price management is the most crucial issue for hotels and noted the following: "The shift of sales to online platforms during the pandemic has changed the pricing methods in hotels while offering very important opportunities. While sales used to be completely monopolized by large agencies, now every hotel can determine the right price for itself using technology. They can both manage their own revenue and maximize their revenue by selling at the right price. Thus, it makes sure that it reaches the optimum sales figure for every unit of money spent on promotion. "Nilüfer Durukal gave information about Elektravveb, the most comprehensive web-based cloud-based hotel management system. Durukal said that Elektraweb, which continues its activities with its offices in Antalya, Istanbul, Ankara and London, aims to export technology to 40 countries and spread to 7,500 hotels in the near future. SMALL HOTELS WILL BE PROFITABLE Explaining that using online platforms effectively is most useful for small hotels, Durukal said, "Online Sales Solutions produced by Elektravveb for this purpose include Channel Management, Online Booking Engine, Agency Extranet and Rate Manager modules. The hotel can publish its rates and occupancy on online sales sites such as Booking, Expedia, etc., on its own web page and agency simultaneously and receive reservations." Durukal pointed out that with the addition of the Smart Rate Management module that can learn to these digital solutions, the room will be sold at the optimum price, which will increase their profitability.
