October 23, 2015 TnH Global

RezNext: An integrated strategic distribution platform for hotels

RezNext is an integrated and intelligent strategic distribution platform for large hotel chains. For budget and mid-market hotels, it is an easy platform to get online. In an interview with TnH, Mike Kistner, CEO, RezNext Global Solutions, talks about vision and achievements of his company.

What have been the ideas behind the foundation of Reznext? What is the long-term vision of your organisation?
RezNext was founded to address the deep need to demystify online distribution for hoteliers and to simplify the manually managed complex environment. Also the need for a comprehensive integrated solution suite addressing all the functions in the distribution value chain across revenue management, channel management, pricing, reputation management was high. Hoteliers especially in the mid-market segment are far behind in adopting online distribution and have not leveraged revenue management practises to boost their online revenues.

How has your organisation grown and expanded since its inception? What has been your success mantra?
RezNext addresses the need for a single intelligent distribution platform that delivers the concept of integrated strategic distribution (for groups/large chains), automates operations and improves profitability (for independent hotels) and provides an easy platform to get online and leverage its potential (for budget to mid-market hotels). Our technology automates the reservation process end-to-end freeing up resources for hoteliers to focus on guest satisfaction. Hoteliers are able to improve their collaboration with demand generators, improve their visibility online and leverage the revenue tools to drive additional demand and improved profitability.

Kindly explain your role in hotel distribution. How is it different from other online hotel distribution system?
RezNext supports a true real-time distribution model that levels the playfield for hoteliers allowing them to quickly get online and leverage the opportunity the internet presents today. Hotels distributing their inventory through our platform are connected real-time to leading demand generators. Our platform is also integrated with the hotel’s property management system allowing inventory and rates to flow automatically to the channels and bookings from the channel to flow back into the hotel PMS. RezNext is also the only distribution technology company to offer a completely integrated solution suite that addresses all the pain points in the hotel distribution industry today and also provides a roadmap to hotels for sustained profitability and growth.

Generally, what kinds of hotels avail your services?
RezNext primarily caters to mid-market hotels. But our model has also been well accepted by the high-end 3 star to 5 star properties. Depending on the segment they fall under, each hotel has different factors that influence its distribution strategy. For small independent hotels the need is to create an online presence through third party channels as well as through its own website. For luxury hotels, while they have adopted digital marketing as a key differentiator, an integrated approach across their operations is essential. For large groups the focus in on improving their ADR and tapping into additional revenue opportunities. RezNext’s integrated solution suite address these needs across all hotel segments.

Your hotel distribution platform is integrated with revenue management? So how does it help hotels in revenue management?
Our intelligent distribution platform has inbuilt revenue tools to help hoteliers maximie their yield from the channels that they are connected to. In addition, our distribution platform has a seamless integration with ReV- our revenue management solution. This allows hoteliers to leverage the data in their PMS to arrive at an accurate forecast of demand, identify the right target segment, analyse the business sources and their performance.

What kind of growth do you see for your organisation in future in the Indian market?
India’s projected hotel supply in the mid-market space seems very promising. Combined with this, the need for intelligent tools to optimise revenues is also high among hoteliers. As an industry leader we are well-positioned to leverage this market trend. Hoteliers are also seeing profound impact on their bottom lines using our technology. We will double our penetration in tier two cities that are emerging as new business hubs and leisure destinations.

How will you describe the current appetite of Indian hotels for organisation like yours?
The hospitality industry inIndia is at an inflection point. Increasing proliferation of international chains, growing internet penetration, techsavvy consumers, rapidly changing consumer needs, consumers seeking more value for their travel spend, mobile adoption, growth in domestic travel and international tourists; all of this is changing how hoteliers look at technology. There is an increased awareness about the reduced complexity, savings and improvements in business that technology can deliver. Increasingly new hotel entrepreneurs are digitally savvy individuals themselves and see internet technologies especially as a must have for their hotels.