If you are in the accommodation sector then there are a number of systems available that will allow you to show customers real-time availability.

These systems will handle the whole booking process and you can configure them with all of your room information such as costs, sizes, room description and availability.

These systems allow potential guests to select dates that are of interest to them and then inquire as to their availability.

If there are rooms available, the user can:

• select the size or price of room that suits them;
• continue on to the next step of confirming their booking with a credit card;
• credit card information is then held securely on the system server;
• the card will not be charged until the end of the guest’s stay;
• by authorising a payment at this stage hotel has the security of a deposit if the guest does not arrive to use the room.

Once the customer has confirmed a booking, an email confirmation is issued containing the booking details and booking reference. Contact details and additional information like ‘how to get here’ and ‘local attractions’ can also be added and some systems even allow up-sell opportunities for insurance and car rental.

It is possible to buy and run your own booking software and a popular approach is to allocate a percentage of your rooms to the website and keep the rest of your rooms for telephone bookings and passing trade. This means that you do not need to invest in a system that real-time updates both your online and offline bookings.