Hotel Owners
Tour Operators
Frequently Asked Questions

Hotel Owners : Tour Operators

Hotel Owners
With ReceptionBook.com do I have to know much about the internet?
And how long will it take to get me set up?
How do guests find me?
Do I have to list my complete inventory on our website availability check?
If a guest calls direct to make a reservation. how does this effect the ReceptionBook.com availability table?
What is the process for joining the ReceptionBook.com community?
Do I have to specify which computers and IP addresses I will be using with ReceptionBook.com?
How do I charge for my rooms per night or per person?
Does ReceptionBook.com handle reduced rates for children?
Can I specify the minimum and maximum number of guests per room type?
Does ReceptionBook.com allow for seasonal rates?
How do tour operators use my booking system?
How am I notified when a guest makes a provisional booking?
What if a guest cancels a booking?
Does ReceptionBook.com have any sales reporting?
I offer mealplans is this possible with ReceptionBook.com?
Can I add airport pickup onto the booking form?
Can I offer any forms of discount?
Do you offer credit card processing facilities?
Can ReceptionBook.com handle a service charge?
Can ReceptionBook.com handle tax?
What if my internet fails?

With ReceptionBook.com do I have to know much about the internet?
No, ReceptionBook.com is built on a sophisticated database using modern programming technology.
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And how long will it take to get me set up?
A typical hotel site is up and running within an hour.
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How do guests find me?
ReceptionBook.com works from your web site for direct clients and from our website for agents and booking offices.  To improve internet traffic we recommend using our sister site AfricaLive.com; a specialist East African events and sales sites.  Potential guests find your web site on these sources, and from there are only one click away from your online reservation system.
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Do I have to list my complete inventory on our website availability check?
No, ReceptionBook.com allows you to list only the rooms you wish.
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If a guest calls direct to make a reservation, how does this effect the availability table?
No. You easily add rooms that are booked by telephone, fax or other means to ReceptionBook.com via our site.  This way the availability within ReceptionBook.com is always up to date.
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What is the process for joining the ReceptionBook.com community?
Our consultants will help you enter all necessary data about your hotel into ReceptionBook.com, including  tour operators and agents and their contract details.  This whole process takes around an hour.   We do the rest by generating a complete online reservation system. Finally we issue  the computer code that can be uploaded to your website to show real-time availability.
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Do I have to specify which computers and IP addresses I will be using with ReceptionBook.com?
No, as we use a password and username based system on our secure server enabling you to log in to ReceptionBook.com at any time on any computer with an internet connection. If you wish to control access to ReceptionBook.com from specific computers, you can.
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How do I charge for my rooms;  per night or per person?
ReceptionBook.com operates both options.
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Does ReceptionBook.com handle reduced rates for children?
Yes applicable when charging per person.
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Can I specify the minimum and maximum number of guests per room type?
Yes. You can also tell ReceptionBook.com the maximum number of children per room and all the permutations of rates based upon that.
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Does ReceptionBook.com allow for seasonal rates?
Yes. You can specify unlimited seasons in a year and even different rates in a week.
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How do tour operators use my booking system?
You enter details of trusted tour operators and there contract details including deposit amount, commission and holding time.  When they log in to ReceptionBook.com they can view your availability through a secure area where you have full control over the exact information they see.   When you meet new tour operators you can add them and through the community section of ReceptionBook.com new business can also be found.
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How am I notified when a guest makes a provisional booking?
When you log in to your secure area of ReceptionBook.com you will see details of new provisional bookings from internet clients or from tour operators.  As a security measure you are also emailed the proforma automatically generated and sent to the client detailing the allocated room and price breakdown.
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What if a guest cancels a booking?
You simply log in to your secure area in ReceptionBook.com and cancel the booking. The rooms are returned to the availability table.  You can also allow tour operators and website customers to cancel or change bookings online.
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Does ReceptionBook.com have any sales reporting?
Yes. The program can display reservation report, cancellation report, monthly sales, sales analysis, guest contact information, agent’s sales and individual invoices.  Report can be displayed for an entire year or the dates that you select. We can however supply any reports you require, just let us know which ones and we will do it at no extra cost. This report template will then be available for you to access in the future.
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I offer mealplans is this possible with ReceptionBook.com?
Yes. With our system you specify the basic cost for a room. Other meal options are offered as an extra on the booking form.
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Can I add airport pickup onto the booking form?
Yes. You can add to your system any extras you offer and set rates. You can also charge extras to the guest while they are inhouse.
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Can I offer any forms of discount?
Every charge entered or calculated by the system be it room rate, airport pickup or the total bill has a facility to add a percentage deduction.
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Do you offer credit card processing facilities? 

Yes, we do according to the following stages:

  • Guests enter their credit card details onto ReceptionBook.com's secure server.
  • You receive an auto-email when a guest books.
  • You log on to your password-protected area on our secure server and can then print credit card details and keep on file, or charge a deposit to the guest credit card, as per your booking policy. You need your own credit card merchant account.
  • Credit card details are stored on the ReceptionBook.com secure server for a maximum of 7 days, in line with international legislation.
  • We can also integrate ReceptionBook.com with payment gateways, so that guest credit cards are authorised and cleared in real-time.

ReceptionBook.com are planning to introduce merchant credit card accounts for all users in the near future.
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Can ReceptionBook.com handle a service charge?
Yes. You can add both a percentage and fixed amount. Adding surcharges is an optional feature.
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Can ReceptionBook.com handle tax?
Yes. A variety of taxes can be added to individual items or onto the total bill.
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What if my internet fails?
If your internet has a problem, there will be no trouble with any of your bookings as you will be able to use the hard copy of the availabililty sheet sent to you the previous day. This is automatically emailed summarising your availability, bookings, guests arrivals and departures. 
Any website clients or tour operators who try to make a booking while your internet is down, will be able to make the booking as normal. Details will be displayed and emailed to you when your internet is back functioning.
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Tour Operators
How do I see a hotel's availability and make bookings?
What is a “trusted tour operator”?
How do I become a trusted tour operator for more hotels?
What if my contract changes with the hotel?
What benefits will ReceptionBook.com give me as a tour operator?

How do I see a hotel's availability and make bookings?
You must first be registered as a trusted tour operator with the hotel, then it is possible to see the room availability and make provisional bookings through a password and username controlled area of the ReceptionBook.com website.
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What is a “trusted tour operator”?
You become a trusted tour operator when a hotel adds you to a group allowed to view real-time availability. As the financial pakage is tied in with this system, contracts must also be entered between a hotel and tour operator before the latter can be moved to a “trusted” setting.
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How do I become a trusted tour operator for more hotels?
You can view profiles for all hotels on our system and contact them regarding setting up a contract and becoming trusted allowing you real-time availability checking for their hotel.
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What if my contract changes with the hotel?
The hotel can easily update contract information including rates, deposit amounts and holding time from any computer at any time.
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What benefits will ReceptionBook.com give me as a tour operator?
As you are using a real-time system you can get back to your client with full availability details, a provisional booking and full cost breakdown within 10 minutes, allowing you to close the sale immediately, without time-consuming correspondence between your office and hotel reservation staff.
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