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Think about the last time you were looking for a hotel room while planning your vacation. So many hotels, so many rooms, and a million different options and possible combinations.

Now try to imagine what it looks like behind the scenes of all this information – a big mess, right? Well, for hotel suppliers managing a huge inventory of rooms can be challenging and frustrating, but with the right technology, the process can become smooth and seamless.

Behind that “Book Now” button is an overly complex network of numerous systems. One of those systems is Room Mapping, which is the process of gathering and grouping rooms from different sources.

How important is Room Mapping really?

You’ve come to the right place to find the answer to this question. Below, you can find everything you need to know about Room Mapping, including the challenges, case studies of modern Room Mapping solutions, and how the latest tech affects Room Mapping.

There are a few tech companies out there offering “Room Mapping” and “Hotel Mapping” solutions, all based on the same idea of normalizing data and leaving the supplier with as little data to process as possible. Some examples of companies providing Room Mapping are as follows:

Travelgatex, Gimmonix, Giata, Vervotech, Cupid, Databindr and Mize.

Multiple suppliers and naming conventions

Why is Room Mapping necessary?

The same rooms will have different naming conventions and descriptions between different suppliers. As a supplier, this makes it very hard to manage this inventory as well as sell it to clients smoothly. The supplier’s main goal is to aggregate and bring together identical rooms, while standardizing the nomenclature.

The basic elements of a room description are the Room Type, Bed Type, View Type and a long list of possible amenities and services (e.g. accessible, pet-friendly, balcony, mini-bar, etc.)

Each accommodation supplier may edit the existing information differently, discarding or adding, creating overlaps, duplications and more. Here are a couple of simple examples:

First room variations:

Standard room king with sea view
Double standard king, sea view
Standard room with sea view kg
Dbl Std Sea king bed – 2 Per

Second room variations:

A Triple Deluxe Queen bed city view
Deluxe dbl qn for 3 adults with city view
TPL dlx 2 queen city view
Triple 2 dbl beds city view (de-lux)

Same room, different names

In each example above, the same room is described in four different ways. The result is what looks like an extensive supply of different room possibilities within a specific hotel. These examples are only the tip of the iceberg. When combining more parameters like amenities and services, the possible options will multiply again.

In reality, there will be a much smaller number of room options at any given hotel. The most accurate description of a hotel’s accommodation will normally be found on the hotel’s website.

The cluttered supply of rooms created by these multiple suppliers and their different descriptions can impact negatively profits, service quality, and experience provided by OTAs and bed banks.

The main challenges are:

Not selling the room because there is not enough information and there are better descriptions available from other suppliers.
Displaying a room rate that is lower than it should be and losing money, due to inaccurate back-end room mapping.
Showing incorrect information, for example, wrong bed types, views or accessibility. Promising something that is not included and losing money and reputation due to complaints and refunds.
Increased maintenance and resource costs while trying to accurately map millions of rooms.
More resources are required to deal with client complaints.
Poor options to sort in and arrange room inventory.
ROI of Room Mapping

When it comes to ROI and Room Mapping, understanding effective Room Mapping is key to seeing its potential ROI. Let’s start with an example. There are two different suppliers, and they provide listings for the same hotel. One lists a “Luxury Honeymoon Suite with Outdoor Jacuzzi and Seaside View.” The other supplier presents it as a “Honeymoon Suite, Jacuzzi, Seaside View, Lux.”

The descriptions are different, but they refer to the same room. The role of Room Mapping is to curb the risk of duplicate listings, which may need to be clarified for consumers when identical rooms are linked. This is where ROI comes into the picture. Imagine a customer is looking for a specific room, and the OTA’s (Online Travel Agency) booking platform returns several results for the same room with slight variations in the room description.

With Room Mapping, your platform will link the same room through several suppliers and show it as one. While doing so, it will compare all the prices and automatically pick the most competitive.

Through this process, you achieve several things. First, you enhance the user experience, avoid confusion, and increase customer satisfaction rates. Then, you ensure repeat business, potential referrals, and word-of-mouth marketing. More specifically, you communicate accuracy and trustworthiness by eliminating duplicate listings, missed listings, and outdated data. Finally, you optimize revenue streams by displaying all available rooms at competitive rates.

Compliance and Standards

Room Mapping is an industry-standard for room descriptions. In Room Mapping, every room has attributes. These attributes include room type, class, view, square footage, bed type, etc. A couple of noteworthy examples of specific compliance and standards affect Room Mapping.

OpenTravel Alliance (OTA) leads the way in standardizing XML communications. This is a very valuable initiative in the world of travel software because it can enable communications between numerous systems. For instance, Room Mapping software is seamlessly compatible with the different software used by multiple suppliers. Standardized XML communications can also streamline additional integrations with property management, reservations, and booking platforms.

Hotel Technology Next Generation, or HTNG, works on solutions to standardize integration and interoperability of technology solutions in the travel vertical, specifically the hospitality industry. To be clear, HTNG is focused on something other than Room Mapping solutions. However, some of the tech HTNG is focused on, such as guest services and property management systems, are relevant to Room Mapping.

This extends to Global Distribution Systems or GDS platforms because they usually have a range of accommodation-related standards, such as room information, availability, and reservations. Room Mapping has to meet these standards to ensure all mapped data can be effectively distributed across a wide range of booking channels.

ISO 21401:2018, or the standard for sustainability in the accommodation sector, doesn’t directly affect Room Mapping applications. However, it provides general and specific guidelines for incorporating sustainability practices in the accommodation industry. These considerations can affect the layout and design of rooms, thus affecting how Room Mapping is implemented in sustainable environments.