Those double-decker reading assignments we had to deal with in school could be real killers.If you're like a lot of students, you might have wound up renting a video of "A Tale of Two Cities" or "Macbeth" so you could understand what was going on. After all, it's a lot easier to write a paper or prepare for the big test when you know what's going on!

Just the same, hoteliers need to be able to understand the stories that their booking engine data can tell.What if you could see how a campaign is performing, or how many customers are booking a specific promotion, and make adjustments on the fly? What if you could track your customers' journey across different devices? All of this data is being created on a daily basis; how can you put it to work for you?

Thankfully, "Big Data" is now a lot easier to understand thanks to data visualization solutions that allow hoteliers to generate customizable reports and alerts at any time. These important, customer-focused storylines read a lot more easily as a result. Here are some of the key ways that data visualization can help you take control of those data-driven stories – and make sure you're getting the most out of your resources:

1. Timing Promotions for Maximum Effectiveness. How far in advance did customers start booking their getaways this year? How soon should you start running upcoming promotions? Data visualization tools chart your customers' booking lead times and track the time they spend researching on your website, revealing important trends. Once you know how your customers are shopping, you'll be able to time promotions for maximum reach and ROI. Also, by tracking the performance of specific promotions and rates, you'll no longer have to wait for the end of a campaign to see how it's performing.

2. Understand the Customer Journey. What if you could see how your customers shop across multiple devices – mobile phones, PC's and tables? Just as Google Analytics allows real-time, customizable insights into customers' website visits, data visualization solutions for hoteliers create an easy-to-read map of the customer experience, including not just device types but sources of traffic – organic, social media, meta search, and more.

This information also allows hoteliers to see how the customer journey unfolds and identify potential pain points in the user experience. Research shows that customers are using multiple devices to look and book. A user experience that is seamless across devices and platforms will ease the customers' path to purchase, increasing your revenues.

3. Track Key Performance Indicators. Hoteliers tasked with growing sales, increasing conversion rates or meeting other important goals need fast, reliable information to help them track KPIs and adjust when needed. Instead of spreadsheets that require lots of calculation, cleanup and customization, data visualization tools give you charts and data points in easy-to-read formats, customizable to fit your needs.

Today's top-flight solutions allow you to create custom alerts, notifying key decision-makers when important thresholds and goals are reached. Not only will these insights help you maximize ROI, but tracking them against industry benchmarks can help reveal customer pain points. If your mobile looks and books are lagging, this could be a sign that you need to look into improving the user experience.

When you can follow the data and analytics storyline your hotels are telling, you will have more power to put that knowledge to work. Sabre's hotel-centric software solutions are designed to provide the specific insights you need to plan more effective promotions, improve user experience, and understand how the customers you serve are shopping and booking.

If you are interested in learning about hotel centric data visualization solutions, contact your Sabre Hospitality Solutions account manager or e-mail us at shssalesrequest@sabre.com.

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