News • 26th Oct, 12
From the middle of December 2012, Visit Scotland will no longer be offering its own online booking facility on www.visitscotland.com.
However, visitors to Visit Scotland website will still be able to book your accommodation through our Q-Book online booking system.
Q-Book is a commission free booking system which will allow clients to check availability and book rooms through Visit Scotland & your own website.
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Q-Book will also be connecting to Visit Scotland’s new booking system which will be launched in the new year (around June 2013).
Queensborough Group will connect you FREE with NO CHARGES through Q-Book.
Example: if you receive a booking through Visit Scotland this will update your Q-Book booking system totally free of charge.
We will endeavour to help you build a better business for less.
News • 24th Sep, 12
Attach Q-Book to Facebook to create bookings for free
• Bookings straight from facebook
• No commission
• Even more likes and shares
• It's free & it's easy
Let clients check your availability and book through Facebook for free
We have hundreds of clients using this service with great success
News • 24th Sep, 12
Q-Book can be integrated into your TripAdvisor listing.
When a booker clicks on “Show Prices” this will show your available rooms, they can then proceed to book rooms at zero commission.
Saves you paying commission to other agents & increase your direct bookings.
News • 24th Sep, 12
You can now update for free through Q-Book, Guestlink and their networks such as www.golakes.co.uk & www.canterbury.co.uk.
Q-Book now linked to Guestlink and their networks full list here.
Let Q-Book update your rates & availabilty on any of Guestlink tourist sites for free.
News • 12th Mar, 12
Q-Book is going from strength to strength our in house booking software is growing in popularity with thousands of accommodation providers throughout the UK, we now have thousands of satisfied clients using Q-Book who are making good use of the marketing tools within the booking system with no commission to pay, plus our connectivity service of using Q-Book to update other systems such as Booking.com and many others, this saves a lot of time and stops double bookings, no setup fee, no connection fee, no lock-in contracts.
News • 11th Mar, 11
Email Marketing for Hotels
With all the recent publicity over social media, email marketing has taken a backseat role in many ways. However email remains a very powerful marketing tool when used correctly and most definitely should not be overlooked. Email generally has a greater psychological value than other types of social media communication. If you are regularly delivering value in your mails, people will listen to what you have to say.
Ways your hotel could use email
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As a relationship building tool. You can use email to give your business personality and a sense ofquality.
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Use it as a feedback and research tool.Many hotels send an automatic survey link to gather guest feedback. There are also other ways you can use email to get feedback. Not only on the guests stay, but also for new ideas and other market research.
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As a direct promotional tool. Write newsletters to guests; detailing special offers; notifications of new facilities; or to provide insider information. Create an email that offers travel tips or other useful information, and people will welcome your updates that come with it.
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Use it to provide superior guest service.There is so much potential for hotels to use email to improve their guests’ experience and hence increase repeat bookers. A series of e-mails could be generated whenever someone makes a booking: leading up to the stay, and then following up after they depart. Putting everything on autopilot insures every guest has an outstanding experience interacting with your hotel and reduces the potential for errors.
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Offer Competitions. You can use email to hold a contest, and to offer prizes to winners. This is one method of increasing interactivity, and to increase interest in your newsletter. Encourage contest participants to get others to sign up as well-and watch the interest grow.
To find out more about how to do this in “Q-Marketing” our new email marketing tool visit http://www.abchotel.co.uk/screen-shots.html
Plan your list building strategy
You don’t want to be thought of as a spammer. That’s why it’s important not to send emails that are not targeted properly. To get the best results from each email you should firstget permission from your recipients before you send out anything. Try the following to achieve this:
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Include a signup form on your website. Just keep it short: email & first name is best.
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Have a system in place where your front desk staff ask for addresses during check-in or check out
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Consider leaving a letter of invitation in their room
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Always provide a strong benefit for the person signing up for your list. Receiving updates (marketing messages) alone isn’t usually a very strong offer. Exclusive discounts and preferred service are more compelling.
Tips for writing effective emails for your hotel
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Make sure you get through the spam filters. Mail that isn’t delivered isn’t read.
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Write effective subject lines. Tell what’s inside, but don’t overdo it. Sometimes boring is best. Don’t use too much hype.
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Include your contact information and a telephone number.
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Provide a Link to Your Web Site.
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Use good grammar.
Choose a publishing frequency
Publishing too often can result in people unsubscribing. If you don’t publish enough, people may forget about you. Find a regularity that works well with your audience.
Test… and test again
As with most online marketing, success is achieved through continual testing…and making changes based on the results.
Ideas for testing
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Days of the week (Monday…or Saturday?)
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Time of day (morning, evening etc.)
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Frequency
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Personalization
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Subjects & Topics
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Content
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Copy
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Graphics
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Colours
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Length
By using email as part of an overall marketing plan, you can help people form a positive impression of your business, develop customer relations, and help get the word out about your organisation. It’s a valuable marketing tool that can bring in more visitors and help increase both new and repeat sales.
News • 26th Jan, 11
2011 has seen a massive rise in online bookings through the Q-Book Booking System this is due to additional Distribution Networks and Q-Book Marketing. "A well executed email campaign can have up to 80% success rate"
Q-Book v3 Booking System is now linked to many Worldwide and Regional Distribution Networks.
News • 13th Dec, 10
Just Launched is our New look Queensborough Group. This coincides with the launch of our new brochure.
We hope that the new website will be easier for you to find your way around.
Please let us know what you think by posting your comments on our comments page.
News • 30th Nov, 10
Below are a few comments from our customers who use Q-Book V3:
Kew House
"Q-Book Online Booking v3 - The system is much easier to use than the last one - by far! I do feel more in control, especially when updating Late Availability. Navigation through the system is fine and I like the fact that you are still tweaking it." - Ian
Ivydene
"Q-Book Online Booking v3 - The system is good like all systems there is a settling in period but overall the booking system operation is in place and effective. Navigation is good, presentation is good. A massive improvement on the old system. You have been very responsive to queries I have put to you - so full marks." - Ted
Riverside
"Q-Book Online Booking v3 - My experience with Q-Book so far are outstanding. It is the first online booking system I have found that is easy to setup, use and experiment with. In addition, it is commission free and at a very reasonable price to subscribe too. It is easy to find your way through the system to setup the establishment. Common options are well integrated and first experiences of staff training seems positive." - Ross
Springwood Guest House
"Q-Book Online Booking v3 - I find the Q-Book Online Booking System easy to use. I am in complete control of my availability and forward and previous bookings. I particularly like being able to illicit, arrival times and means of arrival from bookers. The navigation of the site is logical, quick and easy. It is easy to find any information you require." - Sue
Abinger Guest House
"Q-Book Online Booking v3 - I love it. I think the new system is fantastic.....and I'm not kidding I have more flexibility with my room designations, pricing and descriptions I can email my guests asking them for feedback upon departure I can manually adjust availability with guest details - even more now I can add a quick reservation I can see where my guests have come from. The whole thing is great!" - Mr Welland
Updates • 10th Aug, 10
We are proud to launch the new Q-Book website to go hand in hand with our new Q-Book booking engine V3. www.abchotel.co.uk
News • 6th Aug, 10
Online spenders spent £5bn in July, according to the latest IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index.
Britons spent an average of £81 each in a month that saw spending rise by 14% compared to the previous month as shoppers responded to sales promotions. Spending was up by 18% compared to last July, a figure received well by industry commentators.
The biggest areas of growth were in accessories (up by 64% compared to the same time last year), lingerie (31%), gifts (26%), and travel (18%). The growth in travel sales was put down to heavy discounting on holidays, together with poor weather at home.
Once again multichannel retailers outshone their pureplay rivals, growth by 18% compared to the online-only retailers’ 8%. Multichannel sellers also converted more browsers into sales, with a conversion rate of 4.49% compared to 4.35% for online-only retailers.
Chris Webster, vice president, head of retail consulting and technology at Capgemini, said: “Although online retail sales survived the recession more convincingly than high street sales, the last two years or so have no doubt been shaky at times. It is really encouraging to see growth levels returning to those seen pre-2007 and before consumer confidence was knocked by the financial crisis and recession.”
David Smith, managing director of IMRG, the ecommerce trade body, said: “With over half of the UK population online at least once a day it is no surprise that online sales continue to grow impressively year on year. The evidence mounts that high street retailers will need to invest more in their online business and put it at the heart of their retail strategy. Online retailers, on the other hand, will need to continue to innovate as they strive to close the growth gap.”
David Stratton, head of partnerships at HolidayExtras.com said: “July was a month of positive growth, with parking bookings up by seven per cent; hotels up by four per cent and overall growth of five per cent. These figures, while in line with our forecast, are behind our yearly budgeted expectations due to the volcano activity in April.
“We are delighted to be in a positive growth situation, particularly in the current economic climate. August to date has seen record booking days.”