When ehotel went online in 2000 with the idea of simplifying the business-specific search for cheap hotel rooms as an independent portal for business travelers, becoming an internationally successful one-stop hotel solutions provider for corporate business was nothing but a vision. Today, that’s the reality. This enormous success is no coincidence: In addition to developing its unique meta-search technology, which allows customers to view available hotel room contingents from all providers, ehotel has integrated many other features that support companies and their business travelers and travel agents with essential processes such as sourcing, payment and billing. Companies can now manage all of their planning and accounting on ehotel – be it individual bookings or conference organization, cost transfers or tax refunds, participant management or booking statistics.
Then as now, the hotel market was fragmented. It is almost impossible for travelers to find and compare the many different hotel room offers on the market. Hotels do not only offer their rooms through various booking platforms and travel agencies; they also hold back contingents to codetermine the prices on their own websites. By offering a service that makes all these offers comparable, ehotel is considered a pioneer among hotel booking platforms. The meta-search technology allows business travelers to factor all company specifications into their search, while travel agents can easily find similar accommodations in terms of price, comfort and facilities for all employees.
Of course, business travelers nowadays are not only interested in traveling cheaply, but also in adhering to the sustainability principles of their companies. With individual solutions and optimized processes, ehotel is the ideal partner for large corporations and medium-sized companies. The ehotel system helps every company individually to reduce costs and save time and effort, thus easing the workload of their employees. “In addition to fairness and transparency, we focus on providing a personal service for our customers,” explains Managing Partner Fritz Zerweck, stressing once more the human aspect: “It’s not just about optimizing technologies, but about business travelers with specific needs and specifications.”
This is probably the biggest secret of ehotel’s success: Although the company has long been a big player in the hotel booking market, it constantly aspires to the highest level of customer satisfaction. “For us, it makes no difference if our client is a small agency or a large international corporation,” says Fritz Zerweck. “Our aim is always to save our customers as much time and money as possible.” All bookings can be made via desktop, OBE, mobile apps, or offline via the ehotel service team and travel agency partners, and can be combined with various payment and billing methods. Regardless of order volumes, ehotel offers a consistently high-quality customer service.
Even during the pandemic, ehotel supports its customers reliably. Travel managers can use ehotel Analytics to locate employees currently on a business trip. This allows them to fulfill their duty of care more easily, and to maintain contact with travelers even in COVID hotspots, who can be located and notified using state-of-the-art technologies. In addition, ehotel’s individual billing solutions help to organize even long-stay layovers and to facilitate payment even for large amounts.
In its blog and newsletter, ehotel provides travelers and hotels with up-to-date information on mandatory health and safety measures, hygiene rules and travel warnings in order to help maintain the safety of guests and staff. In addition, the meta-search technology automatically shows only valid contingents and thus guarantees a successful search, even during trade show season, when hotel rooms are in high demand, and despite COVID-related closures. Furthermore, ehotel used the temporary decline in bookings and service requests during lockdown to re-launch its website, expand the filter functions of its search engine, and develop new ideas.
In the future, ehotel will continue to work on offering a complete digital cycle and closing the last small procedural system breaks. “Not only are the technological possibilities changing, but so is the awareness of customers,” says Zerweck, explaining why ehotel will continue to evolve: “The planning of Individual trips, meetings and conferences increasingly takes into account the aspect of environmental protection, and through the pandemic, cashless payment has gained new significance. Our comprehensive solutions move with the times.”
ehotel’s modern technology and excellent customer service have earned the company numerous awards by many independent institutions, newspapers and magazines – including FOCUS, Die Welt, WirtschaftsWoche, the German Association for Consumer Studies (DtGV), Stiftung Warentest, and The CEO Views. These awards and recognitions are also a constant incentive for the company to continue setting high goals, and to always account for social and technological changes in their all-round service.
“THE EHOTEL SYSTEM HELPS EVERY COMPANY INDIVIDUALLY TO REDUCE
COSTS AND SAVE TIME AND EFFORT, THUS EASING THE WORKLOAD OF
THEIR EMPLOYEES. “IN ADDITION TO FAIRNESS AND TRANSPARENCY, WE
FOCUS ON PROVIDING A PERSONAL SERVICE FOR OUR CUSTOMERS”.
