The screen for managing the seasons also allows the management of events;
Event screen is removed and all functionalities from the events screen are available in Seasons / Events screen: Edit Events categories, Import / Export Events;
The Seasons / Events screen has the option to display the calendar as a HeatMap. The colors of each day represent the forecasted Occupancy, and they vary from red (starting with 0% forecasted occupancy) to green (above 87.5% forecasted occupancy).
2. E-mail Templates – Additional Attachments available
Groups defined in Multi-Property Overview;
Custom Reports (includes option to define the custom report parameters when attaching: time period, granularity etc.);
3. Column Group Sets in Custom Reports
There is an option to “link” column groups in sets, by using the functionality “Create Set” in Step 3 of creating / editing a Custom Report;
The Custom Reports grids only shows one column Group from each defined set;
Each set has a default column group (the one that is displayed first).
4. Timeline
Acronyms are used for LowerBound and UpperBound columns: LB & UB;
Columns Group settings are retained when changing granularity;
The sub-rows are loaded from the server when a date is collapsed and remains in the browser memory for a subsequent view of the same arrival date. Thus, this will not generate another request to the server, thus the loading time is considerably reduced;
When the Timeline grid reloads, it reloads at the same first date visible;
The Timeline grid “remember” any filters applied when various settings are changed
Reload does not recall the position if the granularity changes or if the period was changed and the new period does not contain the top date visible before the reload;
Timeline export includes all the column group sets, not just the visible ones (all Pickup, RECO Diff, BW and DBA options from drop-down);
5. Multi-Property
Multi-Property grid can be exported. The export includes all columns, not just the selected ones as visible in the user’s screen;
The Multi-Property grid can be selected as attachment in Email Templates;
A new group can be easily added by clicking the icon “+” at the top of the screen (next to “Delete” and “Edit Group”);
There is the possibility to reorder the grouping options in the Multi-Property screen inside the Edit Group window.
6. RECO algorithm related changes
The RECO algorithm runs as a standalone process. This means that a routine runs every hour and triggers the RECO calculation. This process takes into account the most recent existing data (PMS data, Market data, seasons, events, hotel rates, CompSet);
Data Freshness Parameter is available in Settings area > RECO tab. This setting controls if the RECO should be calculated only if the PMS or Market data is “fresh”, in order to avoid the calculation of RECO for obsolete data (PMS connection not working or compset shop data missing etc.);
A popup alert is displayed in RECO settings area when changing the RECO PAX, informing the user about what changes can occur in the application if this setting is changed.
7. New Column / Column Groups (Multi-Property / Timeline / Custom Reports)
RECO Evolution (RECO DIFF) – Column Group displaying the difference between most recent RECO and the past 1 – 7, 14, 21 and 28 days RECO – available in Timeline and Custom Reports;
Room Nights Occupancy (OCC) – Separate Column available for the Column Groups: OTB, DBA, LY, STLY, 2Y, ST2Y, FORECAST, BUDGET – available in Timeline;
“DBA x”: column groups showing the main KPI’s on the books with x days prior to the respective arrival date – good for visualizing the booking curve – available in Multi-Property, Timeline and Custom Reports;
“BW x-y”: column groups showing the main KPI’s with the picked-up business in the period “y to x days” before arrival – good for building a lead-time report – available in Multi-Property, Timeline and Custom Reports;
Budget and Forecast column groups – available in Timeline and Custom Reports.
8. Form Controls Redesign
All controls (buttons, inputs, dropdown selections etc.) are redesigned to have the same height
The app’s top bar contains the name of the active screen (this creates extra usable space for the content area of each screen).
9. Other Improvements
The “Price Adjustment Report” in Email Templates display all adjustments made since the previous email.
For the first time, the period is calculated using the recurrence definition.
A parameter in the settings area controls if the “Hotel Rates” are to be defined separately for 1 and 2 PAX or once for both (in other words if the price is the same for 1 and 2 adults or not);
User preference option available to select if the RN columns in Timeline and Custom Reports should include also the Occ in % (in brackets) or not;
Possibility to edit for multiple ranges (not just one range), when editing prices in bulk;
Default Pickups display includes 21 days, and 30 was replaced by 28;
Full Year Analysis menu is a standalone functionality in Subscription Access. It was previously found under “Analytics +”;
Possibility to add or edit events directly from Timeline grid and from Custom Reports grid. The “Icon” dedicated for this is next to the “Day Inspector” Icon;
User Preference setting controlling the histogram (bar) display in the background of the cells representing the occupancy;
Buttons and Controls design improvements.
Version 2.15.4
1. Improved UX/UI design of the application
Consistent design of the form controls and buttons throughout the application.
Improved visual impact of background colors and text colors (general background, table header background, etc).
Clear separation between page sections (Settings area, tabs area, data grid area, chart area, etc).
2. Pricing Screen – improved viewing and editing features
View the data in standard format (columns by day of week) or compact format (columns by day number).
Set “Close” restrictions.
Improved “Edit mode” – only the focused cell is editable.
Added a context menu that appears when right-clicking a cell. This offers the following actions:
Set minLoS 2,3 or 4
“Like” the RECO rate
Set “Close” restriction
Remove all restrictions
Select a period for bulk edit
Edit cell
Added the “History Mode” action which allows viewing the prices from the perspective of a past date.
3. Seasons and Events Screen – improved viewing and editing features
View the data in standard format (columns by day of week) or compact format (columns by day number).
Added a context menu that appears when right-clicking a cell. This offers the following actions:
Add an event
Remove all events
Edit Season
Select a period for bulk edit
4. Capacity Management Screen – improved viewing and editing features
View the data in standard format (columns by day of week) or compact format (columns by day number).
Added a context menu that appears when right-clicking a cell. This offers the following actions:
Edit Value
Select a period for bulk edit
Delete OoO value (reset to “0”)
5. New Mini Day Inspector
When hovering over the date label in various screens (Timeline, Custom Reports, Pricing, Seasons/Events, Capacity Management), a popup appears showing high-level information for the respective date.
The information displayed is:
Season and Events
LY date
RECO, Reference rate sent and CompSet Median
Main KPI’s for selected interest (default interests are OTB, STLY – can be changed in User Preferences screen)
Main KPI’s for selected pickup periods (default periods are P-1, P-3 and P-7 – can be changed in User Preferences screen)
Business mix for occupancy for selected granularity (default is by Segment groups – can be changed in User Preferences screen)
6. Timeline screen – improvement in the Segments / Channels tabs
A new setting through which users can choose to see also the segment/channel values “per group”.
If this setting is “enabled”, then extra columns (representing Market Segments Groups or Channels Groups) are displayed, in the order chosen by the setting “Dynamic columns sorted by”.
7. Other Improvements
Date Range Picker has only one calendar displayed (not two).
When changing various app data that affects the RECO calculation (e.g. season, events) the system will display the new data immediately; however the RECO calculation will not commence immediately (it will run by the regular hourly schedule). From the moment of the data change until the new RECO calculation, the system will display the “obsolete” icon (clock) next to the RECO value to show that the RECO was calculated with data that is no longer “current”.
The column that displays the recommended price in Timeline was re-labeled with the generic “Ref. Rate” text (instead of “{Room Short} – {Rate Short}” as it was in version 2.15.3); thus, this column is no longer a hotel-specific column and the status for display. or hide will be saved for all hotels, at the user level (instead of doing it for each hotel).
The Pickup options have been renamed with the shorter “P-{x}” instead of “PICKUP-{x}”, to take up less space in different screens (for example the Pickup column in Timeline).
Room Type and Rate Plan lists displayed in different screens in the application (those from RMS, but also those from PMS/Channel Manager) are now ordered alphabetically with the mention that the reference room/rate are always displayed first in the list.
Various small adjustments and bug fixes.
Version 2.15.5
1. Custom Reports
The Custom Reports menu item was split into two separate sections:
i. “My Reports” – containing just the reports that the user has created or has received from other users as “shared with”.
ii. “Public Reports” – showing all public reports created by all other users.
Public reports can only be previewed and exported to excel. To “work” with the report, one must “clone” it for itself (thus creating a private copy of the report) which then can be viewed and edited just like any other report.
In the “My Reports” screen the order of the reports in the tab section has changed: by default, reports created by the user are the first in the list (left to right) followed by the reports shared with the user (by other users).
There are two new functions in the “My Reports” screen: possibility to search quickly for a report + possibility to manage reports (reorder by drag and drop + quick rename).
The option to delete reports has moved to the Manage Reports popup; this provides more space in the “tab” section for more reports to fill-in.
All reports are now present in the tab section for all hotels; reports that cannot be displayed for the selected hotel (due to the report containing specific columns from other hotels – like market segment or room type columns) are disabled in the tab section.
It is now possible to copy columns or groups when editing or creating a new report. Editing columns allows changing the definition of the column (not just the short and long name).
It is possible to add new columns by text search when editing or creating a new report. This allows much faster creation of new columns, as the search will show all possible options for data columns and allows adding multiple columns at once.
2. Pricing Screen
When going into History Mode, it is now possible to select to see the snapshot of the pricing structure right after a particular “Send” action (selected from a list). If so, the prices that were sent in the respective action are highlighted in red.
When hovering over a red value in History mode, a tooltip will appear showing the adjustment made.
The “Exit History” button’s position has changed; it has been moved within the History notification layer.
3. E-mail Templates
It is now possible to have multiple attachments to the same e-mail.
It is now possible to instantly send an e-mail (not wait for the automatic recurrent event) by clicking the new “Send e-mail now” button displayed for each e-mail template in the list.
4. Timeline Screen
Each column group in the “Room Types” tab has now two separate “Share” columns:
i. “Share” – this stands for Share within the Room Type Inventory;
ii. “Share TTL” – this stands for Share within the Total Inventory.
As of the above, the option to select the “Room Types Columns Share by” was removed.
Market Segment Groups and Channel Groups are now visually differentiated from regular market segments and channels (in the “Market Segment” and “Channels” tabs) for easier differentiation between them.
5. Events Management
When an event is added, it can be added for multiple hotels at once (not copied to other hotels like before).
When editing/deleting such an event, it will be edited to/deleted from all hotels it was added (if they are not “unchecked”).
When hotels are unchecked, a copy of the event will be created and hence forth managed separately for those hotels.
6. Other Improvements
A new column has been added to all reports that holds the price “To Be Sent”. This is useful if the price to be distributed differs from the value entered manually (for example if the hotel has Rate Modifiers defined in Settings – Distribution).
A new DBA set was added – “DBA -1”. This holds the same values as the OTB values for past dates; however, the aggregated row in the Timeline and custom reports will average the values (not summate like for the OTB columns).
The Room Type sub-rows in the Timeline report will display occupancy vs the room type inventory if this data is received from the PMS. If not, the occupancy will continue to be calculated vs the total capacity.
It is now possible to share a custom report with multiple users.
The RECO Evolution tooltip that is displayed when hovering the mouse over the RECO now contains more data: The evolution of the day type (color-coded), the evolution of the transient occupancy and total occupancy + the evolution of the CompSet median.
When setting market segments as NOT USED (in the mapping screen), the “Included in KPI” option is disabled and set to “Off” automatically.
If the height of the Mini Day Inspector popup displaying data from the MDI exceeds the screen height, the business mix charts are automatically hidden.
Fixed some minor bugs in the “Settings – Distribution” part.