Abad Hotels grows direct bookings 6x with Simplotel Hotel E-commerce

Learn how the Simplotel Hotel Ecommerce grew direct room nights by6x for the Kerala-based Abad Group of Hotels

Abad Group of Hotels began its journey in 1982, when it opened its modest 20-room property in Mattancherry, Kerala. This was to accommodate business partners for its flagship company Abad Fisheries — the largest exporter of frozen seafood in India at the time. As this business prospered, it diversified into hospitality and today operates 14 hotels & resorts across key destinations in Kerala. The 163-year-old, family-run conglomerate is currently into its sixth generation; and also comprises Abad Construction.

Manzoor Rasheed, head of sales for Abad Group of Hotels, has been an Abad lifer since starting his career in hospitality in 2003. “In my experience, I have seen a lot of changes. Even technologies have developed and disappeared. But the most vital element in hospitality is human touch. At Abad Hotels, we always strive to empathise with our guests.”

Abad Group of Hotels began its journey in 1982, when it opened its modest 20-room property in Mattancherry, Kerala. This was to accommodate business partners for its flagship company Abad Fisheries — the largest exporter of frozen seafood in India at the time. As this business prospered, it diversified into hospitality and today operates 14 hotels & resorts across key destinations in Kerala. The 163-year-old, family-run conglomerate is currently into its sixth generation; and also comprises Abad Construction.

Manzoor Rasheed, head of sales for Abad Group of Hotels, has been an Abad lifer since starting his career in hospitality in 2003. “In my experience, I have seen a lot of changes. Even technologies have developed and disappeared. But the most vital element in hospitality is human touch. At Abad Hotels, we always strive to empathise with our guests.”

Abad Hotels onboarded Simplotel Hotel E-commerce (Website Builder and Booking Engine) as they wished to accelerate direct bookings through their brand website. “The booking journey previously was very tedious. There were a lot of fields where inputs were required and many other such hindrances. However, after onboarding Simplotel Hotel E-commerce, our guest booking journey has become seamless. From 50 monthly room nights, we have consistently hit 250 room nights and have even scaled the 300-milestone through our website.”.

Rasheed loves Simplotel’s content management system (CMS) and the booking engine. “Simplotel has improved our efficiency at reservations. We have negligible inventory issues as the Simplotel Booking Engine is seamlessly integrated with our channel manager. From sending customers bookable links, to running offers, receiving payments & sending confirmation emails; it has become a hassle-free process.”

Jibran Asif, Director at Abad Hotels, says, “We have been extremely happy with the Simplotel team. They have been very proactive in their support and our queries are resolved swiftly. We look forward to leveraging their technology and growing our businesses together.”

Rasheed believes that to excel in hospitality, one needs to embody service with a smile. He quotes Mahatma Gandhi and says, ‘A customer is the most important visitor on our premises. He is not dependent on us. We are dependent on him. He is not an interruption of our work. He is the purpose of it. He is not an outsider of our business. He is part of it. We are not doing him a favour by serving him. He is doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so.’