Travellers used to pick up the phone to book a hotel room. Now, more and more customers go online to research and reserve accommodation. Online bookings in Europe grew 30 percent in 2007.1 This double-digit growth indicates a powerful way for the hospitality industry to increase revenue amidst today’s economic challenges.

The most successful hotels provide a fast, convenient way for guests to make reservations online.Those who don’t, run the risk of sending potential customers packing – straight to a competitor. Whether you use an online booking engine or rely upon email enquiries, there are several security factors to take into consideration.The internet is extremely convenient, but it holds risks and threats from which you need to protect yourself – and your customers. For example, including your hotels’ email address on your website can increase guest reservations and enquiries, but it can also flood your account with a deluge of spam.

Why? Cybercriminals often harvest email addresses by sending spiders to gather them from the web. Then they send mass amounts of spam and even email viruses in an attempt to collect information and cause damage.
Yet in an economy where every customer counts, removing your email address from your website is simply not an option. So how can you keep your in-box secure while giving your customers the contact information they
need?

Many hotels are discovering a simple solution: Email Security Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). This low-cost subscription service provides an easy way for hotels of all sizes to protect their email. All incoming messages are automatically scanned and filtered to stop spam and viruses from reaching the hotel’s in-box.

Advanced technology is utilised to ensure that all valid customer and agent messages are received, while illegitimate messages are blocked. The Ritz® London, a five-star hotel in Piccadilly, saw firsthand the negative impact spam could have on email reservations and guest enquiries. The hotel was receiving an average of 530,000 emails per month – but 87 percent of these were spam. Richard Isted, IT Manager, explains,“A 24/7 operation such as a hotel requires reliable, round the clock email and web security. We were looking for a solution to protect 120 email users and to deal efficiently with an increasing number of web-based guest reservations. We wanted a solution that was quick, effective and easy to use.”

The Ritz® implemented Webroot® E-Mail Security SaaS, and has seen dramatic improvements in its messaging management. Employees no longer needed to waste time sifting through hundreds of spam messages to find legitimate customer reservations and emails.This solution provides the best of both worlds. The Ritz® can receive all the benefits of convenient email and online bookings, without having to worry about spam and viruses. Best of all, the service is managed by an internet security expert, so the hotel is free to focus on its business. The email security service has other benefits as well. Outbound email is filtered and encrypted to ensure that sensitive customer data remains secure. This is extremely important for hotels that use email to provide guests with their booking confirmations. For example, if you email a customer a confirmation that includes their credit card number or other personal data, this sensitive information needs to be encrypted as it travels over the internet. Otherwise, cybercriminals can intercept the communication and the steal data, leading to costly and damaging ramifications for your customers as well as your hotel.

In addition to email protection, other vital online security functions can be obtained through software-as-a-service. For example, Web Security SaaS can secure a hotel’s internet service to ensure that employees and guests are protected against viruses and other threats while they browse online. Many larger hotels also utilise this service for web filtering. This gives proprietors the ability to monitor and control employee internet use by restricting access to websites that are not related to work duties, such as online gaming or social networking sites.

While today’s numerous online threats may seem daunting, security software-as-a-service simplifies the issue by delivering essential protection with little or no management required. Hotels can simply pay a low monthly subscription fee, then rest assured that email and online bookings will be kept secure.With email or web security SaaS in place, every hotel – regardless of size – can reap the benefits and increased revenue of email and online bookings.

For further information, please visit
www.webroot.co.uk