Customer story: 31 owners on Bonaire and remote control

These pioneers of holiday parks give you an insight into their formula for success. How do they boost the off-season, how do they deal with peak traffic and how do they ensure guests keep coming back with Booking Experts? Today's speaker: Patrick Loeps, general manager and part-owner of Belnem House Bonaire.

• Belnem House Bonaire
• Kralendijk, Dutch Caribbean
• Resort
• BEX PMS, BEX CMS and Marketing

Patrick, can you tell us a bit about Belnem House Bonaire and your position?

'Sure! Since one year I am director and part-owner at Belnem House Bonaire. A small scale and exclusive Boutique Resort located in Kralendijk, Bonaire. Besides being one of the 31 owners, I am also general manager. As general manager I am ultimately responsible for the operational and commercial ins and outs of the company. Together with the marketing team, the finance department, Booking Experts and Boosters, we make sure that the interests of both the guests and the owners are met.'

Okay, so you and 30 others own Belnem House Bonaire. That undoubtedly has its challenges. How do you deal with them?

'So many people, so many opinions, which means it can indeed be difficult to get everyone on the same page. Everyone naturally wants the best result for the company, but the way to get there can differ. What helps is that we can provide transparency in the owner portal and deliver a clear rental income statement here. This transparency provides confidence, which makes it easier to make choices. The data insights from the dashboards also help substantiate and explain choices, as well as the marketing expertise of Booking Boosters. They continuously keep an eye on things and adjust our campaigns weekly, this ensures that we get great results. And as long as the results are good, the owners are satisfied.'

'This transparency gives confidence and that makes it easier to make choices.'

Why did you decide to work with Booking Experts?

'We first used a competitor of Booking Experts, but that lacked a future perspective. Then we started to explore the market and finally ended up with Booking Experts. We chose Booking Experts because of the market knowledge they have and because they are really ahead in terms of technology. Everything revolves around automation and integrating with partners. Many people from the leisure sector work at Booking Experts, which means they know what they're talking about. Sometimes you don't know exactly what you want, or how you can achieve a certain goal, and then they can help you get on track with their expertise. That expertise ensures that you are really creating something together and that feels good. You are never alone. From the first second we had the feeling that they really understood what we are doing and where we want to go, which made the onboarding very pleasant. Especially with the distance and time difference between Bonaire and the Netherlands, it is great that both the Customer Success Team and the Booking Boosters experts are always there for you.'

'That expertise ensures that you are really creating something together and that feels good. You're never alone.'

Belnem House Bonaire is naturally located on Bonaire, but you manage it from The Hague. What challenges does that bring?

'Hybrid working is something we all do these days, of course, but it does have challenges. Especially with the time difference we have to deal with. You are not actually present on the floor, so you cannot immediately make adjustments or take action. Still, this does not bother us much; everything depends on the right people. And we have them. I have a weekly call with the operations manager, who works on location, and because I can always look at the planboard and statistics I know exactly how we are doing. This allows us to always have a substantive conversation and still make adjustments where necessary.

In my role as director, I don't use all of Booking Experts' functionality, but I do look at it daily. Especially the dashboard is fantastic, there I can see all the important information at a glance. Sometimes I get questions from owners, and it's good to be able to answer quickly and substantively. I myself am also an owner, so of course I look at it from a different perspective. What would be the bottom line for me.'

 

What, in your opinion, is the biggest plus in the collaboration with Booking Experts?

'I especially like the interaction. They give us advice that we can really take steps with, but they are also always open to our ideas that not only we, but also other users can take forward. Sometimes a request cannot be implemented, but they always listen. We work together on a continuous innovation process, truly a co-creation. We actively seek each other out and I love that.

What specifically does Booking Experts mean to you?

'That's quite a difficult question to answer. You don't really see and notice all the work it does, but it takes so many worries away from you. The processes run flawlessly and because of this you almost forget that these processes do take place and this automation saves us a lot of time. Only now that I think about it again consciously, I am reminded of how much is being taken care of in the background. Things like payments, auto-emails and channeling our offerings to key OTAs.

Together with Booking Experts and Boosters, we are a virtual team and that passion and drive to create something together is so cool. I really view the Booking Experts team as bonus colleagues. The systems are top-notch and the people around them make it complete.'

'I really view the team at Booking Experts as bonus colleagues.'