👉 The brain that controls your hotel’s reservations and distribution.
📘 What is a CRS?
A CRS (Central Reservation System) is a centralised platform that manages a hotel’s room availability, rates and reservations across all distribution channels.
It acts as the control centre connecting:
- Direct booking engine
- OTAs
- GDS
- Call centre
- Corporate booking tools
The CRS ensures that inventory and pricing remain synchronised everywhere.
📊 CRS “Formula” (Operational Logic)
Not a financial formula, but its operational structure can be summarised as:
CRS = Centralised inventory + Rate management + Channel connectivity
Performance is often measured through:
- Conversion rate
- Direct booking share
- Booking pace
- Revenue per channel
✅ Why is a CRS important?
- Centralises and synchronises availability across all channels.
- Reduces risk of uncontrolled overbooking.
- Improves operational efficiency.
- Enables better control of distribution strategy.
- Supports revenue optimisation decisions.
💡 Practical example of CRS
A guest books through the hotel website.
The CRS automatically updates room availability across OTAs and the GDS in real time, preventing double-selling.
🔄 Disambiguation of CRS
- CRS vs PMS:
The PMS manages internal hotel operations (check-in, billing, housekeeping).
The CRS manages reservations and distribution. - CRS vs Channel Manager:
The Channel Manager distributes rates and availability to external platforms.
The CRS centralises reservations and inventory control. - CRS vs Booking Engine:
The Booking Engine is the interface guests use to book.
The CRS processes and manages the reservation behind the scenes.
In summary: CRS = the central control hub of your hotel’s reservations and distribution ecosystem.
