Valamar elevates the guest experience in tourism with the support of BE-terna and PHOBS

Valamar is a leading company in the tourism sector that operates hotels and camping resorts along the Adriatic coast in Croatia, as well as hotels in Obertauern, Austria. Valamar's core values include hospitality, attention to detail, care for employees, responsibility towards destinations, and creating value for investors. Through sustainable development and socially responsible investments in employees, products, destinations, and the local community, Valamar continuously generates long-term value while also investing in advanced technologies that optimize business processes and elevate service standards.

A partnership built on innovation

Valamar and BE-terna began their long-term partnership in 2018 when Valamar recognized the need to migrate its existing Microsoft Dynamics CRM solution to the cloud, thereby starting its digital transformation. Valamar chose to embark on this digitalization journey with BE-terna due to BE-terna's expertise in the hospitality industry and its strong presence in the Adriatic region.

Guests at the heart of operations

Valamar's mission is to create exceptional holidays for its guests and become the leading tourism company in the Adriatic and the Alps. To provide guests with an outstanding holiday experience, in addition to its exceptional staff of whom Valamar is proud, it is essential to understand the desires and interests of its guests. One way Valamar achieves this is through the implementation of BE-terna Hospitality CRM, a business solution designed for the hospitality industry. The system centralizes all essential guest information, integrating it with other marketing tools.

The BE-terna Hospitality CRM solution is built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 technology and fully customized to meet Valamar's needs. Everything that previously slowed down operations has been improved with the new solution. Specific customizations ensure the system can handle large volumes of data and calculations efficiently, while the entire loyalty program is seamlessly integrated.

With a growing number of guests recognizing Valamar’s quality, the company saw the need to optimize and redesign its loyalty program. Working with BE-terna, Valamar upgraded its loyalty program management system, choosing Microsoft Orleans technology to stay ahead of industry trends.

Advanced business analytics for greater impact

During the later phases of the project, Valamar decided to introduce a data analytics (BI) solution into its operations. By using the data analytics solution, Valamar’s analyses have become significantly simpler and faster, while also making it possible to conduct more complex studies. These include analyses of returning guests, insights into how guests gradually choose other Valamar accommodations over time, examinations of guest behavior within specific properties, and similar detailed evaluations. All of these analyses assist Valamar in its daily marketing and sales activities.

With the increasing number of guests over time, the need arose to revise the existing system responsible for grouping duplicate guest data. In this situation, Valamar once again entrusted BE-terna, allowing its Data Science & AI team to develop a solution that would automatically and promptly resolve these duplicates. This ensured a clean, real-time database, which is used for all subsequent analyses and marketing campaigns.

Significant growth in direct bookings and reduction of OTA commission costs

Digital channels and Valamar’s contact center account for the majority of accommodation bookings. For this reason, the company invests significant resources in the development and maintenance of its website, digital marketing, sales, and contact center. In addition to improving services and guest communication, it is essential for Valamar to have a reservation system that keeps up with the company's growing demands. For this reason, Valamar decided a few years ago to implement the PHOBS solution, a well-recognized system in the hospitality industry.

Achieving continuous business excellence through strong partnerships

A key advantage of the PHOBS solution is its adaptability to Valamar's specific business needs. One such customization, which integrates PHOBS with Valamar's CRM system, has enabled the implementation of a comprehensive loyalty program. This program is managed within the Hospitality CRM solution and is seamlessly connected to the accommodation reservation systems (e.g., the website and call center) in real time.

Investments in digital channels and the growth of the direct booking channel have resulted in over 90% of individual direct reservations via the website coming from loyalty program members. This high percentage of direct bookings compared to OTA reservations represents a significant shift in Valamar’s business strategy, reducing reliance on intermediaries while optimizing business processes and costs.

The introduction of these changes, along with the use of the right tools for managing reservations, has led to a successful collaboration between Valamar, BE-terna, and PHOBS. Their joint efforts enable Valamar to continue achieving its goals in the direct

“In terms of user support and interface, we are truly satisfied with our partners BE-terna and PHOBS. It’s excellent that both partners maintain open communication with us, continuously discussing future developments and our requirements. We are particularly pleased when we receive concrete responses to our requests, rather than having to wait, as was the case in the past with other partners, for our requests to be included in the partner’s general roadmap—often resulting in them never being implemented at all.”

Barbara Marinčić Hek, Head of the CRM Department, and Franko Radoš, Head of IT and E-Business Department, Valamar

Looking ahead, Valamar, BE-terna, and PHOBS will continue their collaboration, exploring new opportunities to further enhance business processes. Together, they are committed to developing innovative solutions that drive excellence and sustainability in the tourism industry.