In the last few years, several companies around the world tried to serve travellers a satisfactory with their different business models. But among very few successful businesses, ehotel® has set a new benchmark in online hotel booking for travellers. To bring efficiency in the system of hotel booking for customer; ehotel has kept its footprints into the industry.
As a hotel booking platform, among the first to offer a comparison service for booking options, ehotel® specializes primarily in business trips. With the specially developed meta-search technology, they enable a comprehensive search of all available rooms from all leading hotel room providers, travel agencies, resellers and hotel contingents.
It is well said that Necessity is the mother of invention and thus the idea of the new concept ehotel came into existence. It is the brainchild of Fritz Zerweck. ehotel is focused on streamlining everything. With it, companies can handle all of their planning and accounting with the team: be it individual bookings or entire conferences, cost transfers or tax refunds, participant management or booking statistics. With tools like the ehotel® Rate Manager or ehotel® Analytics, they simplify the work of travel managers, buyers and accountants; ehotel also provides additional support during the pandemic by facilitating the localization of all travellers, contactless payments and simplified booking amendments.
Early Career Decisions
Fritz Zerweck said, “I made most of my career decisions based on gut instincts. Perhaps it would have been a sensible choice to take over the successful construction ancillary business of my parents, and I would have certainly made more money if I had stayed in financial management. But I have never regretted the decision of joining the ehotel® board. Here, I can combine my passion for travelling with my experience from the financial world and continuously develop new ideas as part of a committed team.”
Maintaining the Unbreakable Faith of Clients
The clientele includes from small family businesses and medium-sized enterprises as well as large DAX-listed companies to international corporations: For the brand, they are all people who go on business trips, or organize them for others. “We earn the trust of our customers through transparency and fairness, and these are certainly also the main factors that help us retain our customers. Furthermore, customer service – around the clock and in every form – is the centrepiece of our business model”, shared Fritz Zerweck.
Corporate Ethos for the Employees
The employees of ehotel as a team, work together to ensure that the ehotel® service is exactly what customers want it to be. There is no “But we have always done it that way” or “Cobbler, stick to your trade”: Everyone can develop ideas, and anything is possible. Top executives lay the ground for creative exchange. No one needs to be afraid of suggesting something “wrong” – as soon as an idea is put forward, they think it through together. And if the entire team is satisfied, customers will be too.
Major Hiccups on the Way
There was no major challenge; the ehotel team grew slowly and steadily. They wanted to implement their idea of an independent online portal that makes it easier for business travellers to find cheap hotel rooms, and simplifies the associated booking procedures, as best they could.
They managed to do that and from there, success gradually came on its own. It was never about making quick money, but always about improving our service. Even the pandemic cannot stop them – they are reacting creatively to the new conditions in order to protect and support our customers. This way, ehotel® continues to evolve despite challenges.
Suggestion for Companies to Create a More Balanced Industry
If everyone looks out only for themselves that is not in everyone’s best interest: Companies should consider the bigger picture and not just focus on their own success.
Rather than loud advertising and competitive pricing, quality and fairness are the more important values, which will hopefully outlast the scramble for market leadership.
Daily Routine & Hobbies
Showering, reading the newspaper in the morning and coffee are integral parts of Fritz’s everyday life. Unfortunately, he has only a little time for hobbies, but he does enjoy spending the summer holidays by the sea, and in winter he likes to be in the mountains.
Favourite Book
Fritz said, “There is no such thing as ‘the favourite book’, there is a time for everything. At the moment I am reading Barack Obama’s “A Promised Land” and I find it very gripping. What impresses and therefore inspires me is how he deals with his own decisions and actions. He does not heroize himself as others like to do in their memoirs – on the contrary: He regards himself critically. That shows greatness. And Obama still manages, long after his presidency, to give hope for a better future, not only in the USA. His slogan “yes, we can”. continues to inspire, and motivates me too to not give up, even when I am facing major obstacles.
Road Ahead
Most of all, like almost everyone in the world, I look forward to normalcy returning with the vaccine. Professionally, that would also mean that we as a hotel booking platform can focus on travel again. The industry has suffered a lot, and even though ehotel® has fortunately only suffered minor losses from the pandemic, now is not the time to be celebrating successes. We continue to work consistently on improving and closing the last breaks in our travel booking system in order to offer companies a complete digital cycle.
Awards and Milestones
ehotel® has already received numerous awards for its modern technology and excellent customer service from many independent institutions, newspapers and magazines including FOCUS, Die Welt, WirtschaftsWoche, the German Association for Consumer Studies (DtGV), Stiftung Warentest, and The CEO Views. All these awards and recognitions are an incentive for the team to continue setting high goals and to account for societal changes in our all-round service.
A Piece of Advice
The most important source of inspiration is daily life, so it is important to always stay down to earth, and not assume that you alone have all the answers. I also enjoy reading biographies: when they are as well written as Barack Obama’s, they can also be sources of inspiration, and act as textbooks from real life.