[Case Study] How luxury accommodation management company, Mediterranean Hospitality, boosted guest payment confidence, conversion with Flywire

Rooted in Italian generosity and conviviality, Mediterranean Hospitality Management & Consulting manages an exclusive portfolio of high-end resorts along Calabria’s exquisite la Costa degli Dei, that deliver exclusive accommodation, dining and spa experiences: Villa Paola, Baia del Sole and Capovaticano. 

The team at Mediterranean Hospitality implemented Flywire to allow guests to pay securely online using the payment method and currency of their choice, including support for American Express, and automate reconciliation and agent commission payment processes. This improved conversion, gave the accounting team more control, access and visibility to data, and boosted revenue. And guests don’t hesitate over bookings because they have high confidence in payment security, according to Danilo Scordia, Booking Revenue Analyst at Mediterranean Hospitality.

"Flywire has simplified and accelerated our booking process. We can now instantly track both card and bank transfer payments. Plus, their Outgoing Payments solution has greatly improved our internal efficiency for commission payments. We can monitor both money coming in and going out all in one place, without having to consult another office."

Challenge: Payment optionality, ensuring payment peace of mind for guests 

Even though Mediterranean Hospitality were using a well-known European payment gateway, their payment process had several friction points which introduced risk and delayed booking confirmation, ultimately impacting the guest experience. 

That gateway could not accept all types of payment methods online, including American Express (AMEX) and wire transfers. It made the workflow inefficient and time-consuming, requiring phone calls and manual data entry. Booking confirmation could only be issued after the accounting team had identified and manually reconciled the payment. For bank transfers, this was especially tough if the guest forgot to include their booking reference (or it was incorrect), or if Mediterranean Hospitality received a short payment because of currency conversion or unexpected fees. 

It also forced the reservations team to rely entirely on the accounting department for updates and answers to guest’s payment questions and chargeback disputes. 

The company relies on relationships with travel agents, and payments had to be calculated manually, requiring approval from three different departments before being paid. 

Guests now have:

• Effortless, secure online checkout: When completing a booking online via the hotel’s website, guests are now immediately redirected to Flywire upon checkout. Here they can pay, securely, in 140+ currencies, using their preferred method—including American Express—and receive automatic payment confirmation. 
• Simplified, de-risked wire transfers: Using Flywire’s Payment Request solution Mediterranean Hospitality has simplified their event booking process, and reduced fees on international bank transfers. Instead of sharing bank details by email, the reservations team simply sends a secure payment request link to Flywire’s payment platform so guests can arrange the transfer. No sensitive information is exchanged, funds are still disbursed to the company bank account, and they receive updates at every stage of the transfer process. 
• Complete transparency, with automated payment status updates and confirmation: Guests receive automated status updates for their payment, as well as booking confirmation once payment is guaranteed. This has reduced in-bound payment-related enquiries significantly. 

At the same time, Mediterranean Hospitality has:

• Eliminated short payments and simplified reconciliation for speedier confirmation: All currency conversion and transaction fees are calculated by Flywire, and are automatically included in the final sum guests pay, therefore eliminating short payments. Booking references are also automatically attached to payments. Overall, identifying and reconciling payments is quicker and easier.
• Increased transparency, improved customer service: While inbound payment enquiries are now rare, the reservations team can resolve any enquiries they do receive quickly and independently thanks to Flywire’s intuitive dashboard, which provides real-time visibility into payment information (i.e. status, amount owed etc).
• Flexibility in payment methods and types: Using individual and editable payment request links for deposits and balance payments, Mediterranean Hospitality can now offer guests the option of paying in installments. Furthermore, tokenisation allows the reservations team to streamline repeat transactions by securely collecting and storing guest card details for future charges, such as additional costs incurred during a stay.
• Centralized and improved dispute management: Mediterranean Hospitality benefits from Flywire’s proactive monitoring and support to defend chargeback claims, and can now respond to chargeback claims quickly, therefore increasing the chances of success.
• Streamlined the agent commissions payment process: Commission payments are now processed securely and transparently with minimal manual intervention thanks to local payment processing and automation of sharing payment details through Flywire. Real-time payment data is communicated to both Mediterranean Hospitality and agents to better track payment status and easily align trips to commissions.