With “Data Import”, the hotel imports many guests at once from an Excel file into the Guests Archive, instead of creating each one separately with “New guest”. The import recognises existing guests by their email address and completes their data, and it creates new guests. The menu item is under Guests Archive › Data Import.
Example: Import a guest list from Excel into the Guests Archive
Open the Guests Archive menu item and click “Data Import” in the “Guests Archive”. The “Data Import” page with the list of import files opens.
Click “Upload new file”, under “Import file” select the Excel file in .xlsx format and click “Upload file”.
The “Saving import file” page counts how many rows of the file have already been processed. You may leave the page; the import can be continued later from the list.
On the “Assign columns” page, select the matching target field for each column of the file, for example “Email address”, “Last name”, “First name” and “Language”. If the file has no column for the language, select a language under “Standard language”. Then click “Next”.
The “Validate” page shows only the rows with errors. Correct a faulty cell directly in the table, then click “Next”.
On the “Import” page, click “Import”.
When the import is finished, the page jumps to the “Report”. For each row it shows whether the row was imported and, if there is an error, what is wrong in which cell. The new guests are then in the guest list of the Guests Archive.
The pages in detail
Data Import
The list shows every file that has been uploaded so far, with “File name”, “Data rows”, “Uploaded”, “Uploaded by” and “Status”. The “Status” says which step the file is in, for example “Ready for import”, “Import paused” or “Imported”. A click on the entry under “File name” opens the step the file is currently in, and you can continue working there. After the import, the list shows “S” if history entries were created, and “R” if reservations were created. The original file can be downloaded again from the list.
A file can be deleted as long as it is not yet “Ready for import”.
“Upload new file” starts a new import.
Upload new file
Under “Import file”, the Excel file is selected; “Upload file” uploads it. Only the .xlsx format with at most 50,000 data rows is accepted. Other formats and password-protected files are rejected.
Saving import file
This page appears while the cells of the file are being saved, and counts the processed rows. This can take a few minutes. You may leave the page; the file is then in the list and can be continued from there.
Assign columns
Here each column of the file gets a target field in the Guests Archive. When the page opens, the import assigns the columns that do not have a target field yet by itself: by their heading and by the assignments of earlier imports. These suggestions can be changed.
The page shows when the file was “Uploaded”, how many “Data rows” it has and, under “Assigned”, how many columns already have a target field.
31 target fields are available, from “Email address”, “Last name” and “First name”, through address and phone numbers, to details of a reservation such as “Arrival date”, “Departure date” and “Reservation amount”.
Each target field may occur only once, except “Profiling label”. If a target field is selected twice, the page reports “Multiple assigned columns”.
“Email address”, “Last name” and “Language” are mandatory. Instead of a “Language” column, a “Standard language” that applies to all rows is enough. If a mandatory column is missing, the page reports “Mandatory column is missing”, and “Next” stays locked.
“Allow "only email address" contacts” allows rows without a last name.
“Next” leads to “Validate”.
Validate
Here the import checks every cell, for example for “Invalid format” of the email address, “Email domain not allowed” and “Invalid range” for date, nights, persons and amount. After that, the page shows only the rows with errors, and the “Invalid rows” figure gives their number. Their cells can be changed directly in the table.
“Replace content” opens the “Search and Replace” dialog, to correct the same error in many rows at once. “Back” leads to “Assign columns”, “Next” to “Import”.
Search and Replace
Under “Search in column”, the column is selected, under “Search for” the text, and under “Replace with” the new content. Only cells whose entire content equals the search text are matched. The dialog shows how many results there are. “Apply” replaces them, “Cancel” closes the dialog without a change.
Import
Two switches determine what the import creates in addition to the guests:
“Create history for selections” creates history entries for the rows, which selections then use. For this, the file needs the columns “Arrival date” and “Departure date” or “Nights”.
“Create reservations” creates reservations from the rows. For this, the file needs the columns “Adult count”, “Reservation amount” and the stay.
“Import” starts the import. For each row, the page shows the state, for example “Waiting for import” or “Imported”. A running import can be halted with “Pause” and then resumed with “Continue” or ended for good with “Stop”.
Report
The “Report” shows “Imported on”, “Duration” and how many “Data rows” the file had. Each row shows its state, and each cell with an error shows the reason, for example “Missing value”, “Invalid format” or “Value already exists”. A click on a row opens the guest.
Message after the import
The jump to the “Report” also happens when the import ends with an error. If the user who uploaded the file is elsewhere in Data Import, the message “Import of … is complete.” appears. “To the import report” then opens the report.
Prerequisites
‘Data Import’ does not need a licence module of its own. With Sales Campaigns, the switches “Allow "only email address" contacts” and “Create history for selections” are added. With Multi-Property, the check of the “Hotel/building” column against the hotel's buildings is added.
Access to ‘Data Import’ is enabled for specific users through their role. Roles are managed by ReGuest support.
Frequently asked questions
What happens to a guest who is already in the Guests Archive? The import recognises them by their email address. It fills “Gender”, “Date of birth”, “Academic title” and “Salutation formula” only where the field is still empty for the guest. If another value is already there, it stays, and the row becomes “Partially imported”.
Why was a row not imported? If a guest with that email address already exists, and the last name or the first name in the file differs, the import skips the row. The “Report” shows the reason for each row. In that case, write the last name and the first name in the file character for character exactly as they appear for the guest in the Guests Archive, then upload the file again under “Upload new file” and import it.
Does an import cancel an unsubscription from email marketing? No. For the “Email marketing consent” column, the import recognises words such as “yes”, “no” or “locked” in German, English and Italian. A guest on the blocklist stays there. A value for consent or refusal in the file changes only guests with no entry or with consent; an earlier unsubscription therefore remains. Every change is recorded in the marketing consent log, with the file and the user who uploaded it.
Why can “Next” not be clicked under “Assign columns”? A mandatory column is missing. The page then reports “Mandatory column is missing”. As soon as “Email address”, “Last name” and “Language” or a “Standard language” are assigned, “Next” can be clicked.
Why is the file rejected? Only an Excel file in .xlsx format without a password and with at most 50,000 data rows is accepted. In that case, save the file in .xlsx format, without a password and with at most 50,000 data rows, and upload it again under “Upload new file”.
Why is the “Data Import” button missing? It appears only if the user's role includes Data Import. Roles are managed by ReGuest support.
As of: 2026-10-24.