Hotel Distribution
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How do you deal with third-party rates on OTAs?
Most OTAs do not want to give anyone else a pricing advantage. According to their data, it is the most important decision factor. They will pull rates from third parties to make the smallest of margins because accepting one more booking has practically zero additional cost. The hotels can either face them head-on or choose to ignore them. The tactics listed below are ordered from most effective to least effective. Completely discontinue the issuance of wholesale contracts. Only sell dynamic rates, whether through OTA or bed banks. Limit allotments to wholesale partners, including bed banks, to reduce the proportion. Fight with OTAs to cut off third-party inventory. Restriction on wholesale…
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Five times, promotions on OTAs are working against your property
Most hotels feel like they have to offer deals on OTAs. It is critical to be strategic with these. The promotions are bad for your hotel when No incremental revenue - your overall revenue from that OTA remains flat Revenue disappears when promotion is turned off - you gain no additional momentum. Guests are more difficult to convert to direct channel - you are attracting die-hard OTA customers. Better ROI elsewhere - additional promotion distribution costs are higher than with other OTAs or direct channels. Forgot a long-term promotion - forgotten promotions (on extranets) are often the cause of rate parity problems. I've always said that pricing is more important…
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What do the best E-Commerce/Distribution Managers have in common?
Over the last 15 years, I've had the pleasure of interviewing, training, and mentoring dozens of E-Commerce/Distribution Managers. The best of the best all had these qualities in common.✅ They understand their annual targets and keep track of them by breaking them down into quarterly, monthly, weekly, and daily objectives. ✅ They raise issues such as pricing, conversion rates, parity, price difference with wholesale, and segment shift during revenue and other meetings. ✅ Based on performance data, they constantly tweak their packages, offers, add-ons, and upsell items. ✅ They keep in touch with the market managers of OTAs, but they also know what they can't do.✅ They understand how algorithms affect page views,…
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The ten things I will never understand about hotel budget practices
Being in the digital transformation business, having an outsider perspective on the hospitality industry I serve has always helped me. That's why I don't understand the following.🤔 Regardless of the opportunities or pitfalls in the coming year, the previous year remains a benchmark.🤔 After the initial submission, owners or corporate/regional offices always want more revenue.🤔 GMs are aware of this and will submit a version with a buffer built in for the next submission.🤔 Dumping everything in the retail segment or high and peak season when there is pressure to achieve more.🤔 OTA commission costs can go over budget, but digital marketing costs cannot.🤔 Even though it can save on…
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How does Hick’s Law apply to hotel distribution and marketing?
Hick's Law is a simple idea that says that the more choices you present your users with, the longer it will take them to reach a decision. Although I have always struggled with it, I have never stopped advocating for simplicity and fewer options when presenting options for our hotel guests to book. You can also interpret the time scale differently. The longer it takes for your website, booking engine, or app to load, the lower their conversion rates. One more way for hoteliers to look at this law is in the context of wait times in front offices, restaurants, and for guest service requests, as well as the number…
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Ten things their digital marketing team/agency wishes hotels knew
My team was in charge of digital marketing for more than 50 properties. The budget we used was in the seven figures (USD) per year. The ROI and CPA requirements were stringent. The team frequently lamented that a distribution, E-commerce, revenue manager, or general manager did not understand what it took to run a successful digital marketing campaign.It was incredible to see so many ideas, tactics, and team members come together beautifully in a perfectly choreographed delivery of amazing numbers like 20 in ROI and under 2% in CPA when it worked. When that happens, the properties know how to handle it properly.Preparation period/ optimization timeWhen it comes to guest…
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Hotels—what is your online identity?
The question of online identity sounds simple. Most hotels would put their hand up and respond by saying it is their hotel/brand website, of course. Is the answer more complex than that?Your identity Is it your website?Is it your property listing on OTAs?Is it your FB profile?Is it your IG profile?Is it your Twitter profile?Is it your TikTok profile?Is it your Youtube channel?Is it your app?Is it your (Google/Apple/Bing) Maps listing?Is it your Line app profile?Is it your WeChat profile?Is it your advertising and paid marketing?It could be one of these or all of them. However, just as your personal identity differs from that of your parents, spouse, siblings, friends, acquaintances, and…
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The Great Talent Crunch in Hospitality-Commercial Edition
Several hotel general managers have approached me for assistance with recruitment. In order of the number of requests, here are the positions they seem to be having trouble with:Revenue ManagersDistribution/ E-Commerce ManagersSocial Media ManagersMarketing ManagersCommunication and PRDigital Marketing ManagersThere are challenges elsewhere, but because I specialize in the commercial arena, the requests I get are in this area.Hiring anyone to fill vacant positions has been a challenge, let alone talent. If what is happening in the US and Europe is any guide, the talent crunch is not going to ease for a while, even in Asia. Here are some thoughts on what hotels can do to tackle the issue and still…
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Incorporating a New Process, System, or Tech in Hospitality
I have observed hospitality to be a very process-driven industry. For most serious hotels, SOPs on everything are sacred. If you are an outsider, it may be a little hard to appreciate the complexity. There are so many moving parts: systems, people, vendors, contractors, etc. If you have any experience running a household, just multiply it by the number of rooms a hotel has to get a feel for it. Processes have served the industry well in standardizing the quality of product and service offerings. However, when you are in the business of digitisation like me, you come in to disrupt. Introducing a new system or process is always hard.…
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Is the direct booking strategy still worth pursuing?
"Hey, business is slowly but steadily returning," a general manager said. “I don't see why I should have to invest in advertising up front. It may end up costing me more than I pay the agents."This is a common refrain, and I appreciate it. Direct is difficult for many independent hotels and small groups. If you don't know what you're doing, you could end up spending far more than it would cost to distribute through third parties.There are several reasons why hotels ignore the direct channel.CostsTalentKeeping up with the ever-changing trendsOTA dominationNo understanding of distribution costsLack of analysis and data practicesPast practices: ‘It has always been this way.’InertiaThere could be…
