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There are obvious benefits of Online Travel Agents (OTA) to help your fill your hotel rooms, but they also charge a pretty penny (up to 25% commission) to do that for you.
Hotels can make more direct revenue by persuading visitors to book directly through your own website, but many hotels, both branded & independent could never compete with the insane budgets that the large OTA’s such as Booking.com, Expedia.com or Hotwire.com have for distribution & marketing.
An article from Webrezpro.com gives hotels some great tips on how to increase direct booking while still making the most of OTA’s. Due to rate parity, hotels can’t undercut your OTA’s on rates, but they can offer prospective guests add-ons and packages to help drive direct bookings!
HOW TO INCREASE YOUR DIRECT BOOKINGS
Offer Free Upgrades & Add-ons
Value-added Packages
Discounts for Limited Audiences
Recruit direct bookers are check-in
Appealing Website & Easy Online Bookings
WHY OTA ARE IMPORTANT
Increased Exposure
Last-minute sales
The “Billboard Effect”
A study by Google shows that 52% of travelers visit your hotel’s website after seeing you on an OTA.
HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR OTA LISTING
Amazing Photography
Full, detailed descriptions and amenity list
Competitive Rates
Building a relationship with you OTA Account Manager
Understand/Manage your OTA budget properly
Read the full article here.
Photo Credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/zachd1_618/
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