In any industry, a lack of competition can come with a decline in innovation and an increase in price, without a larger field of competitor there is nothing to incentivize OTAs to keep commission rates low or introduce new products and services to the market.

With only two major players left in the OTA space, Expedia and Priceline can make and play by their own rules. Their almost complete dominance of this space can make it extremely difficult for new players to enter the field and remain competitive.

They can’t outspend these giants for ad space, so gaining attention and acquiring customers through traditional marketing avenues can be challenging. This leaves the niche markets available, but companies like HotelsTonight and HotelsByDay are still having to compete against the billions of dollars in advertising power of Expedia and Priceline. So who can?

It’s going to take some very large players to disrupt the Duopoly that is Expedia and Priceline, and there aren’t many companies already poised to enter the field and make an impact. Amazon is currently only working with Independent Hotels in major markets like Los Angeles and New York, but once Amazon’s Travel listings mature and they add more hotels to the site, they have a tremendous advantage over the rest of the OTAs.

They will be working with millions of loyal Amazon customers within a closed system away from the advertising budgets of the traditional OTAs. Amazon is already a go-to destination for the best prices on consumer goods, and there is nothing to suggest their hotel offerings will be any different.

The best course of action for any independent hotel is to focus on local marketing and drive guests to their direct channels. Reducing the overall dependency on these OTAs is important at any commission rate. Utilize the tools that already exist, but have been forgotten.

Regardless of how a guest books their first stay, how they book their next is still up for grabs. Seize this opportunity by building stronger relationships with your guests. Ask questions during their stay and find out why they are and why they are there.

Guests celebrating an anniversary or a birthday are going to be doing the same thing next year and leaves the door open for a direct booking. Train the desk staff to take notes about the guests and ask for email addresses.

Don’t look at just the numbers from this time last year, look at the reservations too. Find out who was there and why, not just how much they spend. Use this information to develop packages and discounts tailored to specifically to your guests and their needs. This kind of information can be invaluable for the hotelier and something that the OTAs don’t have access to.

Taking the time to develop and maintain guest relationships is the best tool any hotelier has against the OTAs. If handled successfully, the commissions paid to the OTAs can be a one time customer acquisition fee and the hotel now owns the relationship and any future reservations from that guest.

It looks like we are heading into the best year we have had for a long time. All projections from the major accounting firms reflected some great information for us in the hotel business. 

Reports tell us that travelers’ demand should be up around 4 percent with an increase of room supply of something under 2 percent

Of course, we all know that we took a big hit in 2008, and never really got back to the high rate of 2007 until just this past couple of years. However, with everything looking great for this coming year, no doubt hotels, of all sizes and types, should do well.

So, what is the message? Shall we just sit back and let the business ride in for us?

What is the message for our GMs and sales departments? Increase in occupancy is good, but rate increases and revenue is even better. This year we have the best opportunity to show improved profit results from rate improvement. We just have to do better in sales to make those projections come through. Sales people need to get to work for profit improvement by putting more time into proactive sales activities. That means more time to be spent with qualified prospects. GMs may want to spend more time in seeing that sales staffers are spending more time on being productive rather than doing other things.

The group market is where sales teams need to beef up. Recent reports say that the ADR for transients is well above what it is for group ADR. While the former has been running at around 4- to 5-percent growth, group ADR is only in the area of about 1- to 2-percent growth. Therefore, rates quoted for groups need some attention, which, translated, means raise them!

Hotel sales staffs need to do more in the area of advance bookings, especially for the next one to two years. We have to pay attention to what will happen within the next couple of years with regard to competing hotels. The pipeline has been growing and investors, developers, owners and operators will, for sure, be seeking to develop new properties. This always seems to happen in our industry as soon as we have an excellent year in building occupancy and higher rates. So, we need to be on the lookout for more competition coming in within the next couple of years.

GMs should be continually talking to sales folks about getting the rate up. Rate should be king this coming year—because that is what generates profit for a property.

Source: Hotelmanagement.net

Wouldn’t it be great if your airline and hotel automatically knew you were a window-seat lover who never checks bags, prefers a firm mattress, and Earl Grey over coffee? 

According to Skift, personalization in travel is quickly becoming something customers expect, they want unique experiences tailored to their priorities and preferences and control over their itineraries.

As travelers use an ever-growing number of sites, social media, and transactional tools to research, book, and review their trips online, they’re creating tons of data. Recently, we’ve heard a lot about how technology companies are starting to use this “Big Data” to help businesses in the travel space create personalized experiences for guests.

Businesses that are able to provide more personalized experiences for guests are seeing an increase in conversion rates, revenue, and loyalty. So, let’s see what this personalization craze is all about....

Being a data detective

By tracking consumers digital data you can begin to understand their travel habits. Look for patterns: Is there a certain region of the world they seem to favor? How long do their trips typically last? How much do they spend on average per night at a hotel? What times of year do they travel? How many are they booking for? Is it a romantic getaway for two, a business trip, a solo reflective retreat or a family vacation? Do they lean towards adventure, relaxation, or extreme luxury?

Having access to this data will allow you to cater to guests’ needs like never before. GDS Amadeus and Big Data SaaS company Boxever are just two companies compiling data from every corner of the travel industry to help hospitality and travel businesses to get to know their guests more intimately. (Not like that.)

Knowing your guests’ demographics, how they came to your site, and personal preferences can also help you market to them like the individuals they are. Would you market to a Brooklyn hipster the same way you would a Sarasota snowbird?  Nope. Knowing how to alter your messages when targeting different demographics is crucial.

According to an Amadeus study, costumers don’t mind sharing some info about themselves to get more personal service—four out of 10 travelers are willing to share data in the interest of personalization. If you’re not already, try emailing your guests a follow-up survey after their stay, along with a link to your listing on TripAdvisor so they can rate and review you. Always include a picture of whomever is sending the email in the signature line.  This helps to reinforce your relationship with the guest.

Buuteeq customers have access to robust analytics in the BackOffice of our cloud-based software. Viewing guest behaviors such as which pages brought them to a hotel’s website, where they were browsing before they booked, and what devices they’re browsing on can also help hoteliers develop a deeper understanding of how your guests shopping habits and what they’re looking for in a hotel.

Get personal

Big Data not in the budget?  Try lurking in dark corners to eavesdrop on your guest’s thread-count choice. Just kidding. Unless you’re that creepy.

You can start with small touches such as knowing your guest’s preference between coffee and tea. Customized amenities are a key element to personalizing your guest’s stay.

Do you see your guests frequently reading a certain magazine, or newspaper? Take notice of  what kind of drinks they’re ordering at the bar. If Ms. Davis is often seen sipping prosecco and reading AFAR in your lounge, have those waiting in her room upon her check in.

According to a Skift news report, select hotels are making strong efforts to customize guests stays towards their preferences. The Four Seasons has their guests choose their preference between three mattresses of varying levels of firmness, then this preference is noted for their future stays.

Umm, yeah ... I would go back to a hotel if I got to choose the firmness of my mattress.

What about offering guests the ability to select the color of lighting in their room, genre of music, scent, entertainment settings, choose their towels and toiletries, and other such delights? Hotels are doing this.

If you’re a smaller property, maybe you have time to spy on what your guests are saying on TripAdvisor and social media so you can make notes for their future stays. If they write that it was a great hotel for their business trip and they will definitely be back in the future, you could offer to press their clothes when they arrive to the hotel, like the The Langham Place in New York does. These thoughtful gestures create lasting relationships. Seeing digital is inherently connected to content - creating it, making it easy to find, sharing it and making it easy to share. In my opinion, something qualifies as "digital" if it exists electronically and has its own web address. That can be pictures, papers, videos, articles, blog posts, infographics, webcasts, internet memes and so on.

And while it's a good start to pay attention to content, I think that's just the beginning. It goes beyond that because even with all the new digital ways to reach our customers, the traditional forms of marketing are still important.

I recently viewed a brief video featuring Brian Solis - the speaker, author and digital anthropologist - that has me thinking more about the idea of digital. He got me thinking that it's as if all those forms of content are really just the means to get at what we really should be focused on - people. It's the people who want to read our papers and watch our webinars that matter, and they have values, experiences and emotions that influence their state of mind when they come across our content. And Brian believes that's why we should focus on people for mapping our way to success in the digital economy.

Gaining insights into those values, experiences and emotions with marketing analytics are what enable us to know when and how to engage them, as well as what they really care about. From how I see it, that's precisely at the core of using keywords and optimizing our pages and doing other things that come with being more digital.

Source: 4hoteliers.com