#boostly

The first place a person from a distant town will look when considering making a reservation at your hotel is your website. They can think about looking at the websites of other hotels in the neighborhoods if the website is outdated or doesn't offer them enough information. Learn more….

Direct bookings are reservations that guests confirm directly with hotels (including various property types), without using an OTA (online travel agency) or third party intermediary. They're usually made on the hotel's website, via phone/email with the sales reps, or by walk-in guests. Direct booking are great since they connect hotels directly with their guests and help save them money on issuance commissions.

As you likely know, direct bookings have become a crucial portion of any hotel’s distribution mix. By creating higher brand loyalty and providing you direct access to your guests, direct bookings can be a great way to reducing your customer acquisition costs and boosting your profitability.

Both OTA’s and Direct Bookings Yield Revenues

It is crucial to note that through whatever channel bookings are made it will be beneficial. Whenever we discuss the importance of direct bookings it seems we're trying to argue that OTA’s like, booking genius levels at Booking. comorbid, when that is far from the truth. Of course different kinds of bookings will bring you differing amounts of revenue and profit. Although, OTAs take a percentage of your nightly rate, it's still revenue you should not have gotten elsewhere.

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) Bookings And How It Benefits?

Online travel agencies (OTAs), like Expedia, Airbnb, and Booking.com, are popular among travelers all over the world. Most of OTA bookings involves a commission fee. Simply said the guests make their reservations and process their payments through the OTA website, and the OTAs keep a negotiated commission for each booking before dispersing the rest of the payment amount to hotels. Commission fees for certain channels can at times be as high as 15% per booking!

The benefits of this booking channel is easy access to travelers worldwide, including access to niche markets through region-specific OTA’s, for example, C trip, or property-specific one such as Mr and Mrs Smith for boutique hotels in UK. Notwithstanding, visibility to travelers who maybe unaware of your hotel before searching. In other words, the billboard effect, where customers go to an OTA website for research and end up booking directly.

Direct Bookings And How It Benefits?

Direct hotel booking by using Boostly direct bookings tools, enable the hotel to do direct transaction with bookers. The benefits of direct sales are multifold: the hotel does away with the need to pay commission to 3rd parties and maintains a direct relationship with the client. Nevertheless, these bookings aren't totally free. One, you should have an online booking engine on your website, to have the ability to take your own reservations and process payments, regardless of that they are commission free. Two, you will still need to invest in marketing efforts to entice travelers and stay ahead of the competition within the industry.

Some benefits of direct bookings unlike booking genius levels is, it gives you a one-on-one relationship with guests, added opportunities for upsells before arrival, and no commissions paid to OTAs or other channels; so more revenues and profits for your hotel. Besides, loyalty bookings can cut down overall costs by raising the lifetime value of every guest.

Final Word

Blogs are a fantastic marketing tool for hospitality businesses. By keeping a regular blog you can show your audience how much of an expert you are about your business and the area you operate in. It is also a great way to develop a personal bond with previous and potential guests. Unfortunately, coming up with …

Blog Ideas: 5 ways to come up with creative posts Read More »

The post Blog Ideas: 5 ways to come up with creative posts appeared first on 🚀 Boostly.

You’ve already seen ads for hotels on Google and other search engines. They look just like other search engine results: a line of text without much in the way of bells and whistles. They appear at the top of a search and are generally marked as ads. Google is about to change everything about how …

Google Hotel Ads And What It Means For The Hospitality World Read More »

The post Google Hotel Ads And What It Means For The Hospitality World appeared first on 🚀 Boostly.

You already know Bookalet from the many times that this excellent booking manager has appeared on Boostly. It’s among the most popular software of its type in the hospitality industry and I’m a proud supporter. I’m also very happy to report that I’ve had a chance to talk to Bookalet founder Ross Hugo  about his amazing …

How Bookalet Are Helping Rental Owners Boost Their Direct Bookings Read More »

The post How Bookalet Are Helping Rental Owners Boost Their Direct Bookings appeared first on 🚀 Boostly.

Direct bookings – every hospitality business wants them. Online Travel Agencies are great for picking up new customers, but they also take a cut of your rates. With pricing parity policies now in place on most of the major OTAs, it isn’t as simple as offering cheaper rates for direct bookings. You need to work …

5 Ways to Boost Direct Bookings for Small Hospitality Businesses Read More »

The post 5 Ways to Boost Direct Bookings for Small Hospitality Businesses appeared first on 🚀 Boostly.

On the 6th February 2019, hospitality owners from all over the world come together to promote why people should book directly with the property and not via a Third Part website such as the Booking Holidays, Expedia Group or Airbnb.   The day is called #Bookdirect Day.   How can you get involved? Note: Scroll …

Are you Ready For #BookDirect Day – Guest Education Day on 7th February 2019? Read More »

The post Are you Ready For #BookDirect Day – Guest Education Day on 7th February 2019? appeared first on 🚀 Boostly.