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HeBS digital Blog Archive for the ‘Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)’ Category The OTA Billboard Effect or the Lazy Man’s Approach to Hotel DistributionMonday, August 1st, 2011 The following article is Max Starkov’s latest contribution to the “Successful eMarketing” blog on HOTELS magazine’s website The existence of the so-called billboard effect is not a new marketing phenomenon. It has existed long before the online channel became a reality. As confirmed by many studies, any marketing exposure by a hotel produces a billboard effect:  when you launch a banner advertising campaign; when you purchase a full-page ad in the New York Times travel section; when you launch a paid search campaign on Google, etc. The OTA Billboard Effect Lately Expedia reps have been aggressively using a new Cornell Hospitality Report, namely “Search, OTAs and Online Booking: An Expanded Analysis of the Billboard Effect” to convince hoteliers that they should use Expedia in order to generate more bookings from the hotel’s own website due to the so-called “Billboard Effect.” The Cornell Report, based on data from Expedia and InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) from 2008-2010, is a continuation of a previous report on the subject, heavily supported by Expedia. The report’s analysis determined that when an IHG property was listed on the first results page of Expedia, this created an increase of between 7.5% and 14.1% in bookings for the same property on IHG’s own brand website. In other words, this is a confirmation for Expedia’s billboard effect, which hoteliers should take into consideration when griping against the 25% plus merchant OTA commission. When these “billboard effect bookings” are taken into consideration, Expedia’s commission “would effectively be reduced to single digits,” states the Cornell Report. Hoteliers, rejoice! We have found the perfect recipe for success: we do nothing as far as marketing the property website is concerned. Instead, we plaster Expedia with our sales promotions and wait for the travel consumers to come to our own website and book. As discussed, the billboard effect is not strictly an OTA territory. In my view, the Cornell Hospitality Report is a one-sided research project, very proactively supported by Expedia, similar to the first report on the billboard effect published in 2009. Cornell, the finest hospitality institution in the U.S., should know better than to come up with this half-baked “scientific” research, which does not account for the complexities of hotel distribution as well as the “digital information cloud” we all live in and the resulting marketing and distribution channel convergence which directly affects the purchasing habits of today’s hyper-interactive travel consumers. This report makes conclusions that do not take into account, among many other things, the following: Complex Travel Planning Patterns in Hospitality Many surveys show that people are shopping around on a number of hotel and travel websites before narrowing down their search. Typically in hospitality, these sites include a hotel search on a search engine e.g. Google (65% market share), an OTA website, TripAdvisor, the hotel’s own website, etc. Therefore jumping from an OTA website to a hotel branded website and vice versa is at least partially due to particular travel research patterns unique to the users and not due to the so-called billboard effect: Step 1: “I always search on Google first where I identify a property I like” Step 2: “I go to Expedia and see what the rate for this property is” Step 3: “I visit TripAdvisor to read my peer reviews for this hotel” Step 4: “I visit the hotel website and book if I like the location, rate and what I have read and seen about this hotel”

In order to meet State regulations, a software product such as MJ Freeway’s GramTracker™ and GrowTracker™ is necessary to accurately track marijuana from seed to sale.

Patent-pending GrowTracker™ provides growers the ability to track every plant, nutrient, watt, drop and yield. GramTracker™’s patented inventory management tools track shake, spillage, evaporation, edibles and any theft.

The product specific point of sale (POS) system securely tracks all patients, patient status and transactions.

Designed to boost direct bookings and reach hotel guests across all marketing channels—web, mobile, and social — WIHPConnect, the most complete software as a service marketing platform for hoteliers, launched today in private beta.

Beta testers get early access to the most advanced features of the software at no cost, which empowers them to make the most of their marketing campaigns right in time for the Fall tourist rush for special seasonal events

A cloud-based solution, WIHPConnect is the most advanced digital marketing software on the market, offering hoteliers significant competitive advantages over existing resources.

  Many systems appear similar, but after comparing their functionality, features and prices, it becomes clear that some systems are a better match than others. 

Expectations for a new hotel PMS can originate from a list of Pros & Cons that outline the features and functions that are a “must have” or “not necessary” for a new system. 

Must have Easy to understand and navigate Easy to train non-tech savvy team members Web/cloud-based system Integrated functions that “talk” to each other Reporting features 24/7 Technical support

Leading the way to more efficient paperless businesses are technologies like cloud accounting software, digital payments processors, web-based payroll solutions and accounts payable/receivable software

digital payments processors like Square, Stripe and Braintree in recent years have been a godsend for businesses

making it faster and easier for them to accept money from customers in exchange for goods and services

Collaborative integration of finance and employee scheduling withcloud-based POS software brings the best- in-service to independentretailers and restaurants

Lightspeed

Planday

Maestro’s sales and catering development roadmap outlines a suite of new functionality that takes group sales and event management to the next level.

Maestro’s sales and catering module

We worked with our users to add enhanced functionality to support more complex sales and catering operations. We strengthened our system with the newest mobile and cloud-based technology, e-Signature capture, room diagramming, online group member management, event amenity requirements, [customer-relationship management] capabilities and more.

“Specials and Discounts” cannot be the only reason you send an email to your hotel database.

It’s not practical or advisable to send out emails from your own server.

Instead, go with tools that let you send emails the right way, give you excellent analytics, and help you grow your list effectively.

The platform features voice-enabled control with devices like Amazon's Alexa that allow guests to change the room temperature, turn lights on/off and easily change the channel on the television.

Guests may use voice-enabled controls to make dinner reservations or find out what nearby events are taking place over the weekend.

Personalizing the guest experience is critical to earning guest loyalty.

The use of property management systems within the hotel industry has grown significantly over the past decade, especially since cloud technology became mainstream. There are a number of key benefits to using a PMS, including the ability to easily manage your calendar, resulting in fewer double bookings or costly errors.

When deciding on a budget, those in the hospitality industry need to consider the licensing costs associated with the property management system, but also the costs associated with setting up the system, and those associated with training staff members. After the budget has been established, stick to it.

While those in hospitality want direct bookings, customers will tend to book based on price and ease of use. For this reason, when assessing the different PMS options on offer, it is imperative that you opt for one that includes its own web booking engine and that the booking engine itself is both reliable and user-friendly.

HR systems are available in the cloud and can be accessed securely by employees via the internet

many companies still manage their workforce with a haphazard system of spreadsheets, documents and post-it notes

many companies still manage their workforce with a haphazard system of spreadsheets, documents and post-it notes

Medallia is the customer experience management company. Founded in 2001, the company is trusted by the world's leading brands including Best Western, Four Seasons, Gold's Gym, Sephora, Sony, and Verizon to improve customer experiences. Medallia provides a cloud-based software platform, which captures feedback across Web, social, mobile, and contact center channels, analyzes it in real-time, and enables companies to take action to drive customer delight