As the days are slowly getting colder, you can start feeling a magical chill in the air: The holiday season is coming! While your potential guests start wrapping gifts and decorating their trees, it is time to infuse your hotel’s website with the festive spirit. Beyond the gifts, Christmas is also an opportunity to get creative on your direct channel and increase conversions.
NB: This is an article from The Hotels Network, one of our Expert Partners
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Check out these seven innovative ways to make your website a seasonal delight for visitors. Incorporating festive touches will not only capture the attention of your audience but also create a sense of excitement and anticipation. Are you ready to give those direct bookings a boost for the Christmas season?
1. It’s never too early to start
Give your website a head start in catching the attention of visitors! As the holiday season is a period that most people are looking forward to as soon as those first cold days arrive, launching your campaign in advance is a good way to take advantage of every direct booking opportunity. Displaying your offers ahead of time generates a sense of excitement around your property that can last all the way through Christmas Day and into the New Year.
The sooner those perks are available, the greater the chance to reach a broader audience! The Hotel Paris Bastille nailed it by displaying a Christmas countdown, complete with a complimentary breakfast offer, months in advance.
Hotel Paris Bastille’s Christmas layer
2. Build your holiday offers … with an advent calendar twist!
An effective and creative way to engage visitors is to design an advent calendar campaign. Not only is this format eye-catching, but it also drives higher conversions on your website.
Guoman Hotel created a Christmas competition with an advent calendar structure, offering a different direct booking perk every day. By displaying a countdown clock as a Layer, the London-based property encourages its visitors to take part before the end of the day, ultimately incentivizing them to continue to engage with its direct channel.
Guoman Hotel’s advent calendar
3. Team up with charities
Get your property into the spirit of giving! Christmas is a time when people are particularly sensitive to good causes, so make sure you align with your website visitors’ mindset. Amerikalinjen Hotel did just that by collecting Christmas gifts for children in need. The hotel created the Lonely Christmas Tree initiative in partnership with The Salvation Army.
This project is not only a good way to give back during this special season, but also creates more engagement from potential guests, builds a sense of community, and enhances the property’s brand image.
Amerikalinjen’s Lonely Christmas Tree initiative
4. Elevate your direct bookings with a Christmas Eve dinner bonus
Be it tourists who are planning to spend Christmas Eve abroad or locals planning a staycation, they are likely going to search for a venue to spend that special evening.
