In the hospitality world, where competition is fierce and the consumer is king, offering attractive direct booking benefits is not just a complementary strategy—it’s a potential game-changer.
NB: This is an article from Daniel Diosi & Partners
This becomes even more evident in the landscape where online travel agencies (OTAs) enforce rate parity policies and undercut hotel prices membership rates, and sell wholesaler inventory. Directly competing on price becomes a tall order, which often hotels and resorts find challenging to win.
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So, finding an alternative way to draw direct bookings becomes essential, especially for high-end hotels and luxury resorts.
For these premium establishments, it’s not just the room rates that influence guests’ booking preferences. Most high-end travelers seek the best value for money rather than securing the cheapest deal. They are keen on experiencing the luxury, the exclusivity, and the unique services that make their stay memorable. This is where a fine selection of direct booking benefits can boost direct conversions.
GuestRadar conducted a comprehensive market survey in June 2023 to discern the best incentives for hotel direct booking. The research is based on over 1,600 responses from recent 5-star travelers in the US, UK, Germany, and France, delivering practical insights to hoteliers seeking to optimize their direct booking strategies.
The Research Data in a Nutshell
The survey indicates that resort credits, which guests can use for spa treatments, dining, transport, and other amenities, are the top-ranking benefit when paired with a spa treatment discount, tallying 8.42% of responses.
But it is upgrading to a higher room category that consistently emerges as a favorite across numerous combinations. It is a feature in combination with airport pick-up/drop-off and late check-out (8.08% of responses), as well as with airport pick-up/drop-off and discounts at hotel restaurants and bars (7.74% of total responses).
The lure of an upgraded room even carries significant weight independently, accounting for 6.57% of responses, thus underscoring its standalone appeal.
These results offer several takeaways that hoteliers can use to strengthen their direct booking appeal:
1. Emphasize Tangible Benefits
The allure of tangible, high-value benefits such as resort credits or room upgrades is evident. Additionally, discounts on property amenities like spa treatments and dining are also attractive to guests.
2. Capitalize on the Luxury Appeal
The prospect of enjoying a superior room is enticing for guests. By offering room upgrades as a direct booking perk, hoteliers can tap into guests’ aspirations for a luxurious experience.
3. Focus on Convenience
The appeal of seamless, hassle-free experiences cannot be underestimated. Incorporating services like airport pick-up/drop-off or priority check-in into your direct booking benefits can significantly enhance the perceived value.
4. Encourage Longer Stays
The offer of early check-in and late check-out are enticing benefits that can prompt guests to extend their stays, thereby increasing their overall spending.
The Benefits of Direct Bookings
In an industry increasingly dominated by travel agents and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), both demanding substantial commissions, the value of prioritizing direct bookings becomes more pronounced.
Offering exciting direct booking benefits does more than drive direct reservations; it also elevates the guest experience, which, in turn, fosters enhanced guest loyalty and paves the way for increased revenues.
In conclusion, understanding your guests’ preferences and adjusting your direct booking benefits can deliver marked improvements in your website conversion rate, leading to a surge in revenue and profit.
Find the Direct Booking Benefits That Work Best For Your Hotel
Don’t just copy what’s in the report. For the best results, every hotel has to find the direct booking benefits that work best for them. Better said, what works best for guests.
Travelers from different countries, cultural backgrounds, travel purposes, and other characteristics will appreciate direct booking benefits that are relevant to them.
In case your resort attracts honeymooners, then executive lounge access won’t be a winning direct booking benefit. Or else, if your guests are mostly business and corporate people, then a bonus couple massage or romantic dinner will not get them to book direct. To work out and test the best benefits, you need to think out of the box. For example, if flights to a key country leave late evening, offering late check-out for those guests will be a valuable direct booking benefit.
Putting some thought into this goes a long way. Another great method to identify relevant direct booking benefits is to ask your guests. There is no problem in having short conversations with guests, and asking them what they would appreciate most as a direct booking benefit.
Regularly reviewing and updating these benefits based on changing guest preferences can help maintain their effectiveness.
The above-linked research underlines the necessity of a data-driven marketing approach. Using market research tools like GuestRadar can help to find effective strategies and offer a competitive advantage in the saturated hospitality landscape.
However, leveraging these data-driven insights requires a thorough understanding of your guests’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, which market research can provide.
Conclusion
Implementing relevant and valuable direct booking benefits will immediately boost direct bookings and website conversion rates. It is a critical revenue strategy for hoteliers, especially in an era where third-party booking agents are taking a significant cut of revenues. It’s clear that guests value direct booking benefits and are likely to be swayed by attractive perks such as room upgrades, resort credits, priority check-ins, and whatever makes their stay at your hotel better.
Hoteliers can no longer afford to overlook the appeal of these benefits to guests. As this market research conducted by GuestRadar suggests, developing a data-driven direct booking strategy is not just advantageous—it’s essential for remaining competitive.
