As hoteliers navigate the different distribution channels available to them, their goal is to guide guests to the one that costs their companies the least.
During the “Distribution: A hotelier’s guide to channel surfing” session at last month’s Hotel Data Conference, panelists explained their approaches to managing and lowering the cost of customer acquisition.
Leticia Proctor, SVP of sales, revenue management and digital strategies at PM Hotel Group, said her company is working toward understanding booking windows better.
Often, pricing in a segment is the result of an assumption that did not materialize, so hotels are forced to dump inventory to an online travel agency, which increases the cost of guest acquisition, she said.
By understanding the booking window better, companies can avoid false positives and shift their business to lower-cost channels, Proctor said.
“You have to have a longer forward-facing lens for the booking window,” she said.
Before that first room is sold, it’s necessary to lay the base business, Proctor said. Hoteliers living only in the 30- to 45-day window will be forced into the higher-cost channels.
Nooshi Akhavan, director of revenue performance and distribution at Coast Hotels, said her company began an education program with all of its ambassadors so everyone would know the cost of a room request and the channel it comes in through. Employees know the cost of brand.com, the call center, its OTA partners, wholesalers and GDS, she said. Coast Hotels has large urban hotels as well as smaller properties in urban locations.
“Educating everyone across the brand was one of the big things we did,” she said. “Once the light bulbs went on, I think that’s when the pressure came on to successfully change some things.”
Getting everyone on the team to understand the cost of customer acquisition, even for walk-in guests, has been eye-opening, she said.
Loyalty and direct booking
Coast Hotels also has changed its focus from direct-booking promotions to its loyalty program, which has resulted in significant growth over the last 18 months, Akhavan said.
