The webinar discussed how hotels can increase direct bookings by learning from the strategies used by online travel agencies (OTAs). It emphasized the importance of optimizing the hotel website for usability, social proof from reviews and awards, and a fast checkout process. A case study of the Stratosphere Hotel showed how redesigning its website to focus on these areas led to a 24% increase in revenue and 20% more direct bookings within four months. The webinar also proposed an automated best rate guarantee to simplify rate matching for hotels and customers.

1. Tap OTA secrets to increase
direct bookings
Webinar
5 November 2015

2. Your hosts
Kevin May
Senior Editor & Moderator
Tnooz
Gene Quinn
CEO & Producer
Tnooz

3. Your presenters
Gautam Lulla
President
Travel Tripper
Scott Yankton
Strategic Consultant

4. Poll no. 1
Where are you located?

5. Poll no. 2
Which industry segment do you represent?

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®
+
WEBINAR:
Tap OTA secrets to
increase direct bookings
November 5, 2015

7. Poll no. 3
For hoteliers, what percentage of bookings
come through your direct channel?

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Don’t put all your eggs in
one basket
Sound revenue strategy is all about balance
between distribution channels
OTAs play an important role in getting
business, but hotels are becoming
increasingly over-reliant on them
The lesson: strengthen your direct channel

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The art of conversion
One of the biggest reasons behind OTA success in recent
years: mastering conversion.
OTA investment in e-commerce R&D
$650 million in technology
1,500 A/B tests per year
How can hotels compete?
Learn from the “frenemy” — use what the OTAs have invested
millions to learn to improve our own hotel websites.

10. Poll no. 4
What is your preferred method of booking
hotels?

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The Road to Conversion
“There are plenty of difficult obstacles
in your path. Don’t allow yourself to
become one of them.”
—Ralph Marston

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The keys to conversion
1. Usability and user experience
How easy is it to find the info needed?
2. Social proof
How do we show that other travelers like
this hotel?
3. Fast and easy checkout
How can we make the buying decision as
fast and easy as possible for the traveler?

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Usability & User Experience
The website must answer the most important
user questions efficiently and logically:
What does the property look like?
What types of rooms are available?
What amenities are available?
What is the price? Is it within budget?
Can I cancel with no fees?

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Usability & User Experience

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Usability & User Experience

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Usability & User Experience

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Social Proof
Social proof is about listening to what
others say to remove risk from their own
decision. They do this through:
Reviews from other travelers
Customer testimonials
Awards
Evidence that others are booking

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Social Proof

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Social Proof

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Fast and easy checkout
K.I.S.S. — Keep It Simple & Swift
Clear calls to action
Only ask for information that you need; tell users why you
need the information you collect
Minimize the clicks and pages within the booking process
Assure customers that checkout is safe
Sense of urgency prompts

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Fast and easy checkout

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Fast and easy checkout

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Best Rate Guarantee

24. Poll no. 5
After deciding on a hotel, how many sites do you
typically check for prices before booking?

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CASE STUDY:
Stratosphere Hotel

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Case Study: Stratosphere Hotel
Background
2,400+ room hotel and casino in Las Vegas
3.5-star hotel with low average nightly rate
High-volume business with high competition
The Problem
Website underperforming on direct bookings
Over-reliance on OTAs for revenue

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Before…
Rooms, amenities, and special offers
all across different pages
Booking widget on main site not
integrated with booking engine—
must input dates twice
Special offers and packages not well
integrated into booking engine

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Before…
Booking engine not user-friendly
Imagery non-existent or too small
Special offers and rate packages not
easy to find
Rates are not automatically updated
when you change dates
Call to action not clear

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After.
Better integration between
website and booking engine
Large imagery showing
hotel details
Social proof widgets
Inputting stay criteria is easy
and clear

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After.
Room details and amenities
clear and easy to read
Cancellation policy and
rates listed prominently
Clear call to action with
BOOK NOW button
Two-step booking:
click, click, book

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Urgency prompts

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Revisiting Best Rate Guarantee
Most Best Rate Guarantees don’t work
Policies are complicated with too many forms to submit
24-48 turnaround time on submitted claims
Manpower required to verify claims and price matching
Usually only taken advantage of by deal hunters

33. Poll no. 6
How many Best Rate Guarantee claims does
your hotel receive in one month?

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The Solution
Automated Best Rate
Guarantee
Automatically check other
sites for prices
Automatically price match
when lower prices found

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Automated Best Rate Guarantee
For Consumers
Complete price transparency
Trust and assurance of lowest price possible
No need to submit BRG claim
For Hotels
Automatic price-matching* — no processing claims
Automatic alerts when prices are out of parity
Improvement of conversion rates
*patented feature

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The OTAs think it’s a good idea…

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Fast and easy checkout

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Case Study: The Results
Within four months of launching:
24% increase in revenue
20% increase in direct bookings
2x increase in conversion rate

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Recap: Lessons learned
Hotels: Your direct channel is your most profitable channel
If you haven’t optimized your website for conversion, you’re leaving money on the table.
OTAs might have the bigger marketing budgets, but hotels do get their fair share of traffic.
So once you get someone on the site, close the deal.
When it comes to conversion, keep things simple—get the room booked as easily and
quickly as possible.
Technology can be a great equalizer in helping hotels compete more effectively with OTAs.

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DISCUSSION:
The realities of today’s
digital travel marketplace

41. Q & A

42. Thank you!
Send your questions and comments to gene@tnooz.com
Replay and presentation will be available on www.tnooz.com