Increase bookings via Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)
Being present on Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) is essential to the online distribution strategy of your hotel or B&B. These booking sites are often very well-known and widely used across different countries, providing your hotel with great online visibility. Choose a good mix of OTAs based on the characteristics of your clients: business, leisure, nationality ...
With large OTAs like Booking.com, Airbnb and Expedia, you can easily reach international markets, as their websites are available in many languages. Thanks to their advanced marketing, they cater perfectly to changing consumer demands and generate a lot of reservations. Because of the billboard effect, your own website will also attract more visitors.
Smaller local booking sites, on the other hand, can help you reach locals who are looking for a specific type of accommodation or in a specific region. In their case, large OTAs would offer far too many irrelevant options to sift through. Besides, you might have noticed that staycations have made a serious comeback.
Not sure on which OTAs you need to list your hotel or B&B? Discover our top 10 best OTAs in this blog article.
Add your hotel to popular metasearch platforms
Apart from OTAs, international travellers often look for accommodations on metasearch platforms, as they allow for easy comparison of room prices on different booking channels. By integrating with popular ones like Trivago or TripAdvisor, your hotel gains an even wider reach. In exchange, you pay a small fee when people click through to your website (cost per click).
Another important metasearch environment is Google Hotel Search. Google pushes travellers towards this platform, so adding your hotel – along with the right company info and eye-catching photos – is a must. The only thing you need is a free Google Business page. You can even include a direct booking link to your website at zero cost. For maximum visibility on the platform, you can always opt for paid Google Hotel Ads to have your hotel appear at the top of the search results.
Improve your hotel website for more direct bookings
If you are solely dependent on OTAs, you end up paying too much commission on your bookings. That's why your direct booking channel is an indispensable component of your online distribution. But how do you make sure people find your website and want book directly?
To generate more direct bookings, it’s vital to have a professional-looking hotel website with a user-friendly booking module. Offer attractive rates and a smooth booking process on your website. The Cubilis Booking Engine has all the necessary features for maximum conversion and can be integrated with any website. Read our free eBook for more tips to increase your direct bookings.
Want to gain more visibility and website visitors? Apply SEO techniques (Search Engine Optimisation) to your hotel website. This way, it will rank higher in the search results on Google. If you want to take it one step further, you can also implement an SEA strategy (Search Engine Advertising). Advertising doesn’t always have to be expensive: start with small budgets and figure out what works best for your hotel.
Use social media to complete your omnichannel approach
It’s highly recommended to be active on the most popular social media channels among your target audience, because they allow you to inspire travellers and develop sustainable relationships with (potential) guests.
Maintain a credible and professional image by communicating regularly, staying true to your corporate branding and using high-quality photos. Apart from organic posts on your own profile, you can also opt for targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram. These two platforms are popular inspiration sources within the leisure travel community. If business travel is your main focus, then LinkedIn is the right place to promote your hotel.
Many travellers like to share photos of their vacation on Facebook and Instagram as well. Create a custom location tag for your hotel, so your guests can properly geotag you in their posts. That way, their friends and followers will be triggered to take a quick look and get a taste of the experience you have to offer.
Go for optimal online visibility with Cubilis
Cubilis provides the perfect solution for an effective online distribution strategy at an affordable price. The Cubilis Channel Manager boosts your visibility and allows for central management of your rates and availability, while our Booking Engine helps you generate more direct bookings. A winning combo!
Try out Cubilis for free
Would you like to experience the advantages of our Booking Engine and Channel Manager first-hand? Request your free Cubilis demo via the form below!
