Guests are becoming willing to book directly from hotel websites and social media pages. Due to the high use of gadgets which includes mobile devices, tablets, laptops, etc. Guests now prefer to do their searches online before booking a room. These searches usually take them to hotel websites, and if the hotels are doing their marketing right, they will be getting more direct bookings daily. Direct bookings are more beneficial to hotels compared to bookings from OTAs. This is because OTAs will usually charge high commissions, therefore, decreasing the revenue of the hotel.
Read also: How to Optimize OTA to Improve Hotel Direct Booking?
This article will discuss some of the smart tips on how to get guests to book directly from your hotel.
Read also: 6 Hotel Booking Trends In 2019 That Every Hotelier Should Know
Have A Mobile Responsive Hotel Website
If you are serious about increasing your hotel direct booking, then you need to have a mobile-friendly and responsive website. This is because almost every traveler has a smartphone which they use to book their rooms and also search for hotels. If you don’t have a mobile-friendly website, you will be missing out on a lot of direct bookings. The key thing here is to make your website accessible on all devices. When this happens, guests can easily book your hotel directly with any device they are using.
Read also: Mobile-Friendly Hotel Website
Integrate A Booking Engine To Your Website
For guests to book directly with your hotel, then it is a must to integrate a booking engine on your website. This is because when a guest arrives on your website and he is happy with your hotel rate and its facilities, nothing is stopping him from booking his room immediately from your website. It will be a big embarrassment when a guest is ready to book his room from your website and it turns out that you don’t have a booking engine. Any hotel that is serious about increasing its hotel direct booking must integrate a booking engine on its hotel website.
Read also: Booking Engine for Hotels
Integrate Booking Engines on Social Media Pages
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Make sure you also integrate a booking engine on your hotel's social media pages like Facebook. Doing so will help to increase direct booking because almost all your potential guests are on social media. Knowing your hotel presence on social media will encourage guests to book directly from you by just clicking the ‘BOOK NOW’ button found on your social media page.
Offer Direct Booking Incentives
Some guests need a little push to encourage them to book directly from your hotel website or your social media pages. This little push can be in the form of incentives. When it comes to incentives, you have to be creative and also only offer what your guest would likely be interested in. This is why it’s important for every hotel to know who their target audience is and their guest segmentation. Knowing such important information about your guests will help you in knowing what incentives to offer to your guests.
Read also: How To Identify Your Hotel’s Target Market
To Conclude
To minimize your hotel dependency on OTAs, take advantage of the benefits of direct booking from your website and social media pages. Remember to always show your guests reviews and testimonials on your website and also post them on your social media pages. It will help to encourage new guests to book directly from your hotel.
Read also: Benefits of Hotel Direct Booking
