With countless channels and platforms to manage, distribution can be tricky. Today, we begin our series on distribution to help demystify some of the process and provide you with information you need to boost bookings and create new business.
Building a Hotel Distribution Channel Strategy
When it comes to hotel channel distribution, you have several options. To maximize production and revenue, you need to consider the right channel mix that best fits your property’s target market. Understanding different traveler segments who book at your property allows you to diversify your business mix and optimize your distribution strategy. The right strategy should consider your pricing, target audience, location, and marketing resources. In this series, we will focus on those strategies and the different types of distribution channels available.
OTA (Online Travel Agencies) Channel Management
Now more than ever, hotels are being tasked with increasing visibility & customer reach while driving more revenue at the lowest possible cost. OTA’s continue to dominate online sales. They do charge high commissions but are valuable source for putting your hotel in front of millions of travelers who may not have discovered you otherwise.
How can OTA channels help drive production?Â
1. OTA booking sites can offer a multitude of products that can be booked together and even packaged, including flights, car rentals, transfers, excursions, and hotel reservations.
2. They can provide more visibility, making it easier for travelers to find you and allowing you to reach newer, bigger audiences. They can also drive traffic to your direct website while guests comparatively shop.
3. They can provide additional travel segment reach such as leisure, family, couples, business, or specific age groups.
4. They can provide further global reach. Several OTAs operate in multiple countries, offering multiple languages, making it easy for international travelers to find and book your property.
How can Vizergy help optimize OTA channel production?
1. Adding more OTA channels does not equate to more revenue—determining the right OTA channels does! Our Distribution Team is here to assist with identifying the channels that fit with your hotel’s type, size, market area, and targeted audience.
2. We help you determine what additional segments you may want to reach, like leisure, family, couples, and business. Certain OTAs and/or packages can help you reach new specific travel segment groups.
3. Managing your rates and inventory across multiple channels while keeping them in parity can be very time consuming and cumbersome. Through our Central Reservation System, we offer a direct connection to more than 450 OTA Channels.
4. Our direct CRS connection allows you to quickly manage your availability and inventory as needed. You can set limits to your available rooms during peak days, seasons, or holidays. If a group cancellation comes in at the last minute, fill those by adding the inventory to the OTAs.
5. Your PMS can be interfaced directly with our CRS allowing your OTA reservations, availability, rates, and inventory to directly sync.
By connecting your OTA channels directly with the Vizergy CRS, you can manage your OTAs centrally, reducing complexity, increasing efficiency, and optimizing your channel distribution. With connections to over 450 online travel agencies, we automate the delivery of rates and inventory to these online channels.
