book direct
A New Look at the Direct-Booking Game for Hotel Chains
Jochen Ehrhardt | March 5, 2019
by Jochen Ehrhardt In recent years, hotels have been waging a war on Online Travel Agencies such as Booking.com, Expedia, Ctrip, and Agoda in order to win back their customers by offering a wide range of perks, including discounts, in exchange for booking directly with the hotel. "Book direct" has become the new mantra. As hoteliers found out quickly, luring back consumers is not as easy as they had hoped. The larger OTAs have at least two very powerful arguments in their favor: Users can choose between hundreds of thousands of hotels in a consistent and easy-to-navigate environment. Hotels and hotel groups could not do anything about t...
TravelClick Launches New, Responsive Booking Engine 4.0, Maximizing Conversion Across Devices and Driving More Direct Bookings for Global Hoteliers
TravelClick | November 15, 2016
New Room Hold Feature Brings Abandoned Guests Back to Direct Channel to Complete Bookings NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2016 – TravelClick ("the Company"), a global provider of innovative, cloud-based and data-driven solutions for hotels to maximize revenue, announced the launch of its new, interactive Booking Engine 4.0, designed to increase conversion and reduce guest abandonment with a transformative new reservation experience. Booking Engine 4.0 is a user-friendly, responsive platform that drives direct bookings and incremental spend. The new platform is designed to optimize the user experience across devices and engage a growing mobile-...
Book Direct: Hoteliers, You May Be Better Prepared than You Think
September 20, 2016
By Kelly A. McGuire, MMH '01, PhD '07 CHR Insights features industry analysis and commentary from Kelly A. McGuire, MMH '01, PhD '07, who is a CHR fellow and vice president, advanced analytics, for Wyndham Destination Network. Previously the leader of the SAS Hospitality and Travel Global Practice, and a member of the CHR Advisory Board, she has long been active in advanced analytics and big data. Her blog posts will feature industry research and guest interviews to address current industry issues. Today's post features an interview with Faith Marshall, a CHR Advisory Board member and director of travel, transportation, and hospitality ...
Book Direct: The Numbers Tell the Story
Hospitality Upgrade | August 11, 2016
It's no secret that there has been a flurry of book direct campaigns launched in recent months. This includes IHG and Accor launching campaigns in Europe in 2015 followed by Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt and IHG in the U.S. in 2016. This trend has raised many questions about how these campaigns will affect hotel performance from an owner and operator standpoint. Additionally, concerns have been raised by third-party OTAs and meta search vendors about how it may affect their own growth targets. AGGRESSIVE RESPONSES FROM THE OTAS HAVE INCLUDED: letters to hotels claiming the book direct campaigns are not working, de-ranking and "dimming" of hot...
The Battle for ‘Book Direct’ May Be Won, But the War Will Not
Bill Carroll | July 13, 2016
By Bill Carroll 'Book direct' is the war cry of hotel owners, management company executives, chain CEOs and many marketing consulting groups. Like real war, the costs and benefits must be evaluated, particularly by those who will be paying for it - hotel owners. This is even more critical for a war that is unwinnable. "Wars are won and lost on the basis of superior strategy and overwhelming resources." -Clausewitz, On War, Book 2, Chapter 2, 1873 An Unwinnable War In this war to win the hearts and minds of modern travelers, intermediaries like Google, Expedia and Priceline have the resources and major strategic advantages. Individually ...
Benchmark Hospitality International Names Kirsten Ponza Director of Food & Beverage at Chaminade Resort & Spa
Taylor Smariga | May 9, 2016
The Woodlands (Houston), Texas, May 2016 … Benchmark Hospitality International, a leading U.S.-based hospitality management company, has named Kirsten Ponza director of food & beverage for Chaminade Resort & Spa, the award-winning Benchmark Resort® located in Santa Cruz, California. Kevin Herbst, general manager for the resort, which overlooks the city and Monterey Bay, made the announcement. "I am so pleased to announce Kirsten's new position, which represents a promotion for her at our resort," said Mr. Herbst. "She has brought incredible culinary talent and creativity to Chaminade, first as pastry chef, then as our...
