dr. meng-mei maggie chen
What Are Customer Acquisition Costs and Why Is It Important to Calculate Them?
Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen | July 21, 2021
By Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen This article lays out why it's important to differentiate distribution costs from customer acquisition costs (CAC). Distribution costs refer to commissions paid to travel agents, OTAs, discounts to tour operators, etc. Whereas customer acquisition costs include the distribution costs, website-related costs, sales & marketing department salaries (after all, they are here to acquire customers), social media costs, advertising, loyalty and brand-related expenses, channel manager fees, etc. Why can't we calculate the customer acquisition costs? Because there is no account called "customer acquisi...
Exploring Niche Markets in Hospitality: Seizing Untapped Opportunities
Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen | May 1, 2018
By Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen Distribution challenges for the hotel industry include the rising cost of customer acquisition, the ownership of customer data, the lack of loyalty from customers, and the growing popularity of Airbnb. The hotel industry is already struggling to attract, convert, and retain customers. Without major investment in marketing, convincing customers to switch from paid channels to the hotels' own channels is simply a mission impossible. Yet, some interesting players have taken a different approach by going after niche markets. For example, nhow Hotels (part of the NH Hotel Group) offer state-of-the-art music studio...
Marketing Trends in Hospitality: From Technology to Niches
Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen | February 13, 2018
By Dr. Meng-Mei Maggie Chen Over the past year, Google made major inroads into the travel and tourism sector, changing the layouts of Google Flights and Hotels and, as a result, it's hard to differentiate these from online travel agencies and metasearch sites. Further, Google Trips now offers discounts for tours and activities, and allows users to create folders for future travel plans. This option could help Google identify the travel intentions of consumers early in the planning process and make relevant suggestions based on the travel history. Certainly, Google's footprint in the travel ecosystem is expanding. Depending on hoteliers'...
