drive direct bookings
From Dreaming to Booking Part II: How to Capitalize on the Dreaming Phase of the Travel Planning Journey
HEBS Digital | March 8, 2018
By Margaret Mastrogiacomo, VP Strategy This article is part two in a five-part series that uncovers top strategies for reaching potential guests in meaningful moments and increasing direct bookings throughout every stage of the travel planning journey. This article focuses on the first stage of travel planning: the dreaming phase. Let's face it. We all understand the need for our next vacation, and some of us may even be counting down the days. But as hotel marketers, how do we reach potential guests at the very beginning stage of the travel planning journey? Is reaching travelers early in the process important? And even more significan...
Hotels Step Up Their Online Game to Encourage Direct Bookings
JLL Real Views | January 15, 2018
Getting guests to book directly on a hotel's website rather than through an online travel agent (OTA) is a key challenge that hoteliers are gearing up to tackle in 2018. When OTAs first rose to popularity in 2008 during the economic downturn, hotels viewed them as saviors for their ability to fill hotel rooms that otherwise would have remained empty. Today, that view has shifted dramatically. Popular third-party search engines are raking in more bookings than ever and charging significantly higher commissions, too. In fact, momentum toward convenient aggregate websites has grown to such a fever pitch that in 2016 OTA bookings in the U.S...
Guests Introduce Mission Point Resort to 120,000 Social Connections in 3 Months with Flip.to
Flip.to | July 16, 2015
Platform a natural fit for generational travel destination resort ORLANDO, FL — July 16, 2015 — Mission Point Resort, an immersive getaway on Mackinac Island in Michigan, has tapped the Flip.to brand advocacy platform to reach a massive new audience of future guests and drive direct bookings. Since launch in April, Flip.to for Mission Point Resort has been an immediate success. More than a third of their guests have advocated on behalf of the resort, sharing to over 120,000 friends, family and colleagues in just three months. In doing so, Mission Point has reached an audience ten times that of their already expansive Facebook netwo...
