How To Move Your Rooms Toward Your Guest (Instead of Moving Your Guest Toward Your Rooms)

Jason Bryant | May 8, 2019

By Jason G. Bryant When those in the hotel industry talk about selling hotel rooms, the conversation frequently turns to a diatribe on direct bookings—the great need for them, how to get them, how much money to spend on them, and how to keep them. If this industry is to evolve, the direct-booking debate also must change. Brands now dedicate substantial marketing budgets to this effort, and in general, the results have been flat. In 2018, 67% of guests booked via the brand channel. In 2015, it was 68%, according to the annual J.D. Power & Associates North American Hotel Guest Satisfaction Survey (Skift). This two-decade-old con...