TRADE LUNCH
EXCHANGE LAUNCH LUNCH MEMBERS AND TRADE JOINED TOGETHER IN JUNE AT THE EUROPA HOTEL TO LAUNCH HOSPITALITY EXCHANGE 2015 for the Best Rates Guaranteed / No Booking Fee / Flexible Cancellation Policies / Free Wifi / Free Parking / Breakfast Included in all Rates – the list is endless. Make sure this message is clear and visible on your website and on your booking engine. So once they get to your booking engine, what rate offering are they seeing? Are you flexing your rates inline with FORECASTED business demands? Are your best selling rates listed high on your rate order (and categorically I can pretty much guarantee these will be your B&B rates – no matter how attractive your packages are). Are you taking into consideration your business trends, lead time, pick-up by market segment and importantly not just your rooms sold but what you are forecasting to sell… These are just a few of the considerations your need to make to entice that business direct and like all good relationships I could go on but we have seen our side as hoteliers; the benefits the OTA’s bring, so here is the truth… OTA’s are not something we should be fighting with, after all we invited them into this relationship and they will be around for a while. So the lesson is, use them and use them wisely. Remember that ‘billboard’ affect – for every one booking we get through an OTA, they have the potential to drive 3 or more customers to our own site. So lets ditch the need for therapy and lets live happily ever after... * Forrester Research
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