Online travel agents (OTAs) like Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb are an essential tool for accommodation providers looking to reach a global audience and secure initial bookings for their short-term rentals. They can help you to attract those critical first reservations and introduce new guests to your property, allowing you to increase customer loyalty and encourage direct bookings on their next stay.
However, the commission fees charged by OTAs can significantly impact your revenue, potentially taking up to a whooping 20% per booking! To optimise your earnings and cultivate a more direct relationship with your guests, the ‘OTA Flip’ is a crucial point in each stay. This strategy involves leveraging OTAs alongside advanced hospitality booking software, such as channel managers and property management systems (PMS), to shift repeat bookings to direct channels and reduce commission costs.
Keep reading to find out how you can use OTAs and hospitality booking software to boost your business.
1. Use OTAs for Initial Bookings
OTAs are powerful tools for gaining initial exposure and attracting new guests to your short term rental. Their extensive reach and marketing capabilities can drive significant traffic to your property, especially if you’re just starting your business or expanding your portfolio. Utilise OTAs to fill your booking calendar, particularly during off-peak seasons or when introducing new properties to your portfolio, as this can help you reach a wider audience.
When managing multiple listings at once, it is important to use reliable hospitality booking software to centralise information and improve communication between your team. A channel manager updates your availability and rates in real-time across multiple OTAs, helping you to simplify the process, and ensuring that you avoid overbookings and take advantage of occupancy levels across the board. Combining a channel manager with a property management system (PMS), you can efficiently manage reservations, guest information, and operations from one centralised platform, even as you promote your listing across multiple OTA platforms.
2. Build Trusting Connections with Your Guests
Once OTA guests arrive, it’s your chance to make a lasting impression. Provide an exceptional experience to encourage repeat visits with thoughtful initiatives like welcome packs, local decor, culture-based amenities and high-quality service that can make a basic stay, memorable.
Use your PMS to track guest preferences and tailor their experience based on information provided during booking, or specific requests. This data-driven approach allows you to offer a more personalised stay, improving guest satisfaction and increasing the likelihood of direct repeat bookings and recommendations.
3. Highlight the Benefits to Drive Repeat Bookings
Turning OTA bookings into direct reservations is a key component of the ‘OTA Flip.’ Using hospitality booking software can facilitate this by collecting guest information during their stay, such as email addresses, through methods like Wi-Fi registration or smart devices like iPads for property management. Always ensure that you comply with GDPR regulations and clearly inform guests of your intentions before collecting their information.
You can also offer incentives such as discounts for future direct bookings and promote these through in-apartment signage, local guides, and amenities manuals. Introducing simple brand information such as your company logo in manuals, or a QR code for video instructions on your website can help guests remember your brand for their next stay, and encourage them to see you as a trusted company to recommend to others.
Make sure your messaging is friendly and informative, using your channel manager to seamlessly integrate direct booking options and exclusive discounts for repeat bookings on your website, highlighting the financial benefits of booking direct, such as all-inclusive payments as alternatives to OTA reservations, which often include additional payments during the booking process.
4. Use Hospitality Booking Software to Personalise Each Stay
It is important to continue to use OTAs to attract new guests while simultaneously promoting the benefits of booking directly, as these platforms are greatly beneficial to driving bookings to your business.
Providing exceptional guest services and support is also critical to delivering a memorable guest experience. Invest in your PMS and guest support team, allowing them to handle direct bookings efficiently and ensuring that you can offer a smooth and satisfying booking experience. Keep collaborating with OTAs on marketing campaigns and special promotions to maintain a positive relationship and mutual support. When customers enjoy a wonderful experience, they are more inclined to return and book directly with you the next time!
5. Cultivate Positive Reviews and Feedback
Use data and feedback from guests who book through OTAs to better understand their preferences and improve your services. Use a dedicated team to offer support to your guests throughout their stay, utilise your PMS to facilitate feedback collection and make improvements based on guest suggestions.
Also, encourage guests to leave positive reviews on OTA platforms and use your channel manager to simplify the feedback process across different OTAs. Engaging with these reviews and responding professionally can boost your visibility and demonstrate your commitment to excellent service. Your hospitality booking software can help you monitor and manage reviews, ensuring that you maintain a strong online presence and positive reputation, driving new and repeat bookings to your business in the process.
The Long-Term Benefits
The ‘OTA Flip’ is not about abandoning OTAs, but rather about deliberately using them to establish a base of first-time visitors and then encouraging those guests to book directly in the future. By integrating OTAs with a trusted channel manager and PMS, you can streamline your booking process, drive guest satisfaction and reduce commission costs. Embrace this approach to shift your booking strategy alongside hospitality booking software dedicated to your sector, and enjoy the benefits of more direct and efficient guest communicate with your guests during each stay!
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