The benefits of direct bookings

Hotel owners now have an opportunity to increase occupancy levels at a reduced cost by using a combination of OTAs (online travel agencies) and benefit from direct bookings. And if you want to be successful you need both of them. A high percentage of guests book online through a digital platform, which from a hotelier’s point of view helps increase the hotel’s visibility and in return good occupancy numbers.

But what if I tell you that you can also increase your occupancy by driving your future guests to book directly? Would you like to boost your profits this new year and not be so dependent on online travel agencies? In this article, I explain the benefits of direct bookings and how to get more through your website.

Understanding the customer journey in hotel bookings

A typical customer journey has several stages. Each stage presents an opportunity for hotels to engage with potential guests and guide them towards booking directly. And if you have read the article 5 reasons to translate your hotel website content, you will understand the importance of translating your website to different languages.

• The first stage is when potential guests are looking at destination options or seeking for some inspiration. You can capture their attention by showing your property with stunning visuals, explaining the location advantages, and give them exclusive offers, through your website or social media.
• Your guests will start comparing their options, the price, the facilities, the location, etc. This is where you can offer discounts, vouchers to encourage guests to book directly.
• The final stage is the booking process. Having an user-friendly booking system, with clear call-to-actions, and a secure payment process, will help the conversion rates.

Direct bookings offer numerous benefits for hotels, when you encourage your guests to book directly, you gain more control over your own brand image and reputation.

Benefits of driving direct bookings

Hotels can :

• Offer exclusive add-ons during the booking process, such as spa treatments, room upgrades, or dining packages. You can increase your revenue per booking and enhance the overall guest experience.
• Find opportunities for targeted marketing campaigns, personalised recommendations, and gathering valuable feedback, which can help improve the guest experience and drive future bookings.
• Bypass the hefty commissions charged by OTAs and retain a larger portion of the booking revenue.
• Increase the hotel’s profitability.
• Provide an opportunity to reinvest in improving the overall guest experience.
• Establish a direct relationship with their guests. By capturing guest information during the booking process, hotels can offer tailored recommendations and promotions, if you translate the guest information to your guest language will help improve their experience and have a high chance that they will book these extra add-ons.

Strategies to drive direct bookings

To successfully drive direct bookings, you can implement strategies that attract potential guests and persuade them to book directly. Here are some practical tips to consider:

1. Optimise your hotel website for direct bookings: Your website should have a user friendly booking process and provide clear information about your property and facilities. A well optimised website will show on the search engines, so it is crucial that your content will have the relevant keywords for the search intent of your future guests. Consider also this important step If you have a multilingual website.

Remember, if you need a helping hand to optimise the content of your hotel blog or home page, drop me a message, I am an SEO translator, meaning I am a professional translator with skills to use SEO practises effectively.

2. Use social media to increase direct bookings: Show your hotel with beautiful pictures, engage with potential guests, and promote exclusive offers or packages.

3. Use email marketing for direct bookings: Build an email list and send personalised offers and promotions to previous guests or subscribers.

4. Use online travel agencies (OTAs): While the goal is to maximise direct bookings, OTAs can still be a valuable source of bookings. Use OTAs strategically to fill gaps in occupancy. However, your rates and availability on your website must be competitive to persuade guests to book directly.

5. Monitor your direct booking: Use analytics tools to monitor website traffic, conversion rates, and booking sources.

If your aim is maximising your profits through direct bookings, then start measuring the key metrics and refine your strategies to drive even more direct bookings.

Now is the time to Book an SEO Translation consultation to find out more about how I can help you optimise your multilingual website and keep your translated content showing on the search engines.