As the trend of global travel gains momentum, there’s a remarkable opportunity to capitalize on the increasing number of international guests. Whether you are interested in entering emerging markets, enticing visitors from specific countries, or growing your revenue by offering targeted discounts, the solution, known as Country Rates, is here to cater to your needs.
Why Country Rates?
The Country Rate stands out as one of the most impactful pricing solutions for your property. This specialized tool enables your property to extend specific pricing to guests from designated countries and regions.
Notably, nearly 70% of the initial summer searches on the Booking.com platform are focused on international accommodations.
Properties can capitalize on this heightened demand and ensure revenue by providing targeted discounts to international travelers, who tend to book earlier and exhibit fewer cancellations.
How do Country Rates work?
Country Rate is a feature used by hotels to establish specific room rates tailored to different countries. It serves as a means to provide special pricing or discounted rates to guests from targeted markets.
The discounted rate is exclusively visible to users accessing the Booking.com platform from the countries or regions properties have chosen to focus on. While a minimum discount of 5% is mandatory, properties possess the option to offer a more substantial discount if they wish.
This discount is applicable to all rooms and rate plans within a property, and it synergizes with discounts associated with the Genius program, as well as any other promotions they have configured (except for the Mobile Rates or Limited Time Deal).
Properties retain the capability to allocate up to 30 blackout days per calendar year, during which the discount will not be applicable.
Country Rate’s Global Validity
It’s important to be aware that country rates might not be accessible in specific countries due to prevailing legal or commercial constraints. Kindly take into consideration this limitation when considering the implementation of country rates for your property’s pricing strategy.
What are the Advantages of Offering Country Rates?
Secure revenue by targeting international travelers
International customers tend to book early and cancel less.
Sell your rooms in advance by offering special prices during the festive season.
Boost your visibility on Booking.com.
Offering Country Rates on Booking.com provides an array of benefits, including assured revenue, improved booking patterns, and amplified visibility, all of which contribute to a more strategic and successful approach to your property management.
Navigating to the Promotions tab, you can seamlessly establish Country Rates on Booking.com from your RateTiger Dashboard.
Read here to learn about Country Rates and how to set them to your existing room rate plan.
The Mobile Rate is an exceptional performer among various successful pricing products. This highly effective tool is designed to cater to mobile device users, allowing properties to offer discounted rates. Embracing this feature showcases its relevance in today’s mobile-centric booking trend. In the booming mobile market, leveraging the Mobile Rate is important for business growth and a competitive edge.
Over half (59%) of all reservations on Booking.com originate from mobile devices; capturing this market is vital for business growth. Mobile-friendly strategies like the Mobile Rate can boost reservations and ensure success in the evolving travel landscape.
How do Mobile Rates Work?
Mobile Rates: Discounts are visible on Booking.com mobile app or site.
A minimum 10% discount is required, but properties can offer mobile users a more considerable discount.
The discount applies to all rooms and rate plans, including the Genius program and other promotions (except Country Rate or Limited Time Deal).
Up to 30 blackout days per year, with no discount on those days.
Benefits of Mobile Rate
On average, properties that offer a Mobile Rate see:
3% more click-throughs from search results
24% more customers making an attempt to book
22% more bookings from mobile customers
Mobile Rates effectively target and attract a growing segment of travelers. Properties must have this option to avoid losing out on significant demand.
If you do not have a Mobile Rate on Booking.com yet, you can easily create one from your RateTiger dashboard.
For more information and step-by-step setup instructions, refer to this detailed article.
Contact us to fulfil your connectivity requirements and maximize your online earnings.
In this highly competitive landscape, hospitality businesses must constantly innovate and embrace cutting-edge technologies to meet the ever-changing needs and expectations of modern travelers. One of the most effective strategies embraced by modern hotels is dynamic pricing. This innovative approach has revolutionized how hotels determine their rates, allowing them to optimize revenue while delivering value to guests. According to booking.com, 43% of travelers will use virtual reality to inspire their vacation choices. Additionally, recent statistics indicate that the global hospitality market is witnessing rapid technological advancements, making it imperative for hotels to adopt innovative strategies.
In this blog post, we will introduce a new feature of RateTiger Channel Manager that allows you to create a customized pricing strategy tailored to your hotel’s occupancy levels, ensuring the perfect balance between supply and demand. With the system, it can effortlessly maintain specific pricing models during high and low seasons, weekdays, weekends, and more!
What is Dynamic Pricing?
Dynamic pricing refers to flexibly adjusting prices based on various factors such as demand, market conditions, and customer behavior. Instead of relying on static prices, hotels using dynamic pricing use advanced algorithms and data analysis to set the best possible prices for their rooms.
Through Bar level pricing, hotels use sophisticated algorithms and data analysis to set prices for each room type independently. This level of granularity allows hotels to optimize revenue by tailoring prices to individual segments of their customer base rather than offering uniform rates across the entire inventory.
RateTiger Channel Manager’s innovative BAR Level feature takes this concept further by setting prices based on specific room types or rate categories within a hotel’s inventory. This level of granularity allows hotels to maximize revenue by precisely targeting different segments of their customer base.
Advantages for Hotels:
Streamlined Pricing Strategy: Predefining prices and rules based on occupancy levels simplifies the pricing process, ensuring rates are automatically triggered when occupancy meets criteria.
Automated Rate Triggers: Prices are adjusted automatically based on occupancy, allowing hotels to respond swiftly to fluctuations in demand and optimize revenue during peak and off-peak periods.
Revenue Optimization: Dynamic pricing captures the true value of each room type, maximizing profitability and revenue potential for hotels.
Flexibility and Adaptability: Bar-level pricing provides the flexibility to adapt rates based on market conditions and competition, helping hotels stay agile and competitive.
Data-Driven Decision Making: Bar Level pricing relies on data analysis, enabling informed decisions based on market trends and customer behavior.
Enhanced Revenue Management: The automated nature of bar-level pricing reduces human errors in pricing decisions, leading to more efficient revenue management.
Benefits for Guests:
Fair Pricing: Guests pay prices that accurately reflect the value of their chosen room, ensuring fairness in the booking process.
Enhanced Experience: Guests can find options that align with their preferences and budgets, leading to a more personalized and satisfying stay.
Attractive Discounts: Dynamic pricing allows hotels to offer attractive discounts during off-peak periods, giving guests better rates for their accommodations.
Affordable Options: Flexibility in pricing enables guests to access high-quality accommodation at more affordable prices, maximizing the value they receive.
Increased Availability: As hotels adapt to changing market conditions with dynamic pricing, guests have a higher chance of finding availability even during busy periods, improving their chances of securing desired bookings.
Conclusion:
BAR Level feature has become essential for hotels to thrive in today’s competitive landscape. By embracing this innovative approach, hotels can optimize their revenue, respond swiftly to market changes, and deliver value to their guests.
To know more about this feature, request/book a demo with our industry experts at sales@erevmax.com.
Hotel room pricing is one of the most essential but crucial aspects of Hotel Management. It is vital because you need to find the right balance between providing a luxurious experience and keeping your hotel affordable for your guests. In this blog, we will talk about why a hotel room pricing strategy is important, the steps of implementing it, and how it helps increase hotel revenue.
Importance of Hotel Room Pricing
Hotel room pricing is essential for hotels as it directly impacts revenue, profitability, and market position. A well-executed pricing strategy allows hotels to maximize its revenue by attracting guests. Additionally, pricing decisions contribute to a hotel’s market positioning, helping to establish its brand perception and differentiate itself from competitors. By leveraging a proper pricing strategy, hotels can achieve sustainable profitability and deliver value to the guests.
Essential Steps to Implementing Pricing Strategy
Developing an effective pricing strategy is important for hotels to optimize revenue and attract the right target audience. Before setting a hotel’s room price, some points should keep in mind like
Gain a deep understanding of your target audience
Analyze your competitor hotels’ room pricing
Understand your guests’ expectations
When you know all the answers, it will be easier to set the best room price for your hotel and make maximum revenue from it.
Pricing Strategies for Hotels to Increase Revenue
Competitor Based Pricing:
Looking at your competitors is a reliable way to measure your performance and market trends. By monitoring and analyzing competitors’ pricing strategies, hotels can gain valuable insights into the market and adjust their rates to remain competitive. However, it’s essential to note that competitor-based pricing should not be the sole determining factor. Hotels must consider their own costs, profitability goals, unique selling points, and target audience preferences to balance competitiveness and profitability.
Occupancy-Based Pricing:
Occupancy-based pricing is a dynamic pricing strategy where room rates are adjusted based on the occupancy levels of a hotel. This approach allows hotels to optimize revenue by aligning pricing with demand fluctuations. By leveraging the principles of supply and demand, rates can be increased during high occupancy periods to capture guests’ willingness to pay a premium. Conversely, rates can be adjusted during low occupancy periods to attract bookings and maintain occupancy levels. This approach helps hotels optimize revenue, manage inventory effectively, and stay competitive. By closely monitoring occupancy rates and implementing real-time pricing adjustments, hotels can maximize profitability.
Seasonal Pricing:
This is an important factor to consider for setting the prices of the rooms available during holidays or any popular events time. Hotels can optimize revenue by capitalizing on high-demand periods while remaining competitive during slower seasons.
Upselling and Cross-Selling:
Implement strategies to upsell and cross-sell room upgrades or additional services to guests. Offer options such as premium room categories, add-on services like airport transfers or dining experiences, and promotions to enhance the guest experience while increasing revenue per guest.
Rate-parity Strategy:
Rate-parity strategy refers to a pricing approach where a hotel maintains consistent room rates across all distribution channels, including its website, online travel agencies (OTAs), and other third-party platforms. Rate parity aims to ensure that the hotel offers the same rates for the same room type and dates, regardless of the booking channel. By implementing rate parity, hotels can maintain transparency, avoid potential conflicts with distribution partners, and provide a consistent pricing experience for guests across all booking channels.
Effective pricing strategies are essential for hotels to achieve sustainable profitability and maximize revenue. By combining data-driven insights, competitor analysis, rate parity, etc., hotels can optimize revenue, enhance guest satisfaction, and establish a strong market position in the competitive hotel industry. In this scenario, Rate Shopper plays an important role for hotels. It is a powerful product that empowers hotels to stay ahead of the competition by providing valuable insights into market trends and competitor rates. By utilizing this product effectively, many of our customers optimize their pricing strategies, enhance revenue performance, and drive sustainable profitability.
If you have any further questions or require assistance with pricing strategies for your hotel business, we encourage you to reach out to our sales experts. They are available to provide guidance and support in setting up the optimal pricing structure for your needs. You can leave your inquiries here; our team will happily address them.
Travel planning for most people begin online. With a significant shift in traveller’s behaviour and expectations, hotels can no longer afford to take any risks when it comes to online visibility. With direct booking taking a momentum after the pandemic, metasearch has emerged as an important tool for hotels to attract guests to their website.
With more than 95 million unique monthly visitors and an average of 70% viewability, Trivago is one of the largest metasearch engines for hotels. It processes 4 million search results per day comparing 900000+ hotels information and pricing. An up-to-date profile on Trivago helps with appearance and makes a hotel stand out in its own ways, capturing maximum travellers attention.
It acts as a price aggregator where hotel room prices from various travel sites are shown, when a user searches for accommodation.
Trivago is one of the largest metasearch engine for hotels
Today, in our collaborative endeavor with HotelMinder, we will discuss increasing direct bookings with Trivago.
Why do Hotels Need to be on Trivago?
75% of hoteliers using Trivago have claimed it to be a relevant marketing channel for their hotels.
Trivago offers a platform to make an impression to your potential guests and attract them to your brand site for direct booking.
You can compete with OTAs by advertising your direct rates and save on booking commissions.
A property with a booking engine integrated with Trivago can receive direct bookings on its website while owning guest information.
Register Your Property on Trivago for Free!
Get started by creating your profile on Trivago Business Studio.
Enter your details like name, contact number, email address to create your profile.
Once the profile is ready, enter the name of the property in the search box to claim your listing and you are ready to go!
It’s very likely your property already has a listing on Trivago
The best part of listing on Trivago is that it follows the same process for registering any property: independent hotels / guest house / B&B / hotel groups or any other kind of accommodation. Plus, you can also claim and manage multiple properties from a single Trivago account.
What is Trivago Business Studio?
Trivago offers a marketing platform for independent hotels called “Business Studio”. It currently operates in 12 languages across 22 local platforms around the world.
This platform provides a number of apps to help manage profile’s content, monitor online marketing performance, track online reputation, analytics and promotions – with no charges or commissions.
The key benefits of using Trivago Business Studio are:
Make hotel profile management on Trivago easy and simple.
Increase your digital visibility by making Trivago your online marketing channel.
Monitor your online reputation by tracking ratings and reviews via “Guest rating app”.
According to Trivago’s research, 75% of registered hoteliers who regularly use Trivago Business Studio find Trivago to be a relevant marketing channel for their property.
How does Trivago work?
In simple terms, Trivago works on an e-commerce business model where the company provides services to the travellers via internet.
Most people picture Trivago as a platform that works with various booking sites including OTAs, hotel websites, along with hotel chains and groups comparing millions of accommodation deals to provide visitors the best match for their needs. But, it is a lot more than this.
This extensive company operates under 3 different business models:
Aggregator Business Model
Trivago works as an aggregator by collecting data of different suppliers including hotels, car rental services, flights, etc. Under this model, Trivago works by processing and fine-tuning the data collected to bring value out of it.
Categorizing the data under location, region, rates, and other criteria – Trivago presents it to the end user to assist them plan their travel.
Trivago recommends users the OTA with the best value
Advertiser Business Model
This model is the main source of revenue for Trivago. The company operates on the “Cost per Click” mechanism. Though listing your property on Trivago is 100% free, but simply listing it won’t help you get bookings. To get bookings, your hotel must be ranking on top few positions and this calls for running ads.
Trivago charges the hoteliers every time a user clicks on the advertisement. Displaying the best possible rate, it helps the hotel make its presence on the highest click-through-rate, increases the chance of receiving a booking and brings in revenue to both the hotels and its own channel.
Subscriber Business Model
This model of Trivago is for the Pro business users who agree to pay a subscription fee to avail the advanced features of the Business Studio. The PRO features help the hotels compete better with the likes and rankings of the property on popular Online Travel Agencies like Booking.com, Agoda, MakeMyTrip, etc.
The company claims that the hotels using the PRO package experiences 21% more clicks and 45% increased bookings in comparison to regular users.
Apart from this, Trivago also provides subscribers to showcase their listings through display advertising. The branded messages appear across trivago. Many properties use this feature to increase awareness and highlight special offers.
What is Trivago Rate Connect
With 500,000+ properties listed, Trivago’s business model provides your hotel a competitive edge over competitors with exclusive data, advanced marketing features and Rate Connect.
Trivago developed Rate Connect, an app that enables you to list your website rates directly on Trivago and pull in direct bookings via your hotel’s website.
All your hotel needs to have is a booking engine and a connectivity partner to be eligible to use this perfect blend of direct and indirect booking via Rate Connect.
Tripadvisor is one of the largest online travel portals and online aggregation tool offering hotel reviews, travel advice, reservations and more. For hoteliers, Tripadvisor is a metasearch engine offering powerful marketing possibilities with free and paid listings as well as Cost-Per-Click and Instant Booking functionalities. How to use Tripadvisor to its fullest extend? Let’s dive in!
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” — Warren Buffet
One of the most valuable assets for any business is reputation and for the hotel industry, it’s even more critical.
While the world of travel and tourism is one of the biggest and flourishing sectors, survival in this world isn’t easy. With a new hotel opening up in the vicinity of every 10km or even shorter distance, hotel business demands visibility, exposure, amenities, and quality service.
That’s why Tripadvisor remains a key channel for a hotel. With over 1 billion reviews on its site, Tripadvisor is one of the most trusted travel research platforms for potential guests when they evaluate hotels. In this blog, we are collaborating with HotelMinderto unlock the power of Tripadvisor for Hotels.
Getting Started: What is Tripadvisor?
Started as a travel review platform, Tripadvisor is one of the largest online travel portals offering online hotel reservations and bookings for transportation, lodging, travel experiences, and restaurants. With over 463 million people visiting the platform every month to plan their trip and make bookings, it’s often the first place of research for various travelers.
Tripadvisor has been one of the early companies to enter into the Metasearch space with TripConnect. The platform acts as an online aggregation tool where they compile rate and availability of a property from different online sources and present it to the user in a consistent and user-friendly format. The site currently has a listing of over 1.4 million hotels, inns, bed and breakfasts and specialty lodging, as well as 842,000 rental properties.
While online travel agencies often dominate the metasearch advertising space, thanks to their budgetary allocation, it also gives hotels an opportunity to drive travelers to their website through effective campaign.
Tripadvisor for Hotels
Cost-Per-Click
With Tripadvisor’s Cost-Per-Click campaign, hotels can get spotlight on their direct rates and availability — and drive booking-ready travelers straight to their website’s booking page. Independent hotels can also take part in the campaign through Tripadvisor where their rates and availability will be displayed alongside those of Online Travel Agents (OTAs) directly on the property’s Tripadvisor listing in high-profile Price Finder results. Whenever a user clicks on the hotel’s direct listing, it will take them to the hotel’s official website (booking engine). Tripadvisor charges a “cost per click” fee whenever this link is clicked by the customer.
Instant Booking
The Instant Booking feature is only available to users of USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, India, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand Philippines, Singapore, and South Africa. Travelers in other countries will not see the Instant Booking option. With Instant Booking, potential guests get to see hotel’s live rates and availability on Tripadvisor. Hotels will be able to capture the bookings in real-time through its connectivity partner on a simple pay-for-stays commission basis.
Hotel Instant Booking on Tripadvisor
Benefits of Listing Your Hotel on Tripadvisor
Travelers use Tripadvisor to check the rank of the accommodation, while the accommodation owners list their property here to increase their hotel’s ranking. Let’s see how having a Tripadvisor profile is beneficial for a hotel:
It tells the travelers that your hotel exists at so and so location and lists out the amenities you offer.
It gives you the freedom to showcase your property the way you want by adding a description, pictures, etc.
Multiplying your online reach, it helps you empower your business by attracting more bookings.
Availing the advantage of promoting your brand, you can lure guests to visit your brand’s website and make a direct booking.
Engage with your customers and make them feel special by immediately replying to their reviews and offering them special offers.
The best of all, a Tripadvisor hotel listing is 100% free; but note that you will be asked to pay for a yearly business subscription for a direct link to your website and other various promotional options.
Steps to Add Your Business on Tripadvisor
Now, when you know the perks of listing your hotel on Tripadvisor, it’s time to check the process of listing:
Step 1. Join Tripadvisor
The first and foremost step is to create your account on Tripadvisor. Simply, click on the “Join” button on the upper right-hand corner and you are ready to go.
Step 2. Search for your hotel on Tripadvisor
The unique part of this platform is that anyone can create a listing on Tripadvisor: both hotel owners and customers.
So, as a business owner your next step is to type the hotel name in the search box to find if your property is already listed or not. If you are lucky enough to find your hotel name in the dropdown menu, then go to step 3 or else skip to step 4.
Step 3. Claim your business
If you find your hotel is already listed by a customer, then it is time to claim your business. Click on the “Claim Your Business” option below the hotel name and get started.
Remember, Tripadvisor allows only 1 listing per property. So, you won’t be able to create a new listing in the same hotel name and you need to claim your property proving you are the owner of it.
Claim your free Tripadvisor listing
Step 4: Request a listing
If you didn’t find your hotel name, then click on the “Request Listing” option below the search box to list your property on Tripadvisor. This will take you to a new page where you will be asked to enter your business information.
Step 5: Enter your information
Enter your business details: Business category, Name, Address, Contact no., when was the hotel started, and other property details. Remember, these details will be visible to every person searching for your hotel on Tripadvisor and will induce their decision to book a room in your hotel or not. Once done, your profile will be created on Tripadvisor.
Once done, you are all set!
Grab Travelers’ Attention with Amazing Photos on Tripadvisor
Graphics appeal to the eye much faster than the mind takes to decode the text! Listings with photos have a competitive advantage over other hotels not showcasing any pictures of their property. Adding high-quality images and videos not only gives the traveler a virtual tour of your accommodation but also increases your ranking on Tripadvisor website.
Research shows that the viewers spend more time scrolling through the profiles of hotels that have 30 or more property images than the hotels with less or no images. Let’s check out the Do’s and Do Not’s of Tripadvisor photography.
Do’s and Don’ts of adding photos to your Tripadvisor listing
Do use clear, original, high-quality images.
Don’t show your skills in graphic designing.
Do mix your pictures of different rooms, lobby, and other areas.
Don’t share downloaded pictures from Google.
Do upload pictures of different seasons and activities.
Don’t share confusing collage images.
How Does Tripadvisor Rank Hotels?
Tripadvisor’s ranking algorithm works on 3 simple elements: quantity, quality, and the recency of the reviews.
How many reviews are there on your profile? What is the average frequency of the reviews?
How relevant are the reviews? Whether guests are talking about the property/ service in the review or not
When was the last review received? Was it before the pandemic?
Tripadvisor Popularity Ranking Algorithm
A hotel business with consistently good reviews is considered to be a good property, and ranks higher on Tripadvisor with increased chance of receiving bookings. This is how reviews play a key role in deciding your rank on Tripadvisor.
Manage Reviews on Your Business Profile
Now when you have created your listing, entered business information, uploaded images and you have started receiving bookings also, it’s time to manage your bookings. Remember, reviews play a big role in getting you your next booking plus ranking higher on Tripadvisor. Nearly 72% of customers book their stay based on the reviews. Manage your reviews in 2 simple steps:
Ask for reviews
Start with asking your guests to share their experience of staying at your property. Do not hesitate! Request them to leave their feedback irrespective of whether it is good or bad. You may ask for reviews by word of mouth at the time of check-out and also send a review link via email.
Reply to reviews
Do not let any review go unattended. A thank you message to a good review increases the users trust on you and makes them feel special. Replying to a negative review is more important. Reason being it shows your guests that you value them and their feedback matters to you. This instills a sense of indirect trust and respect among the customer.
Optimize Your Listing on Tripadvisor
Listing your business on Tripadvisor is the first step to let travelers know about the existence of your hotel. But listing isn’t enough! You need to keep updating your details, upload latest images and most important of all keep a track of your reviews and customer feedback. It is a continuous exercise and should be part of your overall hotel marketing and distribution portfolio.
Google Hotel Ads is today accounting for almost 60% of all metasearch reservations and is an essential part of any hotel distribution and direct booking strategy. In this article, you are going to learn about how to set up your hotel on Google My Business to take advantage of the free booking links. To find out how to best enhance your hotel business marketing on Google, start here.
Planning to buy a new gadget? Or looking for a new book recommendation? Or News?
Great! Where do you start? Unsurprisingly it is Google. Right?
Google has become synonymous with search whenever anyone is looking for any product or service, or even knowledge. 9 out of 10 people begin their query on Google. And when it comes to hotels, Google contributes over 50% of direct bookings through organic referrals and paid marketing. If we add this to paid marketing by OTAs which have for years remained among the top spenders on Google and control 75% of the keywords clicks – Google’s dominance in the hotel booking space is clearly something that cannot be ignored. It is one of the simplest and easiest ways to mark your digital presence.
In 2010, Google jumped into the hotel distribution space with “Google Hotel Finder”, which today, as Google Hotel Ads, has become the largest Metasearch channel accounting for 57% of the total hotel bookings via Metasearch. With direct booking gaining momentum after the pandemic, metasearch has emerged as one of the most important channels for revenue managers. Thanks to its continuous feature update like Check-In Date Multiplier, the bid management has also become much more appealing.
A search for hotels on Google
Today, in our joint effort with HotelMinder, we are going to bring you the step-by-step guide to not only list your hotel on Google but also rank on it.
What is Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile (previously called Google My Busines) is a free business listing tool by Google for companies to list their business on.
It gives the business owners (hoteliers in this case) a platform to create an online profile and present their hotel brand on Google search and on Google Maps, free of cost.
Why do Hotels Need to be on Google?
With free booking links, you can appear across Google when users search for hotels.
Builds a sense of trust among travellers for the hotel via ratings and reviews.
Connect with more travelers and drive direct bookings at a much lesser cost.
Share your hotel’s physical address to be visible to local customers.
Increase your booking opportunity with a genuine business profile.
List Your Hotel Business on Google in 3 Simple Steps
1. Create Your Google Business Profile to Increase Visibility
Go to https://www.google.com/business/ and sign in with your business (hotel’s) Gmail address. If you don’t have a Gmail id for your business, then create one.
Once done, enter the details of your hotel, like name, address, location, contact number, description, services offered, and so on.
Fill in all the details that are apt for your hotel. In case there is already a business profile of your brand, then it’s time to verify it. Google needs to know if you are the actual owner or manager of the business or not.
Tip: Users trust Google! Win Google’s trust by verifying your hotel and prove its authenticity and legitimacy.
A Google My Business listing means more visibility on Google
2. Share Your Room Rates on Google to Attract Direct Bookings
Now when you have created and updated your business profile, it’s time to share the room rates to drive in direct booking. Once you share the rates with Google, free booking links will automatically show up along with your profile. There are 2-ways to enter prices in your business profile:
Your hotel connectivity partner (Channel Manager, Booking Engine, Central Reservation System) that you are using is integrated with Google and automatically shares the prices with Google.
You enter the prices manually in your Google My Business Profile and keep updating at regular intervals.
Either way, you choose to share room rates, do ensure that your feed price is updated whenever your room prices change on your website.
3. Start Google Hotel Ads (Optional)
Now, when you have created your business profile on Google and have free booking links generated, how about exploring the largest Metasearchof the hospitality industry – Google Hotel Ads.
Let’s see what Google Hotel Ads is and why it has become an essential tool for hoteliers.
What is Google Hotel Ads?
Launched in 2010, GHA is a hotel Metasearch engine like Trivago or TripAdvisor that acts as an aggregator listing hotel rooms and prices across different platforms. While it is very similar to Google PPC, Google Hotel Ads supports rich media, short descriptions, room rates, availability and direct booking links.
With Google Hotel Ads, guests can book your hotel directly on Google
In short, it is that part of the travel ecosystem that paves a direct way to reach the travellers and help them book their stay without moving to any third-party sites or OTAs. Being the largest Metasearch of 2022, it is no surprise why Google Ads is an essential component of a hotel’s digital marketing strategy.
How does Google Hotel Ads Work?
Just like any regular ad campaigns, you pay Google Hotel Ads to show your hotel to the customers. It is a paid strategy to reach targeted travelers. There are three different pricing models to choose from:
PPC (Pay per Conversion): You are charged when a traveller books a stay.
PPS (Pay per Stay): You are charged only after a traveller completes the stay. (This is a special model introduced during the time of Covid19)
CPC (Cost per Click): You are charged every time a traveller clicks on the ad, irrespective of whether they make a booking or not.
How to Get Started with Google Hotel Ads?
To start an effective ad, a hotelier needs 3 things:
A Google My Business account
A Google Ads Account
A Connectivity Partner
The first 2 accounts are a must to run any Google ad. A connectivity partner is an exception to GHA because it needs a third party for the free flow of ARI information to your ads to show the real-time room rates and availability to the customers.
As mentioned above, the connectivity partner can be your hotel Channel Manager or distribution partner.
Google Hotel Ads visibility on Google Search
If you are an existing Google Hotel Center partner and you’re participating in Hotel Ads, you’re automatically eligible to show free booking links. Any of the pre-existing properties in the hotel campaign or ad feeds are eligible for free booking links without any additional cost.
If you don’t have a Hotel Center account but are willing to start with Google Hotel Ads and free booking links, you got to fill out the interest form.
Explore the Marketing Potential of Google Hotels
Getting started with Google is a win-win deal for both the hoteliers and the travellers. Hoteliers get to build their online presence on Google Search through Google Ads, Google Maps, Google Assistant and more.
Travelers get the ease and comfort of hotel search and bookings directly from Google without hovering through multiple sites in search of the best deal. With the travel industry pacing up to normalcy, it is a must for hotels/motels/lodges and hotel chains to get started with Google to pull in maximum bookings.
With travelers hitting the road again, it’s time to make your property more attractive for them. How about targeting international travelers this time? More international travelers mean more revenue but how to do this?
The answer is “Country Rates’.
Whether you want to expand your regional diversity, enter a new market, or target guests from a particular country – be it your own or a new one, you can do it all with Country Rate.
What is Country Rate?
Country Rate is a feature used by hotels to set specific room rates for different countries. It is a method to offer special prices or discount rates to guests from your market of choice. Hotels can set different country rates for different people coming from varied countries. Country rates may vary depending on the hotel’s location and the level of demand for rooms at any given time.
The best part is that you can apply country rates to all your hotel room types, room rates and rate plans.
Is Country Rate Applicable Only for International Guests?
No, you are free to set discounted room rates for your local people where your hotel is situated. Hotels use this strategy to boost their presence in their own region and build business relations in the local market by offering a discounted price for corporate bookings.
The peak season varies in different countries. Country rates allow you to attract travellers from different countries during the holiday season/ peak season over there by offering discounts in different markets at different times. This way hotels can achieve 100% occupancy in advance both during high and low periods. Along with it, if you apply the mobile rate feature to your room pricing strategy, you can target travelers from all platforms booking a stay from any device.
Is Country Rate Valid Globally?
Due to legal or commercial restrictions, the country rate is not valid globally and is restricted in some countries. In fact, some hotels in countries where it is valid may ask for residential proof to make sure you are not taking advantage of the discounted price to make the reservation.
Benefits of Adding Country Rates
Target international customers from new markets.
International customers tend to book early and cancel less.
Sell your rooms in advance by offering special prices during the festive season.
Appeal to guests traveling from your target regions with a special offer.
Create Country Rates on Booking.com to unlock new demand by offering great prices to travellers from countries you particularly want to target. Adding Country Rates is a proactive step that hotels can take to increase your property’s occupancy as part of their pricing strategy.
Create Country Rates for Booking.com directly from your RateTiger Dashboard through the Promotions tab.
Read here to learn more about country rates and how to apply them to your existing room rate plan.
The largest sporting event of the year is around the corner and Qatar is hosting it. With less than 2 weeks left for it to begin, fans and followers from all around the world have started their packing leveraging the country’s occupancy rates. Though the hotel bookings have ramped up since last month or earlier, these last few days come as a bonus to the hotel owners.
Sports matches always bring fresh energy and vibes with them, especially to the venue it is being played at. Qatar is expected to welcome 1.2 million tourists in the last 2 months of 2022. Considering the number of air and rail tickets to Qatar being sold for the last quarter, this tournament is expected to bring a net positive impact on the hotel revenue for Q4 of 2022. This increase in demand is going to increase the occupancy rate and the ADR (Average Daily Revenue).
Demand is Increasing, Rooms are Sold, Still You Have a Chance
Yes, you read that right. Still, there is a chance for both visitors and hoteliers to book a place for themselves. With entry restrictions to the country, the government has made sure that every guest gets a roof and the rising demand gives the hoteliers the chance to maximize their revenue.
Being a hotelier, you must have reserved 15 or 20% of the rooms in your property for peak-time last-minute sales. So, this is your chance to capitalize on the demand surge and race ahead of your competitor hotels. Mega events would boost the 100% occupancy rate, but the target is to maximize your RevPAR along the way. The ADR for both local and international hotels in Qatar and nearby areas is expected to reach the peak during this season.
Where is the Demand Trend Going?
One of the first countries to recover from the pandemic, hotel industry in Qatar has been maintaining above-average occupancy and ADR consistently since last year. Given the short distance between the stadiums, hotels closer to the hosting venues are expected to see greater demand and as a result higher ADR. With this upcoming mega event, STR Forward Star predicts an average occupancy rate of 70% for hotels and B&B providers of the country in the last 2 months of the year.
With neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia pitching in, the lowest occupancy of the region in 2022 is expected to go 53% with a highest of 83% in the last week of November. Given the steady rise in demand for rooms, the occupancy on the books is expected to grow further in days to come.
In the last quarter of 2019, the year before the pandemic hit the world the occupancy graph showed a minimum of 65% with the highest touching to 86%. Seeing the current demand trends Qatar is expected to set new levels this peak season.
It’s Your Chance to Score
On the ADR front, Qatar has always shared a healthy relationship with it. During the first three quarter of 2022 the country witnessed an average ADR of USD 115,87, 13.4% higher than that in 2019. So, undoubtedly Q4 of the year is expected to soar higher.
Sporting events are always a win-win solution for hotels with average room rates soaring higher and higher. These events drive players, fans, spectators, event management team and staff to the venue with everyone needing room to stay. Altogether it is a golden opportunity for hoteliers and other departments in the hospitality sector to score the goal.
However, tournaments like these also go a long way to building better relationships with potential guests. There are several case studies that have shown how prices can fall dramatically after a major sports event. By all means, utilize the high demand to raise profitability, but give attention to the shoulder seasons as there are expected to be leaner periods. Trying to earn ‘quick bucks’ at the expense of long-term customer value and loyalty can cost dearly to the hotel industry. Do not abandon the guests, contracts and operators who have supported you during difficult times – you will again need them for long-term success. And more importantly, don’t compromise your tomorrow for a quick return today.
Therefore, while it’s the perfect time to score your goal, don’t ignore the defence. Leave the booking management tasks on RateTiger Hotel Channel Manager and Rate Shopper and set your focus on welcoming guests with the best services.
An image speaks a thousand words. And when it comes to securing guest attention, visuals give hotels the power to tell their property’s story. Whether potential guests are searching for a property on metasearch, OTA, Google or on social media – the first thing they are going to notice is the visual content. It’s what they can see and can greatly influence their booking decisions.
Hence visuals are crucial to the success of a hotel’s online presence. To start with, visual media makes potential guests to see and comprehend information which helps them to develop their own perception of the property and make an informed decision.
Where a high-quality image clicked from a proper angle can attract the guests, a flawed image clicked in dark from a poor angle might skip the traveler’s eyes and discourage them to book a room in your hotel. The photos you upload can make or break your reputation affecting your business, yet many hoteliers overlook the importance of hotel photography.
Photos attract the eyes faster than any other detail of the hotel. It’s a proven fact that the human brain can process an entire image within 13 milliseconds. So, is the same with the hospitality industry. The guests start imagining how the hotel will be and how their vacation will precede just by seeing the images of the hotel.
However, adding, editing and managing media content can be tricky. Thanks to Photo API though, content management has become easier for hoteliers.
What is Photo API in Hotels
Photo API is a means of communication between the system and the front-end website. In the hospitality industry, it is a way for the flow of photos from the dashboard to multiple distribution channels. All you need to do is integrate the API with the hotel channel manager or CRS for it to work. Most of hotel channel managers already have this feature integrated for you to showcase the best view of your hotel.
On a photography level, you need to click images that appeal to the guests and they start visualizing their stay. On a technical level, you need an API for the channels to seamlessly talk to each other and share visuals.
Key point: Highlight the best areas and features of your hotel on your profiles on OTAs, GDS, and others. Property media like images of the lobby, recreational areas, reception, entrance, garden, and conference hall. Under “room media” upload the images of the different rooms belonging to the respective room types.
Steps to Upload Media to the API
Open the dashboard of the channel manager you are using
Click on the property name on your left side
Click “Media” under “Property Settings”
Go to Room Media to add images of the rooms
Go to property Media to add images of the hotel
Click on the “Add Caption” button under every image to add the name of the area the picture belongs to or add the room type and give a small description to it.
To edit or replace any image click on the edit button corresponding to that image. Hotel photos can be managed under the head “Property Media”. Room media can be managed under the head “Room Type”.
Deleting any image removes it permanently from the dashboard and you need to follow the above steps again to reuse it.
Image Format: PNG, JPG, JPEG, GIF
Takeaway
With hotel bookings transforming from the traditional to the digital method, technology is a major part of the hospitality industry. Speaking of technology software like Hotel Channel Manager, Booking Engine, PMS, Rate Shopper and APIs (Application Program Interface) like Photo API, Content API, Room Rate API are the foundation stones of the hotel industry.
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