International Vacation Hotel Partner Newsletter: Tools to Increase Bookings!

May 11, 2012 - PRLog -- IN THIS ISSUE:

Maximizing Distribution and Reach by being Thorough. Being direct. Being strategic.
1.   Create and Manage your Hotel’s Social Media Presence.
2.   Maximizing GDS/ IDS Bookings.
3.   Meet us at ITB, Berlin – March 7-11, 2012
4.   International Vacation Hotels - Travel Agent Network. An opportunity to showcase your Hotel.
5.   Travel Agency Commissions
6.   Travel Agency Commission Settlement (TACS) Program

Maximizing Distribution and Reach by being thorough. Being direct. Being strategic.

Distributing your hotel room inventory globally in the most optimal way is an achievable goal. How can you be sure that the implemented distribution strategy is optimal? Well, one measure of such success is the fact that your Average Daily Rate (ADR) or room rate is likely increasing and your occupancy levels continue to be above 75.0 to 80.0%.

There are several distribution “vectors” that should be explored. These vectors once fully explored will provide you a thorough online distribution that will lead to optimal results. Let us review the distribution vectors that must be explored:

(i) GDS Vector – This is a “must-have” channel, both for reach to the travel agency market and for acceptance globally. The four GDSs, namely Sabre, Amadeus, Worldspan and Galileo are accessed by 660,000 globally situated travel agencies. This is also the most expensive channel due to various fees such as the fees charged by the GDS’s themselves, the representation company fees, travel agency fees, etc. Due to the costs associated with this vector, net rates must be managed meticulously else your Hotel will not have the right image with globally situated travel agencies.  Make sure you discuss any questions regarding rate parity or rate issues with your Account Manager at International Vacation Hotels by writing to hotelops@internationalvacation.com.

(ii) OTA Vector  – Again, this is a “must-have” channel both for direct access to consumers as well as volume. Setting up, managing and transacting with the OTAs can be both time consuming and cumbersome. If you are setting up with one OTA, it is likely a manageable process. But in todays economic encironment, it is customary and perhaps much needed to set-up and manage several, sometimes 3-4 OTAs directly. These direct connections to the OTAs are mostly merchant accounts that may be managed through a channel manager. Using a channel manager such as the one from International Vacation Hotels requires a monthly fee plus overhead time in managing rates and inventory. But without this channel, you may be missing a large portion of the bookings.

(iii) IDS Vector – The Internet distribution channel, IDS is the last of the “must-have” vectors. This vector allows you to connect or list your Hotel with over 1,000 OTA websites without the management and set-up overhead required by the OTA Vector. This is an automatic channel and International Vacation Hotels can help you connect to the IDS channel seamlessly. One common question asked my many Hotels is how the IDS channel will affect their OTA relationships. The short answer is that it will not. Consider the IDS to be an exclusionary system i.e. it will not re-send your data to OTAs that you are already directly linked to. If your Hotel is on the GDS, but not on IDS or merchant channels, please send an email to Hotel Operations and your Account Manager will get in touch with you.

(iv) Wholesale Vector  -- International Vacation Hotels maintains its own network of travel agencies and relationships with XML providers to bring bookings directly to our hotel properties. Make sure we have the more current pictures and the  rates that are no less favorable than the OTA channel. This will help drive both ADR and occupancy for your property. If you wish for us to include you in the XML wholesale, please send an email to Hotel Operations and your Account Manager will get in touch with you.

(v) Consortia/ RFP Vector  -- The other significant channel of note is the Consortia/RFP Vectors. Consortia channel is comprised of over 20-30 consortia operators each having their own network or club for distribution of hotel inventory. This is an expensive channel requiring membership into the various consortia, but drives more definitive room revenue. If your Hotel is suited to the more discerning business travellers, then the request for proposal (RFP) channel is something you cannot miss. Whether its Consortia or RFP that you wish to explore, please send an email to Hotel Operations and your Account Manager will get in touch with you.

(vi) Hotel Website Vector  -- And finally, don’t forget your own vector, your website, online presence and social media presence. It is imperative in this day and age to have an efficient and seamless Internet Booking Engine on your website. If you do not have an Internet Booking Engine, you can use the award-winning Booking Engine from International Vaaction Hotels. Our Booking Engine currently powers over 1,000 Hotel websites and processes transactions 24x7, around the globe. If you commit to certain long term contracts with International Vacation Hotels, we will provide an online marketing, online advertising budget to advertise the Hotel website on popular online venues such as Google and large networks such as Doubleclick. This is called SEO spend and a category that we will discuss further in our next newsletter. Keep your website updated with recent pictures and videos. Let us maintain your website for you or even refresh it with new pictures and a fresh look. Manage your

Hotel’s Social Media Presence:

Introduction to Facebook “Timeline” -- Most of our client Hotels have an active Facebook page. Starting March 30, 2012 all Facebook pages have changed over to the new Facebook Timeline design. Facebook's Timeline will allow brands to interact and brand in an entirely new way. Starting with the visual aspects of the pages all the way to letting your fans in on a little more history of your brand, Timeline will change how fans are interacting. Enhanced branding is going to be the superstar of timeline where brands can create and personalize their pages with the use of the new cover photo and thumbnails. Storefronts and locations will also be able to map out their locations, which will appear in an icon at the top of the page. The new design has been cause for a lot of preparation, so making sure you're ready is a must!

Is your Hotel on Pinterest? -- When travellers are planning to visit a destination they are poking around the web and seeing what they can find out about attractions, food and where exactly to stay. They are booking with their eyes and going wherever their friends and family suggest. So a site where friends, families, and now a booming population of brands go to expose their destination on a visually unique and inspiring platform is the perfect place for a searching traveller to end up. Showing the world where they want to go is exactly what Pinterest is going to be all about for travel where visual influence is the name of the game. Some key facts that should put your interest in Pinterest are: Pinterest accounts for 3.6% of referral traffic, which is more than Google+, LinkedIn and You Tube combined! (mashable). Over 20% of Facebook-connected users are on Pinterest daily (bizreport). Pinterest unique users have increased 2,702% since May 2011 (comscore). 42% of travelers will check out their destination and travel plans on social media before booking (emarketer). 52% are inspired by photos to take their next trip (simplitravel). In summary, your Hotel should be on Pinterest!

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