HOTELMARKETING.COM

How to get out of the OTA trap

December 10, 2009 | Hospitality Industry

Maximizing revenue through online channels is keeping revenue managers on their toes. And these days it’s more challenging than ever, as increasingly savvy consumers are finding it easy to suss out the best deals online.

So it’s up to hoteliers to find ways capture consumer attention through unique ways to immunize themselves from commodity pricing, while also weaning themselves off Online Travel Agencies.

Though it may seem daunting, there are ways for hoteliers to increase their web presence and the likelihood that consumers will book directly through their proprietary booking channel. At the HSMAI’s Digital Strategy for Travel Marketing & Distribution Conference held this week at the Wynn Las Vegas, experts discussed this increasingly onerous issue.

“Consumers have control, but they are seeking out exciting experiences, and they are unable to get that through interaction with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs),” said Aleck Schleider, VP of Media Strategy and Services with TravelCLICK.  “They are looking for robust imagery to be spoon fed to them for them to make the right choice. However, they will look, compare prices, but in the end it comes down to the experience they’ll have when they make the decision to buy.”

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