Online marketing basics for independent hotels

April 16, 2008 | Hospitality Industry

For the many hoteliers only just getting to grips with marketing their inventory online, web 2.0 is not necessarily a wonderful new opportunity. EyeForTravel's Hotel Technology Forum offers a day educational presentations and discussions tackling the key distribution challenges and opportunities facing independent and small chain hotels.

For any accommodation provider, large or small, it is now practically impossible to ignore the internet as a distribution and marketing channel. Competition is rife and hotels with the best marketing and distribution reach dominate. However, whilst the large chains have huge budgets and strong brand recognition, smaller players need to be highly resourceful and innovative in order to harness the distribution power that the internet provides.
Unsurprisingly, many independent and small chain hotels still lag behind. Their products maybe great, but that’s just not enough anymore. Without a coherent reservation and distribution technology strategy they will continue to lose out to their more web savvy competitors.
What�s more, it�s clear that for the many hoteliers only just getting to grips with marketing and selling their inventory online, web 2.0 is not necessarily a wonderful new opportunity. Rather, it is an inconvenient reality that is going to take up even more time, money and knowledge to manage. Most are painfully aware of the importance of having a web 2.0 strategy, they just have no idea how they are going to implement one effectively!

It is these issues and concerns that have prompted EyeforTravel, a leading media and business intelligence provider in the online travel space, to organise the Hotel Technology Forum, a day of educational presentations and discussions tackling the key distribution challenges and opportunities facing independent and small chain hotels. The principle focus will be on the selection and implementation of an internet booking engine, the necessity of channel management and the tools required to do this effectively, and perhaps most crucially how to ensure seamless integration between these solutions and other technologies such as the hotel�s PMS and revenue management systems.

�I decided to put together this forum as there is clearly a real need for more education and knowledge sharing in this area. Many hotels are keen to progress with their online distribution strategy, but don�t have the resources to attend expensive conferences, or employ consultants. At this free to attend event, our specially selected experts will help attendees identify their own needs, assess what solutions are on offer and take steps towards developing a workable strategy for their hotel businesses�, said Simon Carkeek, Executive Director at EyeforTravel.

The Forum is free to attend for hotel owners and employees and will take place on 21st May at the Business Design Centre in London � alongside EyeforTravel�s annual European Travel Distribution Summit.