How to Reduce Reliance on OTAs

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are constantly incorporating new functionalities and evolving to provide hotels with a better booking process through their platforms. This has advanced to such an extent that approximately 70% of bookings are now made through OTAs.

Despite being a great ally for hotels, as they offer a new channel to attract guests and promote the hotel, relying heavily on them can be very detrimental. They charge commissions ranging from 5% to 33% and limit opportunities to build guest loyalty.

 

 

Do you know how dependent your hotel is on OTAs?

 

 

 

 

To reduce your dependence on OTAs, you must understand that it will require additional work, and results won't appear overnight. This is the work that OTAs claim to save you, but in the long run, are you truly saving?

 

Actions to Decrease OTA Dependence

 

The following actions are not a perfect formula to reduce your dependence. Depending on your hotel's profile, you can analyze which ones to implement and create the formula that best suits you.

 

1. Create a Content Strategy

To create a content strategy, first set a clear objective, such as increasing the number of guest arrivals during a specific period or extending guest stays, among many others. Based on your hotel's objective, you can create appropriate content for your guests.

Be consistent with the content you publish on your website and across the various social media channels you use to communicate. Be dynamic; upload content in different formats that your guests can interact with. Pay attention to the design; remember, that's the first thing your guest sees. We don't want your hotel to look bad in such a competitive industry.

 

 

2. Generate Interaction with Potential Guests Through Social Media 

Generating interactions on social media with your guests offers several benefits if included in your digital marketing strategy. These networks are not just sources of information; they're also a huge data reservoir that can help you provide a more personalized and attractive service or experience.

To generate interactions, you must consider the type of content you want to convey and, of course, the profile of the guest you are targeting.

Remember that what may be attractive to one person may not be to others. Always stay updated on new guest demands and remain active on your social media so that potential guests visiting your site know they can find answers there.

 

 

3. Have a Presence on Hospitality Blogs, Create a Marketing Strategy

Having a presence on hospitality blogs should also interest you because your next guests aren't only found on OTAs. Blogs often feature comprehensive articles about a hotel's experience or the services it can offer.

Appearing in blogs sounds simple, but you actually need to design a very good marketing strategy to be featured in one of them.

But why appear in them? A blog contains detailed information about a hotel's experience, mentions and recommendations of hotels your next guest should visit, in addition to promotions or news from standout hotels.

Your potential guests are also found on these blogs, and it's important to be where they are. You should always be in touch with your current and prospective guests, as maintaining a close relationship with them is key to building engagement.

 

 

4. Don't Disappear from OTAs

It's important for your hotel to maintain a presence in the OTA market because that's where your competition, and above all, your current or potential clients, are. Therefore, you shouldn't neglect what happens on these platforms.

It's necessary to understand that being on OTAs isn't indispensable, but it is necessary for your hotel to gain greater visibility. The key here is not to depend on these platforms, but rather to use them as an ally in promoting your hotel.

Staying aware of what's happening on OTAs is fundamental to understanding what your guests think and getting an idea of the reputation your hotel is building on these platforms regarding the service and experience provided to your guests. As mentioned before, your guests are on OTAs, so you need to be present there.

 

 

5. Respond to Online Reviews

Reviews are an important part of a digital marketing strategy, whether for building guest loyalty or attracting new ones.

Strive to have 100% of your reviews responded to, as this contributes to your online reputation. Additionally, you'll gain insight into what's happening in different service areas of your hotel and whether the offered experience is ultimately delivered.

Pay special attention to negative reviews; these can provide significant insights into guest satisfaction levels. Ensure they are responded to in the best way possible, and don't forget that guests always expect responses when leaving comments on various platforms.

 

 

6. Offer Benefits for Direct Bookings: USP (Unique Selling Points)

A Unique Selling Point generates an opportunity when you want to secure direct bookings for your hotel. For this, it's essential to understand your guests' experience and satisfaction, as their perception is key to designing an attractive USP.

You must remember that here you should promote your hotel and/or services. Highlight your location, comfort, among other elements your hotel can offer. Don't focus only on the presentation of your hotel; remember that you must provide something that personally benefits your guest, and this is crucial for a unique USP. But how? Simple: you can offer special prices and promotions to attract your current and potential clients with this unique offer, encouraging them to book directly with your hotel instead of another.

 

 

7. Build Loyalty with Your Closest Guest Group

Building loyalty with your guest group is essential for them to book with your hotel again and also to attract new clients. You must consider that earning guest loyalty is not an easy task; it requires constant effort aimed at providing the best quality service to the guest.

For this, you need to understand your guests' needs. How? Easy: as we mentioned before, read and respond to their online reviews. This way, every opinion, suggestion, or complaint can be considered in your next tourism offer, coupled with a strong loyalty campaign. Furthermore, you'll be able to identify the profile(s) of guests your hotel attracts, allowing you to formulate more segmented strategies that connect with them.

There are many ways to understand your guests' needs; one of them is online surveys, which allow you to obtain first-hand and direct information. Loyalty with your guest group is built and depends on the experience offered to them. Therefore, you must remember that everything you do or say, the guest will remember. The more loyal guests you have, the more bookings you will get.

 

 

8. Have Competitive Rates

When making bookings, rates are an extremely important aspect for guests choosing your hotel. It's crucial to constantly know and update yourself on market conditions and how they are projected depending on the season, in order to set a competitive rate within the hotel industry.

To do this, you must know and identify your direct competitor hotels, as you can find the guest profile you are interested in attracting among them. It's important to keep in mind that your rate doesn't depend exclusively on the rate your competition sets; remember that there are no perfect or predefined hotel rates.

Consider that your rate should offer your guests or potential guests much more than a good price; it should provide an experience that has a close link between price and quality, and you must ensure that this is unique.

 

 

9. SEO Positioning (Search Engine Optimization)

For your hotel to have greater visibility in metasearch engines, it's necessary to have an SEO strategy that positions you among the top results for hotels. SEO positioning is a constant and meticulous effort. Since it's not an easy or quick task, we'll give you a couple of tips to keep in mind when you want to organically or naturally position your hotel.

• Optimize your website for a pleasant user Browse experience.

• Make a brief list of your keywords: use them in the content you create.

• Don't forget HTML codes; it sounds complicated, but it's not. Make sure your keywords appear in them.

• Check that everything is correlated.

• Build alliances: nothing beats collaborative work involving mentions, annexes, and shared content to increase your hotel's visibility.

 

 

 

 

10. Pay Attention to WOM (Word-of-Mouth)

The important thing is for WOM to affect you positively, meaning that comments, both offline and online, speak of the excellent service offered, a promotion, the new look of your reception, or the warm guest care your team provides. These comments reflect how satisfied your guest is, and how likely they are to recommend you. WOM is like a domino effect: if we ensure that customer service quality has high standards, your WOM will not be bad. And vice versa.

 

 

11. Facilitate the Direct Booking Process

The booking process, and ultimately its conversion, is what every hotelier wants. For this, you need a process that is user-friendly and simple for your next guest to book at your hotel. Do you remember one of the tips we gave you for SEO positioning? Optimizing your website is extremely important! You can have a structure, information, and steps that facilitate booking your hotel.

The idea is for this booking process to be fast, secure, and as smooth as possible. You need to display all important information clearly, and the design should be practical and functional, as well as attractive. Highlight the call to action; make sure it's a reasonable and non-invasive size.

Make sure your next guest has the best experience from the moment they book!

The evolution of OTAs means that the percentage of bookings made through them is constantly increasing, leading to a decrease in direct bookings. However, OTAs are extremely relevant for your hotel, so not disappearing from them is key. The idea is to work with them, but to focus on boosting a digital marketing strategy with the aim of attracting and encouraging more guests to make direct bookings on your website.

Direct bookings bring significant benefits, such as the conversion itself, which is inherently good, and also allowing guests and users to learn more about your hotel and the services you can offer them. It never hurts to provide a bit of information that characterizes and differentiates your hotel, as this is a great opportunity to start generating engagement.