The power shift in travel: How hotels can get back on top with their online distribution strategy

The power shift in travel: How hotels can get back on top with their online distribution strategy

David Chestler, SiteMinder

26 years in the travel technology industryHeld strategic roles with BirchStreet Systems, Pegasus Solutions, Utell International, RateGain, Visual Data Corp and Sceptre Hospitality ResourcesFirst co-chair of HTNG’s Software Resource Team

David Chestler

Executive Vice President, Global Enterprise Sales & Business Development

Exponential growth in online distributionThe great power shift in travelWhat drives the reservation: inspiration to reflectionHow the hotelier can keep paceWhat is next? Search and researchOwn your customers!

What we will cover today

Exponential growth in online distribution

“There are an estimated 480 online hotel bookings per minute.”AHLA

Online distribution is growing at a faster pace than theentire travel market.

More people are travelling than ever before

Source: UN World Tourism Organization

The great power shift in travel

The changing balance of power

Travellers have more information than ever

9 in 10 holidaymakers carried out researchbefore booking their last trip

Source: “Engaging the empowered holidaymaker”, Deloitte UK

Online travel

agencies

Online review

sites

Meta search

sites

Hotel websites

Social media

Traditional travel agents

Source: “Engaging the empowered holidaymaker”, Deloitte UK

Let’s go back to the beginning Distribution before the cloud disruption…

Distribution in 2015

Source: DPFOC, 2015

Understand cross-platform consumer behaviour

We live in a multi-screen world. Consumers move between multiple devices to accomplish their goals…

Source: Google/Ipsos/Sterling, 2012

One sizedoes notfit all…

Source: Booz Allen Hamilton, 2007

What is the property business mix?

Source: “TravelClick North American Distribution Review”, 2015

CHANNEL Q1 2015 Q2 2015

Brand 28.5% 29.1%

CRO 13.1% 13.3%

Direct to hotel 23.1% 22.0%

GDS 20.6% 19.3%

OTA 14.8% 16.4%

Understand today’s traveller

Source: “5 Min Guide: What’s happening to bookings?”, Spring Metrics

Where they’re booking What they’re searching for

Home sharing: The latest challenge for hotels

Source: Atmosphere Research Group, LLC, 2015

Hotels cost more than home share rentals

Source: Atmosphere Research Group, LLC, 2015

What drives the reservation:

Inspiration to reflection

What inspires you?

Source: “5 Min Guide: What’s happening to bookings?”, Spring Metrics

What willkeep

bookingson site

Direct booking source comparison, 2011-2014

Know how travellers are searching for you

Source: “Today’s traveler: The shift to online bookings”, Spring Metrics, 2015

What is next?

Search and research

The evolution of direct to property…Metasearch: New OTA or hotel’s direct partner?

The GDS still holds power

Source: “Booking trends: Don’t ignore impact of GDSes”, Hotel News Now, 2015

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimistsees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

Winston Churchill

See the opportunity.

How the hotelier can keep pace

Spend wisely

Marketing technology is growing. But do you have the tools to convert on the traffic?

At what cost?

Source: “Survey Report: A look at the content and technology driving today’s demand generation”, Spear Marketing Group, 2015

Marketing technologies July 2015(% of respondents)

In 12-18 months(% of respondents)

Content marketing 85% 60%

SEO 70% 41%

CRM 68% 29%

Marketing automation 62% 56%

Social media management 59% 32%

Lead lifecycle/attribution reporting 42% 45%

Testing & optimisation 41% 37%

Peronalisation 33% 34%

Big data/analytics 25% 32%

Database health & optimisation 25% 17%

Predictive analytics 16% 37%

Programmatic advertising 13% 17%

Click-to-call 8% 7%

Most important marketing technologies according to US B2B marketers

“A 100-room hotel with 1.4 guests per room running between 55% and 60% occupancy gathers data from roughly 30,000 guests every year.”

Tim Peter, Hotel News Now

Leverage your data to drive conversions

Source: “The future of personalized marketing In travel”, Skift/Boxever, 2014

How can you get your share?

Do your homework:Assess the impact and effectiveness of your individual streams of revenueDetermine which online channels provide the best ROI for your hotelAnalyse your business mixEstablish your hotel’s true level of supply – to maximise inventory onlineAnalyse your competitor set and your performance as a benchmarkKnow Google and TripAdvisor support direct to property transactions!

Look at connectivityUse automation for better yieldLook at what the biggest drivers of business are in your destinationLearn with HSMAI, HEDNA, associations, schools and consultantsKnow what your competitors are doing

Define a new strategy for managingyour distribution

It’s still about supply and demand

Analyse where you can make the biggest impact in the consumer decision-making cycleImplement an online distribution platform with true two-way XML integrationsUse images and content to improve bookings and deliver value to partnersRemember that merchandising is a strategyEnsure fail-safe delivery of bookings

Build a strategy that values connections

Have single-image inventory

How you benefit:

Easily manage your rates and availability from one platformDistribute to multiple sales channelsReceive correct data directly to yourPMS/CRSEnable automation to drive better business.

How online channels benefit:

Able to reserve rooms from a single sourceCan trust that inventory listed as ‘available’ can be soldCan work on building productive relationships with hoteliers.

120+ integrations with the world’s leading connectivity partners

SiteMinder enables seamless, two-way XML integrations with simple APIs

API for PMS/CRS/RMS integrations API for channel integrations

Concentrate your efforts

Concentration will allow you to multiply your success rate.

Find a solution that:

Allows you to concentrate all your available inventory online, via multiple channelsEnables flexibility and mobility – to keep up with rapid the changes to online bookingsEnsures parity for your partners.

Better merchandised hotels get more bookings

Why?They stand out from their competitorsThey successfully market themselves as ‘attractive’ options to the consumerThey carefully manage their data, rates and displayThey ensure their inventory is “on the shelf”

Engineering seamless online distribution

SiteMinder’s Channel Manager is at the centre of the travel ecosystem

250+ connections to the world’s top booking channels

Trusted by more than 20,000 hotels in 160 countries on six continentsCloud platform provides hoteliers with more control over the online success of their business, and connects them to travellers across the globePowered US$10.8 billion+ booking revenue and 27 million+ reservations for hotels fromJuly 2014 to June 2015Extensive network of 350+ travel and technology suppliersProvides real-time solutions that respond and react instantaneously – when you need them!

Market leader in online distribution

SiteMinder

Own your customers!

How can your hotel gain back the power?

“The momentum for change becomes unstoppable.”Gladwell

Tipping point: Let your success online generate itself.

[email protected]@dchestlerlinkedin.com/in/davidchestler

Download this presentation:SiteMinder.com/blog

We are at stand TT549!