Can Better E-Mails Help Hotels Win Back Business From Booking Sites?
Skift Take
As online travel agencies are offering hundreds of options at the finger tips of the consumer, hotels are struggling to get direct bookings. To win business back from the OTAs, hotels need to figure out ways to cultivate better relationships with guests.
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For hotels, winning business back from online travel agencies has become priority number one.
In a competitive online booking landscape teeming with options, hotels are struggling to stand out. So, where should discerning hotel marketers be looking to improve direct bookings? While some turn to big budget ad campaigns or SEO hacks, the foundation of the answer is much simpler. You need to cultivate a relationship with your guests.
The basis of this starts with e-mail: a key tool for hotels to connect with guests at all touchpoints and collect information that will help learn what the guest (incoming, current, or former) really wants.
E-mail capture for hotel brands is absolutely essential. But even after collecting guests’ e-mail addresses, most hotels send only generic marketing blasts, transactional e-mails and confirmation e-mails. When you move past generic messaging and personalize communications with guests, you are working to form a bond with your customer—collecting preference info that will help target offers that will surely a
