OTA Management

Some hoteliers consider OTAs an expensive channel, whilst others see them as an extension of their sales team. Love them or hate them, OTA's have created a niche and are here to stay. On a positive note, they do have the marketing spend to reach corners of the world most hotels could only dream of. Therefore, it is important to have an alliance with at least 3 of the major players in your region.

Contracting with more is OK, but you will find that between the major players, they either own or have affilliations with the thousands of OTA's out there. These OTAs have however, put together formidable teams of "market managers" who can bamboozle hoteliers with jargon, bombard you with statistics and confidently predict what travellers want, when and how they want it, and how your hotel is missing out on the action. They further go on to publish top producers in various regions, to create hype. The sole objective being increased transactions through their sites.

A new emergence is the phenomenon of OTAs and other "bed banks/STO wholesalers" where they have become affiliates of each other on the basis of them wanting rate, inventory and availability parity. In other words they sell to end users (bookers) through each others networks. They claim they have been "forced" to do this and that it is to their detriment in that their earning potential is lower if booked via an affiliate partner. They argue this is a reasonable course of action on their respective parts.

As a hotelier and Revenue Manager, this is unacceptable. It has almost become a mafia like operation, affecting Leisure, Corporate, Governemnt and STO segments alike, with Hotels being on the losing end:

• Gimmicks are being used in the name of tactics, which mislead bookers, e.g. the rate on the sell screen is different to that on the confirmation screen because the advertised rate is excluding Taxes or other mandatory fees
• Using their commission to discount the rate, resulting in others automatically amending your rate to the same level. When this happens, some properties do not even realise this, and when those who do pick it up and query it, the OTAs argue that they adjusted the rate based on the parity clause in your contract
• Some blatantly advertise incorrect rates, and when queried, blame interfaces or other systems
• These gimmicks are applied indiscreetly, regardless of lead time, i.e. for arrival date today, tomorrow, next week, next month and even next year
• It takes hours to detect who the originating culprit is and by the time you findout who it is, the next diparity is awaiting
• By implementing Top Producer rewards, Hoteliers end up vying with each other to feature in the top 10 results

Further more, did you know algorithms have been formulated to track various indices like rate, inventory and availability parity; and the number of times these parities occurred? The end result is your hotel's ranking is negatively impacted and if you do not appear in the first page of search results, can expect to not be booked.

But what is it that you / your business needs? Do you feel like you're being "bullied" into discounting your rate and ignoring your revenue strategies just to compete with the Joneses?

We analyse your business, determine what role OTA's and other channels should be playing, and set your strategies accordingly. Our service includes attending your meetings with the "market managers" to help you sift through the "BIG data" presented, without any bias.

In addition to this, we mointor

• your OTA pricing and adjusted it to supply and demand factors
• that the OTAs are selling the correct rate (as per your strategy)
• that your channel manager is updating rates and inventory correctly
• OTA promotions are current, updated and not in conflict with your revenue strategies
• performance indices keeps your ranking to the first page
• Attend regular review meetings with OTA account managers and feedback to Hotel management

Options

1. Outsource

This function can be outsorced to us to the extent where we mange the entire process from contracting with the OTAs to meeting with them regularly, and designing and implementing your strategies.

2. Consultative

Here we analyse what you have agreed to with each of the OTA's, consolidate agreements if required, attend reviews when you meet with the various market managers, recomend rate strategies and/or assist with the management of the extranets.

Benefits

1. Over 2 decades of experience at your disposal.

2. Customised strategies to meet your financial requirements.

3. Affordable. We'll tailor a package to meet your budget.

Contact us for a free consultation.