Before we dive right into how to drive more direct hotel revenue, let's understand the reason why savvy hoteliers focus on having more contribution from these channels. Driving more revenue from your hotel website, call center, and sales department can have a remarkable impact on revenue per available room (RevPAR) and asset value growth as these direct channels have a lower Guest Acquisition Cost and yield higher Guest Lifetime Value than online travel agencies (OTA) and global distribution channels (GDS). In other words, by attaining guests through direct channels, a hotel will save on paying OTA and GDS commissions and the hotel will also own the guest profile information, which will allow them to upsell and remarket that guest for a future stay – making that guest far more valuable than an OTA or GDS guest.

So how can your hotel grow its direct channel contribution? Use smart integrated marketing tactics that align your hotel's brand vision, digital presence, social media, public relations, and event marketing strategies. And all of these strategies should focus on bringing awareness and conversion value.

For example, to increase direct channel contribution with an enhanced digital presence, ensure that your digital presence strategy is multi-faceted with not only a user-friendly and engaging website, but also includes email marketing, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, local listing optimization, and retargeting efforts. While a good website will bring higher conversion value, these other strategies build awareness and bring qualified traffic to your website.

To start driving more direct hotel revenue today, contact us for a free consultation and we'll help you get started on your hotel's marketing plan.