How to get the most from OTAs — increase your online visibility and convert more bookings!
First, it’s important to remember that working with OTAs doesn’t mean that you should completely abandon your direct distribution. The goal is to use both simultaneously, finding a balance where all distribution channels complement each other and don’t compete amongst themselves.
Hostels should use OTAs as a source to attract new customers; the ones that probably couldn’t find the brand websites directly or who aren’t used to booking through OTAs. After that, it’s good to ensure that any subsequent bookings are driven by your direct channel since at this point your customer already knows you.
OTAs are valuable partners, it can be considered as a boost to gain visibility and catch customer attention.
Like every distribution channel, OTAs need to be properly managed. To get the best from those channels, hostels need to dedicate time and resources to build their online presence on each platform and learn how to better work with them to drive booking.
Counter has direct integration with the main OTAs and helps you to better manage your reservations. The new bookings arrive automatically on the PMS, saving time and avoiding issues like overbookings.
WHY OTAS?
They give customers access to multiple suppliers on a single page to compare the products and choose easily.
Hostels always fight against the commissions paid to OTAs because the distribution cost is too high. When you calculate your ‘customer acquisition cost’ from your website like building, maintaining, SEO, pay per click… you quickly realise that driving direct booking is actually more expensive than you expect.
By working with the right partner, a hostel would immediately have its inventory open to the world.
Some OTAs can even translate the content into the customer’s native language, making it easier for the customer during the decision-making and buying process. Diversifying your portfolio of partners increases your diversity of geographical markets.
The main benefit is that you expose your hostel to more consumers, 1/3rd of those consumers also visit your website or social media pages. If you have a strong direct booking channel with a dedicated booking engine, you can convert it into direct bookings.
Another advantage is that you pay per performance. No booking means no cost. At the end of the day, it’s a win-win situation; if you drive many bookings from a particular OTA, you have more guests and consequently, pay the commission. That’s why OTAs should also provide straight support to hostel owners and work side by side with them.
Lastly, it’s a great way to keep an eye on the competition. You can track all the information regarding pricing, rates and what your competitor’s guests are saying about them.
Key success factors
Have an outstanding presence on the OTAs does not mean simply signing up and waiting for the bookings to start arriving. Hostels have to ensure that they are attractive and arise customers curiosity. Your presence on Google is equally important and can follow the same principles.
PHOTOS
Travel is definitely a highly visually interactive product. You could include exterior and interior pictures of the building itself, multiple pictures of each room type, including their bathrooms. Include views from the lobby, restaurant and bars, guest facilities and amenities, tours and experiences that you offer and especially for hostels: pictures of guests or “models” using your facilities. This portfolio can be a good mix to have in each OTA.
The goal is to give your potential customer a visual experience of your hostel and the atmosphere they can find there. Most OTAs allow you to post an unlimited number of pictures, more is definitely better.
The thumbnail is the first picture that your customer will see when they check your page. This is probably the most important picture and the first virtual impression that your potential guest will have. Here, we recommend you to use your strongest selling point. If your hostel is known as a party hostel, for example, a good option might be a picture from one of your events.
Professional pictures make all the difference, undoubtedly hire a talented photographer!
Regarding pictures, there is some debate about whether or not you should photoshop the images. You should! As long as the picture still represent reality, it’s ok to edit images and make them look better. Images have an emotional impact. Consider the image of Milan.
It’s a picture that you could take from your smartphone camera. It represents Milan, but it’s too “boring”, it doesn’t arise any interest. Now look at the next image, still real, and it evokes emotions.
Remember, when guests see these visually appealing pictures, it creates a desire and excitement to visit your hostel and the city in which it is located. And if they meet those emotions and excitement, they’ll always remember the hostel like in the pictures.
CONTENT
The primary goal of content is to ensure that all your hostel’s features, facilities and amenities are listed on the OTAs. Second, but not least are the navigation instruction, which is equally important.
Hostels must dedicate a lot of attention to their textual descriptions, the history of the property, detailed description for each room type and transparent explanation of the rates offered.
Be mindful to provide answers to question like — How to arrive at your location from the airport, train station, bus station? Which transport should your guest take? How long it takes? Is there any advice you could give to make your guest arrive at your hostel faster or cheaper?
REVIEWS
A huge part of any hostel’s marketing is based on word of mouth, which virtually corresponds to online reviews.
A golden rule about reputation management is to match customer expectations to avoid frustrations. Try to resolve any customer service issue before they check out.
OTAs give you the possibility to respond to your guests’ reviews, these responses can define the mood and emotion of your hostel. Respond clearly, always make sure your guests feel understood and start with acknowledging their needs and requirements. Reviews are also a great way to measure how your operations are going.
Listening to your customers helps your hostel improve overall. For instance, if the same issues are coming up again and again, you must prioritise in finding a solution to these problems.
Over 3/4th of travellers will pay more for a hotel with a higher review score. Having said that, the conclusion is: higher rate aggregates value to your hostel and allows you to increase your price.
PRICE AND AVAILABILITY
Unless you are 100% sure that you’ll sell all the empty beds through other channels, it’s safer to leave your full inventory available on the OTAs.
The main aim is to sell each bed and room at the maximum possible price and minimum cost every night.
When the beds start to sell fast, manipulate the demand by using your rate rather than availability. Use this flexibility to maximise your distribution.
In conclusion, keep in mind that the key steps of getting the most from the OTAs are by focusing on the textual description, images, reviews and location-based information. The better it is presented on the OTAs, the more conversion you’ll have.
