How hotels can triumph with the rise of metasearch sites

Metasearch sites are disrupting the hotel distribution landscape. It’s created an attractive third avenue for hotels to market themselves, presenting a hopeful medium between direct bookings and the OTAs.

As travellers demand quick and easy access to accurate comparison data, the use of meta search is rising.

According to data released by ResearchNow from 2013–2015, 47% of travellers in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, the US and Canada, use metasearch sites to compare hotel prices.

Unlike OTAs that pull hotel information from their own inventory, metasearch is essentially another search engine. When a traveller turns to sites like Trivago, Tripadvisor or Kayak for example, the results include the best prices from a range of OTAs, as well as the hotel’s website.

In the metasearch space, the OTAs online domination is quashed. It gives hotels a neutral platform to compete on the same standing as the OTAs.

If hotels approach the metasearch sites with the right strategy, they have a real opportunity to reduce their reliance on third party sites.

Differences between metasearch and the OTAs

At first glance, you’d think the OTAs and metasearch were one and the same. But there are a few important differences that hotels must be aware of.

When a traveller searches for a location on an OTA, they’re given rates for a range of hotels pulled from their own hotel inventory. Travellers can make a booking directly through the OTA. They then receive a commission from the hotel for every booking they receive.

The metasearch sites do things a little differently. When travellers search for a location they’re presented with a list of hotels. They collect all available rates for your hotel from various sources including the OTAs and your own website. The metasearch sites operate on a pay per click basis and do not sell rooms directly.

The real opportunity for hotels

But what does this mean for hotels? How does this change the outlook for the future of hotel bookings?

Levelling the playing field

The OTAs have enormous marketing budgets allowing them to overpower hotel queries through search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing.

Small hotels don’t have much of a chance here without a clever SEO strategy. Something that requires savvy keyword research, a content strategy and a marketing budget.

But with metasearch comes a shining beacon of hope for small hotels. The OTAs deep pockets no longer matter because everyone’s equal. The metasearch sites have levelled the playing field where OTAs and hotel websites are delivered to the guest side by side.

The story has stopped being one sided, allowing guests to make accurate comparisons between all the rates available. With almost half of travellers now turning to metasearch, this offers a real opportunity for hotels to keep a bigger chunk of their profits and reduce the OTAs market share once and for all.

Increase direct bookings

If you offer travellers a better deal than the OTAs, they’re more likely to click on the option for your website. Whether that’s through offering a lower rate or adding guest perks.

It’s no longer compulsory to feed off the OTAs massive advertising budgets to gain exposure at your expense. They’re not the only players in town anymore — the chance to earn more direct bookings is real.

And that’s why it’s more important than ever to implement a streamlined booking process. Your lower rate alone won’t be enough to win the reservation if your booking engine doesn’t offer the same simplicity as the OTAs.

Cut distribution costs

Currently, listing your rooms with an OTA costs you anywhere between 15–25% per booking. With a metasearch, you can increase direct bookings and pay less through their pay per click system.

You set a monthly budget, and the cost per click is determined by a few factors. Including your property, location, as well as competitor and OTA activity in your area.

Each click then takes away from your monthly advertising spend.

So instead of paying a percentage fee for guests who book through the OTAs, metasearch drives traffic to your website at a fraction of the cost.

It’s then your job to encourage direct bookings by getting your website in order. You do this by optimising your booking engine, offering an incentive to book direct and having an attractive, easy-to-navigate website.

Build trust in your community

In addition to real-time pricing, availability and the ability to rate shop, with metasearch travellers are given everything they need to make a booking decision. Including gaining confidence through social proof.

Because the metasearch sites revolve around reviews and ratings, this means hotels can manage and build a genuine community around their brand.

Trivago pulls all your reviews from various sites and compiles them under a review tab on your hotel listing. So no matter where your guest left a review online, they’re all collected in one place.

This means you can respond and connect with previous guests and show future guests why they should choose you.

Own the customer relationship

With metasearch sites in the picture, hotels have a fighting chance to build better guest relationships.

As more guests book direct, the default behaviour to search an OTA could decline. And without third party sites muscling their way into the guest experience pre and post stay, hotels will have the opportunity to nurture travellers through their own marketing means.

If hotels start to analyse traveller habits, they can begin to make recommendations for what they’re really interested in. By creating a dialog between hotel and guest, hotels can start building real relationships where the guest feels a genuine connection.

The OTAs will start to lose their dominance online and the meta search sites will rise further as a fair and complimentary marketing source for hotels.