Excerpt from PhocusWire
I am certainly not the first person to remind you what happened after the September 11, 2001, attacks led to an economic downturn with particularly devastating effects on travel and hospitality.
When I note that hotels, desperate to fill rooms at almost any rate, turned over inventory to new online partners that promised (and delivered) head in beds, it’s not meant to be a cautionary tale.
The fact of the matter is hoteliers are going to find themselves in the exact same situation again as we exit the current COVID-19 pandemic, and there’s not much any of us can do about it. Much of the early returning demand will come through third parties - even wholesalers. Like it or not, the fate of your hotel - whether or not you can recover - is in the hands of the online travel agencies.
Managing the situation appropriately this time around - analyzing deeply segmented booking data, optimizing channel distribution mix and preventing rate leakage – will be critical moving forward. OTAs are again in a position to dominate and, as hoteliers, you need to make sure they’re playing fair.
Here’s why we predict OTAs will provide a key source of near-term bookings and what hoteliers can do to ensure they’re capitalizing on the right opportunities.
It’s no secret that hotels across the world are sitting empty. Travelers are already on the hunt for deals, itching to book a getaway when we return to some sort of normalcy. From a price-sensitive consumer’s perspective, dynamic pricing works two ways, and they’ve seen plenty of “surge pricing” over the past few years.
As corporations and families alike tighten the purse strings, expect many travelers to “trade down” from full-service to select-service, for example.
The new consumer will undoubtedly be more price conscious, meaning they will shop more sites looking for deals. Expect them to go to OTAs in a hunt for lower prices and take advantage of promotions and loyalty program features.
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