Background
Countrywide Hotels, a UK-based management and consultancy firm, oversees a portfolio of approximately 30 diverse hotels, ranging from small country house hotels to large, business-focused hotels.
Faced with high commission fees from Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), Countrywide Hotels sought an effective strategy to boost direct bookings and reduce dependence on third-party platforms.
Challenge
The initial push for reducing OTA dependence began when one of Countrywide’s general managers questioned the feasibility of moving away from major OTA platforms.
Recognizing the risks involved, Marketing Manager Hugh Arch explored solutions for a sustainable direct booking strategy. The main challenge was finding a user-friendly, scalable tool that could effectively increase direct bookings across a range of hotel types and sizes without significant setup costs.
Solution
Countrywide Hotels opted to trial Userguest’s tool, drawn by its risk-free implementation and customizable features. Key solutions provided included:
Targeted Notifications: Allowed the promotion of exclusive direct booking offers, helping to offset OTA commission costs.
Price Comparison Widget: Displayed real-time price comparisons with OTAs, effectively communicating price advantages.
Exit Pop-up with Email Capture: Engaged users before they left, capturing emails for future promotions.
Saved Search Notifications: Tracked users’ searched dates, re-engaging them with tailored offers for specific dates.
No Availability Notification: Redirected users to available dates when their initial search returned no availability, reducing the chance of losing potential bookings.
Specific Dates Booster and Low Occupancy Booster Notifications: Targeted low-demand dates to maximize occupancy.
Social Proof and OTA Review Notifications: Showcased recent bookings and reviews to build trust and encourage bookings directly on the website.
During the free trial, Userguest provided hands-on support, with frequent check-ins to evaluate feature effectiveness and adapt strategies to each hotel’s unique needs.
Results (September 2024)
£16,174 in Potential OTA Savings – By converting direct bookings that would have otherwise gone through OTAs.
65% of Website Bookings Generated by Userguest – Userguest’s tools drove a significant share of direct bookings across all properties.
64% of Website Revenue from Userguest Notifications – The revenue generated through Userguest’s notifications underscored its value as a revenue-boosting tool.
See What Countrywide Hotels, Marketing Manager Hugh Arch Had to Say About Running a Test with Userguest:
“It’s a no-brainer; there’s no reason not to give it a go.”
See Video
Conclusion
The free trial experience solidified Userguest’s role as a pivotal part of Countrywide’s direct booking strategy. Its minimal setup, compatibility with Countrywide’s PMS, and adaptable interface made it an ideal solution. The substantial revenue gains achieved during the trial provided convincing evidence to hotel managers, making Userguest a strategic investment to continue reducing OTA dependency.
Explore the Benefits
For hotels aiming to decrease OTA reliance, Userguest provides a low-risk, high-reward solution.
Userguest offers a free demo and a 30-day trial, providing hotels with a risk-free way to experience firsthand how our tools drive direct bookings and boost revenue.
About USERGUEST
USERGUEST is a travel tech company founded in Amsterdam in 2019 by Hicham Benyebdri, Assil Bernossi, and Ahmed Chami. The start-up strives to empower hotels to be less dependent on OTAs, helping to close the gap between revenue managers and marketers. After identifying that most hotels seek to increase their unmediated revenue stream, the founders set out to develop a tool that would boost direct bookings. They developed a SaaS solution that leverages data to maximize hotel website revenue and improve customer experience.
About the Tool
Userguest is a smart notifications tool. It uses smart algorithms to display personalized notifications to each website user, prompting them at crucial points in the booking process to complete their reservation. The tool is compatible with all booking engines, which makes its integration and implementation easy and flawless for each hotel. Through RevMarketing Automation the tool automatically matches the hotel’s needs and objectives to those of the visitor and their intentions.
Find out more via the Userguest website: https://userguest.com/.
Follow Userguest on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/userguest/.
