Marketing agency for hotels: a growth system for direct bookings

Hotel guests often find a property on an online travel agency and then search its name to check photos, location and price. A good month is one where more of those guests book on the hotel's own site or phone line, the agencies fill the dates that would otherwise stay empty, and the hotel knows which rooms came from where.

Who buys

Hotel guests divide into leisure travelers, business travelers and group bookers such as wedding families and companies sending teams. Leisure guests compare on agency apps and look for reassurance before paying. Business travelers value a quick confirmation, an invoice and a room that is the same every trip. Group bookers need a person to speak to. When a guest searches the hotel's name, the hotel's own website, Google listing and hotel ads compete with agency listings on the same page, and the guest books wherever the rate and the next step are clearest.

What a good month looks like

In a good month, the hotel's own website shows a live rate and a booking engine that works on a phone, the Google hotel listing links to the direct rate, and guests who book directly receive something the agencies cannot offer, such as early check-in on request or a direct line to the front desk. Past guests are invited back ahead of their usual travel dates. Command reports direct bookings next to agency bookings, room nights by source, and the commission avoided on direct stays.

The two channels that matter

1. Google Hotel Ads and the free booking links. Guests who search the hotel's name see the direct rate beside the agency rates, so a matching price with a clear booking button wins the stay without an intermediary.
2. Email and WhatsApp to past guests. A guest who has stayed once already trusts the property, and a personal note before their usual travel season brings the second stay in directly.

The first thing we test

Our first hypothesis to test: the hotel's own booking path is harder than the agency's, with a slow page, no live rate or a form that asks for a callback, so guests who searched the hotel's name go back to the agency to book.

Questions about hotels

What does a good first month look like for a hotel?

A working direct booking path on mobile, the Google hotel listing pointing to the direct rate, a past-guest list prepared with consent, and Command showing bookings by source so the direct share has a starting point.

What do you not do for hotels?

We do not ask a hotel to leave the online travel agencies or break rate agreements with them. The agencies remain a source of new guests; the work is to make the direct path the easier one.

Which locations come first for a hotel group?

The property with the most name searches and the weakest direct booking path goes first, since guests are already looking for it. Each property is then reported separately in Command.

Read the hospitality page