In May, STAAH partners that created a promotion in our OTA Promotion feature, generated an average of 87 additional booked room nights per property.
STAAH’s recent promotion integration with Booking.com means you can now easily set up promotion from within our platform. But which promotion works best?
The short answer is that no single approach is consistently the best, it is all about having the right offering, at the right time. A number of things play into why one promotion might work better than another. Location, seasonality, lead times, demand and source markets are just a few of the things you might consider.
With our southern hemisphere partners heading deeper into winter we asked Joshua Steele, New Zealand Area Manager at Booking.com to share what campaigns work best for properties right now.
What Booking.com promotions are working best for properties who are in low season at the moment?
Joshua Steele, New Zealand Area Manager at Booking.com
Most destinations in New Zealand are experiencing the usual downward pressure on occupancy and rates that comes with low season. The good news is we have seen some properties are able to secure around 15-20% of their nightly occupancy in winter simply by targeting bookings made in the 30-60 day book-window as there is still some demand there. Practically, this means they are running an early booker promotion type with a 30 day book-window through July to September.”
Should I be considering what my competitors are doing with their price when making a promotion?
It’s always important to understand what you are up against, however, slow periods can turn into a race to the bottom if you are in a particularly competitive market. In this case we also have the option to make the deal “Secret”. These promotions give you a direct marketing boost to Booking.com subscribers whilst keeping the promotion off third party meta sites such as Trivago. This way the deal is less likely to be spotted (and undercut) by your competitors.”
Early booker deals help for next month but, what if I need reservations now?
Anything within a week to arrival we would typically consider to be a last minute booking. The shorter the lead time, the more we see that guests use mobile devices to make a reservation. With mobile it is important to remember there is less screen real estate, guests will naturally see fewer options. Only the most relevant and highest converting properties will be displayed at the top of mobile search results. Maximising visibility in case this often means you need a compelling price using a last minute promotion, if you have plenty of rooms left, consider keeping the cancellation policy flexible as this also helps to boost property visibility and conversion.”
Click here to try out STAAH’s OTA Promotion tool today.
