Rotana to market hotels through LivingSocial

Rotana Hotels has partnered with E-commerce company LivingSocial Escapes to market its properties globally through the site’s seven-day deals.

“We’ve recently started an agreement with Rotana that allows us to work with all the individual general managers for Rotana hotels throughout the region,” general manager - Escapes Nazar Musa told Hotelier.

Musa said an agreement had been made to consolidate the commercial relationship at a central level in order to ensure the correct brand positioning.

“So we did that at a group level. And now at a local level, we’re able to send our marketing consultants into the hotels, which have all been communicated to by head office to say we’re ‘cool’ with these deals and now we’re able to put together packages and share with them our experience of what will and won’t work.”

Seven-day long deals will be run on the LivingSocial Escapes site offering value-added offers at Rotana hotels with a set validity.

Musa said this can help properties combat “lull’ periods or bring hotels with 80% occupancy to full occupancy without slashing room rates.

“We build a package with the hotel and aim to show value in the deal of 50% or greater, that doesn’t mean taking naked room rates and discounting by half. We create a package utilising mostly fixed assets, so including a buffet dinner won’t cost more for the hotel but there’s a real value for the client.

“If there’s a stacked mini-bar and each item is priced at AED 30-40 - the actual value is around AED 100 for the whole bar – so if you give that as part of the deal that’s incredible value for the client. If there’s a spa there are always a couple of masseurs not working so you can include a spa treatment,” he continued.

According to Musa, more and more hotels in the region were partnering with local E-commerce companies, including brands such as Kempinski and Banyan Tree, as a marketing tool.

“We don’t want to be a last-minute sales channel but a marketing opportunity, by bringing people in to experience the hotel and become loyal customers.”

The US site LivingSocial acquired local collective-buying site Gonabit.com in July 2011, the firm is active in the UAE, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon in MENA with plans for further expansion in the region.

Rotana was unavailable for comment at the time of publishing.