Hotelier Middle East collaborates with Arabian Travel Market 2016 to find out how hotels can capitalise on the new digital era of sales
Paul: What do travel agencies do apart from SE marketing, what can they do to get some presence on search engines?
Farooq: Become a local digital concierge, with specific content for various travellers.
Meritxell: You also need to keep the balance. It is our responsibility to equip the travel industry players with the right technology and tools, which allow them to personalise the trip and provide key relevant content.
Kevin T: They would have to be a trusted advisor. That face-to-face conversation is really important.
Paul: How can hotels encourage direct sales? It’s a dilemma they face.
James: The hotel industry is going through some seismic change. Giving away control of its customers to the OTAs. On the other hand, Airbnb is taking some out. Hoteliers are left with the cost, the people, the structure, and all the problems. Largely it comes down to, ‘How do you get back relationships with your customers?’ [There are] lots of ways to drive more direct sales, but most people will go to a hotel’s website. They want to see videos, photographs, they want to know more about what this hotel is about. They want to go through to the booking page. They will then get the price there, and then they will leave. The main reason they leave is because they want to check the price elsewhere.
Oscar: You always have to look for the best solution. In our case, for searching hotels and flights, it’s to look for a different experience. All the travellers looking for multi destination. Most of the OTAs cannot offer this.
Ali: We’re looking to drive volume and ultimately improve conversion rates. You can work on each site.
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