Hoteliers told to tap all markets

Hoteliers are been told to use the internet to attract more business by targeting a lot of markets at once.

Formerly too expensive due to the necessity of different types of hard copy collateral, Hotels.com managing director Nigel Pocklington said marketing through the internet had increased opportunities significantly.

“If you are marketing through the internet it is a case of having it all, rather than an either or situation,” he told Hoteliermiddleeast.com.

“If you are connected to the Expedia sites you are able to figure out where demand is hot or cold and target accordingly.”

Aloft Abu Dhabi online marketing manager Daniel Spijker agreed with Pocklington and said the more hoteliers targeted sectors online, “the stonger the message” could be.

“Aloft target the UK, the US, the rest of Europe, the GCC and the UAE,” he said.

“By identifying the IP address we can make sure the text is different if you are logging in from Abu Dhabi than if you were logging in from the UK.

“This a great thing about online marketing — you can measure so many different things and optimise your campaigns per country.”

Pocklington added that despite the internet not being as widespread in the region as in Scandinavia or the US, online penetration was developing quickly in the Middle East and there was an increasing “willingness to transact online”.