Who is Winning the Pricing War?

The battle on pricing between hoteliers and OTAs is a touchy subject in the hospitality industry.  Millions of hotels and lodges are found on Online Travel Agencies, where advertising and company exposure are created for potential customers all over the world.  For customers the question comes down to, where am I going to book my…

Read More

Top Takeaways From The 2014 Wisconsin Lodging Conference

2014 WH&LA board members

The 2014 Wisconsin Lodging Conference aka WH&LA Annual Meeting Conference and Trade Show was packed with excellent speakers and provided ample time for industry members to meet to compare their experiences and find answers to their questions. Below I’ve complied a list of what I thought the key takeaways were from the show. Stephanie Klett, Secretary of…

Read More

Travel Planning With Facebook

Watch out TripAdvisor, travel planning with Facebook might just catch on. Their new Graph Search, is a little known tool that could come in handy for your next trip. You can add a search like “Friends that have traveled to Chicago, Ill” and receive a whole page of suggestions based on your friends’ travels. I…

Read More

Facebook Business Page Rollout – version 2014

Facebook is once again updating their interface. This time it’s for their Business Listings. This updated Facebook Business Page Rollout will include many things that affect Independent Lodging Properties. Here’s a short summary… Sometime soon when you log in, you will be ‘invited’ to join the waitlist. Later you will be ‘welcomed’ in with an…

Read More

Choosing a TripAdvisor Connect Internet Booking Engine

OnlineBookngEngine

A prerequisite to launching a TripAdvisor Connect campaign is having an approved TripAdvisor Connect Internet Booking Engine (IBE) on your lodging property’s website. An Internet Booking Engine (IBE) allows your guests to review room and amenity details and browse availability. After they have made a choice, they are able to book directly on your site’s secure…

Read More

A Likely TripAdvisor Connect Scenario

ROI of TripAdvisor Connect

Let’s cut through all the noise of the upcoming TripAdvisor Connect announcement with a real life example of a likely TripAdvisor Connect scenario. In last week’s post, Rolling Out TripAdvisor Connect, we dissected the FAQ posted by Trip Advisor and speculated a bit on what’s to come based on what industry insiders are discussing. What will…

Read More

Rolling Out TripAdvisor Connect

TripAdvisor will be rolling out a new service this fall for their Business Listing subscribers called TripAdvisor Connect. It is essentially a CPC (cost per click) program in which lodging operators can sign up. It provides a “Show Prices” button on the Trip Advisor Business Listing page that forwards potential guests directly to their branded…

Read More

The Influence of Mobile Purchasing on Travel

The infographic below summarizes the behavior of mobile purchasing on Travel based on mobile users in the UK. This demonstrates why lodging managers should be checking to see how their websites and online booking engines appear on mobile devices -particularly tablets. Here are the key findings on mobile travel purchases from Tnooz. “The study also…

Read More

New Trip Advisor Blackmail Tool for Lodging Managers

Real help for Hotel Reputation Management, Trip Advisor Blackmail Tool for Lodging, Hotels, Inns and B&Bs Ever have a guest tell you that if you don’t do ‘x, y or z’ that they will write a bad review about you or your property? Now there is help for hoteliers, it’s the Trip Advisor Blackmail Tool…

Read More