A holistic approach to online distribution
How the Grand Cosmos Hotel increased its direct bookings
The Grand Cosmos Resort Ruisui – Hualien, opened in 2019, is designed in Southern European cottage style and operates 300 guest rooms. Located on a 20,000-ping property in Hualien County, it is the first hotel in Taiwan that offers luxury villas accommodation choices, a hot spring water park, and an internationally renowned spa all in one complex.
The hotel was not able to achieve substantial direct bookings on its website and was heavily reliant on OTAs. They also wanted to grow its international market share.
D-EDGE was engaged to drive direct booking through its solutions. With the gradual growth of direct booking and revenue, which surpasses OTAs figures, the hotel was encouraged by the results and made D-EDGE its one-stop provider for all its technological requirements for both existing and new hotels.
Challenges
- The hotel is heavily reliant on OTAs for bookings.
- It has multiple contracts with massive rate disparity on each channel which made direct bookings on their website difficult.
- The hotel has a high cancellation rate.
- Attracted mainly domestic travellers but lack of international market share.
Solutions
- Reservations system with full integration to their Property Management System (PMS), Payment Gateway and Marketing Campaign Manager.
- Incorporated Digital Media Solutions which include Search Engine Marketing, Metasearch Marketing and Display Ads.
- Implemented Marketing Campaign Manager with the capabilities to execute limited offers, the display of special promotions only to targeted markets and broadcast offers on social media.
- The website went live on November 2018
Strategie
- Develop a new website incorporating user-friendly navigation structure with Google Analytics reporting. The focus is on conversion.
- Incorporated a booking engine into the website for ease of direct booking. Addressing rate disparity to increase yield and implementing GEO pricing & limited offer features to compete against OTAs.
- Implemented digital media solutions to maximise bookings and revenue.
The results within 8 months
41%
increase clicks to brand website
196%
increase in direct booking and 160% growth in direct revenue
108%
increase in conversion rate
- The hotel achieved an astounding 41% increase in clicks/qualified traffic, 196% growth in direct bookings and a 160% increase in direct revenue.
- The results were also satisfactory during the COVID-19 period (March-May 2020 vs March-May 2019) with the continuous growth of 84 % in direct bookings and a 77% increase in direct revenue.
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