Choosing a marketing agency for a hotel or resort
What to ask a marketing agency before hiring them for a hotel or resort, and why understanding the OTA-versus-direct dynamic matters more than general creative flair.
4 min read
Many independent hotels have no unified view of guest history across channels — an OTA booking and a direct booking from the same guest may sit in entirely separate systems with no connection, losing the chance to build a real relationship.
What to build first
- A simple guest profile capturing stay history, preferences and contact detail (where consent allows), consolidated across booking channels.
- Automated post-stay emails requesting reviews and capturing marketing consent.
- Tagging of guests by type (leisure, wedding, corporate) for relevant future communication.
Automating direct-booking nurture
A returning-guest email sequence timed to likely return occasions, with a direct-booking incentive, converts past guests at a far lower acquisition cost than reaching an entirely new audience through paid channels.
A hotel without a unified guest record is starting every marketing effort from zero, even with guests who have already stayed multiple times.
Reporting on direct booking growth
Track direct booking share, repeat guest rate and average booking value by channel monthly — this combination shows whether the direct-booking strategy is genuinely reducing OTA dependency over time.
The takeaway
Build a simple guest profile system capturing stay history and preferences from every channel, even OTA bookings where guest contact is limited — this is the foundation for any future direct-booking marketing.
Written by Fibvo — Bengaluru and Erode, India — working with clients in other time zones. Questions, or think we have it wrong? Tell us.
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