Increase hotel direct bookings: fewer booking sites, more guests of your own.

How can you, as a hotel, increase direct bookings?

As a hotel, you can increase direct bookings by giving guests a simple reason to book with you directly before, during and after their stay. That works with a clear booking page, a visible perk for direct bookers and a way to reach the guest again after their stay. The tips below are experience and recommendations, not measurements.

Why do guests book through booking sites instead of directly?

Guests book through booking sites because everything is in one place there: comparison, reviews, payment and cancellation. It's convenient and familiar. So your own site doesn't need to be better than every booking site, but it does need to show quickly what the guest gets by booking directly with you. Ask yourself honestly: can a stranger find rooms, price and the booking button in 30 seconds?

It helps to ask two or three guests how they found you. Where did they find you, and why did they book there? The answers show you what's going on. That's experience from practice; you don't need any software for it.

What does your own booking page need to do?

Your booking page needs to load fast, work well on mobile and show the way to booking without detours. Recommendation: the booking button is visible right away, the room photos are real, and the perk for direct bookers sits right next to it. Test the page yourself on your phone, as if you were a guest who doesn't know you.

• See rooms, prices and availability without logging in
• Cancellation terms explained clearly and briefly
• Phone number or chat for questions easy to see
• The perk for direct bookers on the first screen

What perk can you offer direct bookers?

Offer a perk that costs you little and gives the guest something they really notice. Good examples are a later check-out, a welcome drink or breakfast. What matters is that you keep the offer honest and your team knows about it. A perk the guest has to explain at reception doesn't work.

Write the perk in one sentence on your site and in the confirmation. That way the guest remembers later why booking direct was the better choice.

How do you reach guests again after their stay?

You reach guests again when you have their permission and give them a reason to come back. The most common mistake is doing nothing after the stay. Note when a guest booked and what mattered to them. Get in touch at the right time, for example before the season they usually travel in.

Ideally with no booking site in between. On the booking site, the contact often belongs to the booking site; in your own channel, it belongs to you. That's the idea behind every direct booking strategy.

How does WhatsApp marketing with SmartChat help you with this?

With SmartChat, you get the guest's permission on WhatsApp and then stay in touch without phone follow-ups. Follow-ups in SmartChat keep sending automatically after confirmation. The guest signs up through your landing page or a QR code , confirms via double opt-in and then gets your follow-ups. Anyone who wants to unsubscribe writes STOP.

A sample text for a guest after their stay (all details are examples):

Find out more on the page SmartChat for hotels. To be honest: SmartChat only sends over WhatsApp and doesn't replace a booking system.