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Demand Booster UNO
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Note: This success story was originally created under the brand myhotelshop. Following the acquisition by RateGain, myhotelshop is now offered as a product under the name Demand Booster. The insights and results shared in this case study reflect the performance of what is now known as Demand Booster. 

Initial situation & challenge

If we take a closer look at our customer, we quickly become enthusiastic about the charming idyll and the southern flair. The privately run 4-star Romantik Hotel am Brühl is located between Quedlinburg’s medieval town center and the breathtaking Brühlpark.

Romance resides here since 1992 and allows its guests a relaxing getaway from everyday life with the lovingly restored buildings and a modern style of furnishing. The individually decorated 47 hotel rooms, including suites and apartments, invite guests to relax next to the fairytale old town, the wine tavern and the fireplace in the lounge.

In line with the hotel’s expectations, the first priority was to design a new, attractive hotel website that reflects these values and conveys a welcoming vacation atmosphere even before guests arrive. In addition, the aim was to expand direct sales and improve the hotel’s overall profitability.

Based on these goals, our cooperation in full management support started in May 2017.

Measures

The first step was the setup of a new website developed for the hotel. With a design that matches the hotel, high-quality images and short but interesting texts, a user-friendly hotel website was created in close coordination with the hotel.

With regard to website analysis, at the same time a tool was installed to make visitor behavior visible (and to draw appropriate conclusions from it) as well as to provide key figures for measuring success.

After the relaunch of the hotel website, the first direct sales campaigns started via the relevant meta searches Trivago & Tripadvisor as well as brand campaigns on Google to drive more traffic to the website.

In addition to the existing campaigns on meta searches, marketing placements were placed on Google Hotel Ads and generic Adwords campaigns. Later, a test run with Tripadvisor Sponsored Ads also followed.

Overall, through permanent monitoring and management as well as regular review meetings, the visibility on the marketing channels could be continuously and strategically improved. These improvements were also reflected in the results: the website’s revenue increased by 24% within the first year.

In 2017, a voucher store was also implemented on the hotel website, which developed into an important pillar of liquidity. Both value vouchers, vouchers for partial services related to the hotel stay, and accommodation vouchers generated direct revenue without any service having to be provided immediately.

The results are impressive: an average increase of €650 in monthly sales revenue.

In addition to the measures that directly affected the website and direct sales campaigns, further projects were also implemented in 2018. Besides the technical relocation of the channel manager and the yield management system, we also supported necessary organizational measures, such as the legally compliant adaptation of the General Data Protection Regulation and the Flat-Rate Travel Guideline.

The upgrade of the booking engine to the latest version in mid-2019, which promised a conversion boost, was also accompanied by a voucher shop change. Since the tool changed, revenue has actually increased to an average of €1,700 per month, while December 2019 alone generated an astonishing €7,800 in additional revenue exclusively from the voucher shop.

During the constant check for completeness of the hotel website’s content, marketing-specific optimization recommendations were also made. Therefore, we revised the presentation of the social media area on the website, as well as implemented a table reservation system for the hotel’s own restaurant and a conference tool to create an even better user experience.

Special challenges in 2020

Because of the Covid-19 crisis and the related closure of many hotels in Germany, we had to switch into crisis mode together in order to guide the hotel through this situation as well as possible. On the one hand, there was the idea of showing the hotel different ways to continue offering extra value to its guests. Therefore, the content was updated and adapted in order to provide the (potential) guests with all necessary information in an optimal way. In this context, we worked with different pop-ups and evaluated them. The hotel also established a pick-up meal offer and made it available on the website with our support.

During this challenging time, it is obvious that we have focused on a very close collaboration between the hotelier and our hotel e-Commerce specialist regarding the performance of existing marketing campaigns and necessary updates on the hotel website.

We are extremely proud of our personal cooperation during the difficult period, which our contact person also appreciates very much:

“It is a pleasure to have you by our side, even beyond the work processes. It’s simply a pleasure to work together, even nicer to be successful in the process. Even in these turbulent times, humanity does not fall by the wayside and helps us to persist.”

Results

Since the start of the collaboration more than three years ago, the results have been very impressive. In particular, the continued growth in website revenue is worth mentioning:

With an excellent cost ratio of 12-13% over all three years, the marketing campaigns placed on Google, Trivago and Tripadvisor have also contributed to the hotel’s success.

Compared to 2018, revenue from these campaigns increased by 52% in 2019. It is also particularly remarkable that even in the Corona year 2020 there is an increasing growth in revenue.

The campaigns therefore took a decisive share of hotel website revenue:

These positive results also impress Hartmut Wiese, owner of the Romantik Hotel am Brühl and our first contact person:

“Our personal full manager and myhotelshop as a partner are  essential for the online presence of our hotel. We appreciate the good cooperation and are looking forward to the coming time!”

In general, the monthly phone calls to analyze and coordinate the ongoing marketing campaigns and projects have a significant impact on the common further development. Family Wiese & their team contribute significantly to the success of the hotel through the active use of a revenue management system, the lovingly maintained product itself and an open exchange with myhotelshop.

Outlook

The first projects for 2021 have already been implemented. Among other things, a systemic update of the website and further tools to be tested are under discussion. With regard to the current marketing campaigns, there will be a focus on the expansion of Google Ads.

Note: This success story was originally created under the brand myhotelshop. Following the acquisition by RateGain, myhotelshop is now offered as a product under the name Demand Booster. The insights and results shared in this case study reflect the performance of what is now known as Demand Booster. 

Initial situation

Situated in Stralsund’s best location, not far from the promenade, you find the Hafenresidenz. The waterfront 4-star hotel was built in 2011 and has 71 rooms in its main building and the “Seemannshus”. In addition to the proximity to the beach, guests of the Hafenresidenz take just 5 minutes to reach the old town of Stralsund. Due to the conference facilities, the hotel is also a popular destination for business travelers.

In 2017, no more than 25% of online sales came from the hotel’s own website. The site had only low visitor numbers. On the other hand, online travel agencies (OTAs) were the hotel’s strongest sales channel, accounting for three-quarters of online sales. There was therefore a need for action above all in the expansion of online direct sales through the Hotel’s website.

Measures

The collaboration with myhotelshop started in September 2018 with the launch of a new website as the first optimization measure. The goal of the new site was primarily to improve user-friendliness. For potential guests, the booking process was to be configured as straightforward, fast and transparent as possible.

To promote the online visibility of Hafenresidenz, the hotel relied on the use of the most important metasearches: Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, Tripadvisor, and Kayak, as well as the placement of Google Ads campaigns. Effective campaign management, regular monitoring, and the evaluations built on this enabled the campaigns to be optimized in a targeted manner. Consequently, we saw a significant increase in traffic and bookings via the direct website.

In 2020, the hotel started the cooperation with “The Hotels Network” on the recommendation of myhotelshop. The aim of the cooperation was to improve the conversion rate and thus provide another building block for increasing website revenue.

To take advantage of the boom in domestic tourism after the spring lockdown in the “Corona year” of 2020, appropriate strategies were developed and new campaigns such as BING ads were also launched.

Results

After just one year of cooperation, the share of bookings via the hotel website increased from 25% to 37%. In 2019, the hotel achieved an outstanding 95% growth via its own website.

But that’s not all. In 2020, the Hafenresidenz was also able to take advantage of further improvements. Despite the Corona pandemic, we jointly managed to increase website revenue by 41% and likewise increase the share of direct bookings in total online revenue to 48%.

This pleases of course hotel director Uwe Colberg:

“myhotelshop has turned out to be an excellent choice and impresses us not only with great personal advice and support, but also with flexibility and industry-specific expertise. In the three years of cooperation, myhotelshop has become a valued partner who has helped us to establish efficient performance marketing. As a result, we were able to significantly increase direct traffic as well as website sales. Especially during the Corona crisis, it became clear how important it is to have a reliable partner with whom you can overcome difficult situations together. We look forward to further cooperation and highly recommend myhotelshop for hotels that want to achieve more in online direct business.“

Conclusion

After two years of cooperation with myhotelshop, Hafenresidenz was able to double its website share and almost triple its website revenue. The costs incurred for direct sales in the process amounted to just 9.5% in 2020 (including all infrastructure costs) and were thus well below the average sales cost ratios of the well-known OTAs.

This enormous increase in online direct sales is, in addition to the effective package of measures, primarily a result of trusting cooperation – and especially for 2020, also a result of the high demand for domestic tourism.

We consider ourselves fortunate that we were able to accompany and support our customers, especially during this complicated time, and that we can look back on this positive result in the end.

Note: This success story was originally created under the brand myhotelshop. Following the acquisition by RateGain, myhotelshop is now offered as a product under the name Demand Booster. The insights and results shared in this case study reflect the performance of what is now known as Demand Booster. 

Initial situation & challenge

Let us first take a closer look at our full management client. The 4-star resort in Gröbern, located directly on the Gröberner lake, offers 18 hotel rooms, 35 holiday homes as well as 24 caravan pitches with optimal conditions for a relaxing holiday. With many activity packages and water sports it attracts many visitors to this natural paradise.

However, these various offers could not be optimally presented through their old website. The first impression of the hotel website was mainly confusing, the sense of navigation was not clear enough and the booking engine did not convert well. The result – two thirds of the total revenue came from the OTAs and only one third from direct channels. It quickly became clear that the resort needed to expand direct sales and increase its profitability.

That is how our cooperation started in September 2019 with our full management service.

Actions

The basis of all measures was a new hotel website designed by myhotelshop. This was primarily intended to be designed in a conversion-optimized way. It should have a better structure and appear more clear, in order to offer potential guests an easy and seamless navigation. At the same time, the content should already create first holiday feelings.

With the goal of increasing direct sales, we also provided comprehensive advice on all aspects of changing the booking engine. Thereby the HotelNetSolutions (HNS) booking engine was chosen, because it fit best to the needs of the hotel.

After the change to HNS and the completed relaunch of the hotel website, the metasearch campaigns could start. In close communication with the hotel, ads were placed on all relevant meta searches:  Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, Tripadvisor & Kayak.

Also, Google Ads campaigns were activated. The first successful results in terms of revenue became apparent very quickly and were regularly analysed in depth with their personal full manager. In addition to the monthly strategy meetings, detailed advice  was also provided on all aspects of online marketing.

Results

The first positive results can be seen approximately ten months after the start of the cooperation in September 2019. The new hotel website was successfully established as a distribution channel and now generates an outstanding 80% share of total revenues. It is worth noting that sales exclusively via the website have increased by 196% compared to the start of the full management contract.

The success of the website relaunch and the change of booking channel is shown by the conversion rate, which grew by one percentage point from 0.64% to an average of 1.6%. And best of all, the average distribution costs have been in the single-digit range since the start of the cooperation, or to be precise, at an excellent 6.4%.

Nicole Vehse, management assistant at the hotel and our primary contact person, is of course also impressed by this development:

„We have been working together with myhotelshop for almost a year. The relaunch of our website was a complete success!  Together with the new booking engine, we were able to increase the revenue of our own site by an average of almost 200% compared to the previous year on the old site. The share of OTAs was reduced significantly. The communication is excellent and all wishes and requests are implemented immediately.”

In the period from September 2019 to June 2020, bookings have already increased by 118% compared to the previous year, with a significant boost in hotel revenue. The coming period also already indicates the first signs of a further positive development in hotel performance.

These figures are more than impressive and are the result of a very trustful cooperation, which will be intensified in the future. Besides the regular analysis of the performance, additional possibilities for improving direct sales are also being examined.

Note: This success story was originally created under the brand myhotelshop. Following the acquisition by RateGain, myhotelshop is now offered as a product under the name Demand Booster. The insights and results shared in this case study reflect the performance of what is now known as Demand Booster. 

Initial situation & challenge

Let us first take a closer look at our full management client. The 4-star resort in Gröbern, located directly on the Gröberner lake, offers 18 hotel rooms, 35 holiday homes as well as 24 caravan pitches with optimal conditions for a relaxing holiday. With many activity packages and water sports it attracts many visitors to this natural paradise.

However, these various offers could not be optimally presented through their old website. The first impression of the hotel website was mainly confusing, the sense of navigation was not clear enough and the booking engine did not convert well. The result – two thirds of the total revenue came from the OTAs and only one third from direct channels. It quickly became clear that the resort needed to expand direct sales and increase its profitability.

That is how our cooperation started in September 2019 with our full management service.

Actions

The basis of all measures was a new hotel website designed by myhotelshop. This was primarily intended to be designed in a conversion-optimized way. It should have a better structure and appear more clear, in order to offer potential guests an easy and seamless navigation. At the same time, the content should already create first holiday feelings.

With the goal of increasing direct sales, we also provided comprehensive advice on all aspects of changing the booking engine. Thereby the HotelNetSolutions (HNS) booking engine was chosen, because it fit best to the needs of the hotel.

After the change to HNS and the completed relaunch of the hotel website, the metasearch campaigns could start. In close communication with the hotel, ads were placed on all relevant meta searches:  Google Hotel Ads, Trivago, Tripadvisor & Kayak.

Also, Google Ads campaigns were activated. The first successful results in terms of revenue became apparent very quickly and were regularly analysed in depth with their personal full manager. In addition to the monthly strategy meetings, detailed advice  was also provided on all aspects of online marketing.

Results

The first positive results can be seen approximately ten months after the start of the cooperation in September 2019. The new hotel website was successfully established as a distribution channel and now generates an outstanding 80% share of total revenues. It is worth noting that sales exclusively via the website have increased by 196% compared to the start of the full management contract.

The success of the website relaunch and the change of booking channel is shown by the conversion rate, which grew by one percentage point from 0.64% to an average of 1.6%. And best of all, the average distribution costs have been in the single-digit range since the start of the cooperation, or to be precise, at an excellent 6.4%.

Nicole Vehse, management assistant at the hotel and our primary contact person, is of course also impressed by this development:

„We have been working together with myhotelshop for almost a year. The relaunch of our website was a complete success!  Together with the new booking engine, we were able to increase the revenue of our own site by an average of almost 200% compared to the previous year on the old site. The share of OTAs was reduced significantly. The communication is excellent and all wishes and requests are implemented immediately.”

In the period from September 2019 to June 2020, bookings have already increased by 118% compared to the previous year, with a significant boost in hotel revenue. The coming period also already indicates the first signs of a further positive development in hotel performance.

These figures are more than impressive and are the result of a very trustful cooperation, which will be intensified in the future. Besides the regular analysis of the performance, additional possibilities for improving direct sales are also being examined.