Hotel owners need to think more like retailers and use ancillary products not just to boost revenue, but to draw customers into their orbits.
For many segments, hoteliers have ceded ownership of the booking process to online travel agents, sacrificing margin and control of the customer. Hoteliers will only win this battle for the customer with strong ancillary propositions—beyond food, beverage, conferences and events—in direct channels. A strong ancillary proposition has the added benefits of driving additional revenue, margin and customer insights from the data captured.
The customer insights generated can be used to better target propositions and drive the self-reinforcing cycle as customers dream of vacations, then search and book travel, take their trips and post reviews.
This article first appeared in Hotel News Now.
