Comments on: The Billboard Effect

By: interspire

interspire — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 02:31:26 +0000

Thank you for always providing great content and a good community! interspiresubmit

By: Alicante Airport

Alicante Airport — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:51:22 +0000

thanks for posting this.

By: Herman

Herman — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:37:59 +0000

Josh i liked and agree with your comments. I have a 20-room Inn and am looking at getting online booking system, but am a little skeptical with 15% commissions for a computer system to do something automatically – no payroll involved! Anyhow, you seem price savvy – I’m sure you shopped it all out – which OTA did you go with, and recommend? – Thanks!

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:55:32 +0000

Sure, the OTAs offer marketing value beyond their associated sales, but OTAs also cost more than they appear to cost. Hotels that are willing to consistently rely on OTAs not only outsource their reservations sales, they forego building their brand.

I worry that we hoteliers are so willing to 1.) get the quick sale and 2.) dismiss exorbitant commissions as a marketing expense that we sacrifice our own brand to build Expedia’s/Travelocity’s/Orbitz’s brands for them. Are you willing to turn your hotel inventory into a commodity to brokered out by the OTAs?

As GM of an independent hotel I don’t like the idea of paying the crazy commissions that the OTAs demand, but I really HATE the idea that I’m helping shape travelers booking habits. It’s bad enough that I pay that huge commission once, but if a traveler becomes a repeat guest and they rely on the OTAs to book I’ve lost a huge chunk of profit each booking.

In a perfect world we hoteliers would build our own brands, promote them well and book our own reservations effectively without needing the OTAs at all. If we were all willing to do this instead of taking the easy way, the OTAs could not get away with gouging us. Remember, the big brands have enough brand equity that they don’t really need the OTAs (and they pay far lower rates to the OTAs as a result). The rest of us get to make up the difference.

By: the billboard - StartTags.com

the billboard - StartTags.com — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:41:19 +0000

[...] billboard @ StartTags The Billboard Effect | VTV Channel – A Vlog focusing on Hotel …Chris Anderson, Assistant Professor at Cornell University shares the results of a research study The [...]

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:54:46 +0000

That was a fascinating to hear. Yes I too agree that if a hotelier never fills his bedroom stock to 100% and any contribution to fullfilling that would be a bonus. On top of that if you consider the expense as amarketing one then the ROI is almost 100%.

It basically is the way one views them and as hoteliers are all passionatiote creatures i can see why we get worked up. Well done Chris. Excellent!!!!!

By: David

David — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:34:25 +0000

Chris… thanks for your time and efforts in conducting this study. Several great points were mentioned. Yes, Expedia and other OTA’s are marketing vehicles and the companies spend a lot of resources on their marketing efforts.
However, from a hotelier’s perspective, it becomes matter of ROI – can we generate the same demand at a lesser cost through Facebook, Twitter, our own website, etc.
The commissions are hefty however, OTA’s can be a good way to fill need periods because of the exposure a hotel can enjoy by being listed.
In essence, OTA’s should be a part of the marketing and revenue management equation, perhaps more for smaller, independent hotels, less for chain hotels.

By: Tweets that mention The Billboard Effect | VTV Channel - A Vlog focusing on Hotel Merchandising Online -- Topsy.com

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 02:19:47 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Eric Goldreyer, shawndesouza, VFMLeonardo, Booking Blog™, Booking Blog™ and others. Booking Blog™ said: The Billboard Effect, video-interview to Chris Anderson-Cornell University http://tinyurl.com/y9xhjjp (via @vfmleonardo) [...]

By: Phyllis

Phyllis — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:01:40 +0000

This was an interesting study and I am not surprised at the results. My hotels does participate with OTA’s but that has not always been the case. At one time our market was different and I felt it would simply displace revenue.
That has been about 3 years ago. Our market became saturated with new condo inventory and the bottom line is if your competition is there, you can not afford to not be. Especially today.

Challenges still remain when I am one of the only branded hotels in this area and I have more pricing restrictions, etc than comp set I am up against but if the guest does not see you on the shelf, they can not buy your product.

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:00:15 +0000

I’ve seen for some time that Expedia is a convenient way to shop options in a market beyond price. Looking for positive impact and measuring it is refreshing. I don’t find a zero sum game. Meeting & exceeding peoples expectations increases the size of demand.
I’d be interested in feedback from the folks that don’t use Expedia on what they are doing alternately for their marketing. Probably includes quality content if they are successful.