We hear it again and again from hoteliers: getting guests to book directly is a dream come true.

It’s the best possible scenario — visitors peruse your website where they can see striking photos, learn who you are, and fall in love with you. Then they just hop on over to your booking engine and send all of their info directly to you, so you can start cultivating a beautiful ongoing relationship based on warmth and loyalty. Yep. That is indeed the dream.

Unfortunately, there are a few common nightmares that get in the way.

Commission costs

Online travel agencies (OTAs) have really taken over the travel industry, and more and more travelers are looking to them to find accommodations. Having a presence on OTAs can be super helpful. However, paying huge commissions to them is a bummer… but how else can you be found among all of the other hotels out there?

Booking process

Just because visitors make it to your site, doesn’t mean they’ll make it all the way through the booking process. A lot of times visitors on your site get distracted for one reason or another and don’t end up booking — or they begin to book but abandon their cart. Ouch!

Time and attention

Direct bookings often come at the cost of providing direct customer service to answer questions and help visitors through the process. But that takes time and manpower that you don’t necessarily have. It’s hard to focus on the online hassle when you’re busy running a hotel.

Sound familiar? No worries! That’s where we come in.

Since 2002, we’ve helped resorts, hotels, and tourism-based businesses to kick butt. We’re full-time travelers (check us out on our travel blog!), so we’re really well acquainted with all kinds of hotels and resorts. We’ve got a soft spot for smaller boutique hotels because of the charm and personal vibe they tend to have — just what you want in a temporary home!

But after talking with so many of the owners and staff of these hotels, we’ve noticed that a lot of them are struggling in the same areas. And that’s a shame, ‘cause they have so much to offer and they deserve to thrive! Read: You deserve to thrive!

Here are some of the folks we’ve helped along the way:

Hotel Northampton, Northampton MA, USA

Coral Reef Club, Barbados

Crown Lanta Resort & Spa, Thailand

And as of late, we’re helping True Blue Bay Boutique Resort in Grenada!

Thanks to our work together, we’ve been able to help in a number of ways.

Marketing consultation

We’ve had some truly awesome consulting sessions with True Blue’s marketing team to evaluate and improve their sales funnel — that is, the process of moving site visitors from initial contact all the way through to booking.

Booking process

We’re improving the way that the resort attracts leads, engages, and facilitates bookings. Streamlining the process into a quick and easy experience is key, and the results so far have been pretty fab!

Site redesign

The site showcases the beautiful resort and incredibly lovable team. We’re not just saying that to be nice either — this team rocks, and we actually have lots of fun alongside all the businessy stuff! It shows on their website too.

It’s exciting and rewarding to see our work on the sales funnel coming to life! Main calls to action (like “book now” buttons) are easily accessible from all parts of the site. Direct booking is integrated, fast, and easy. Visitors barely have to lift a finger to find the info they need and book a room they’ll love.

The new website launch is coming soon! If we haven’t said it enough already, we love True Blue, and we’re pumped to help them thrive in the world of online hotel booking. Stay tuned. And let us know how we can help you too!