iBooking.com has introduced a new service, encouraging more independent hotels to adopt online booking direct from the hotel website. (6/18/2007)
The company is using its online marketing expertise to make it entirely risk free for hotels to generate new customers from pay-per-click marketing by reinvesting commission earned from hoteliers using their iBooking Hotel online booking engine.
Marcus Cent, Founder and Marketing Director said, "Hoteliers are infinitely more net savvy than they were just a few years ago. They recognise that online booking is a necessity but choosing the right provider to work is no easy task. We know it´s not enough that we offer a great booking engine if the hotel is struggling to attract traffic to their own site."
According to the company, its iBooking Hotel product is a plug-in solution that automates the booking process on the hotel website and frees staff time in dealing with repetitive email booking enquiries. It also allows instant publication of new rates, promotions and allows the hotel to take full control of their direct marketing strategy.
"Many hoteliers don´t yet understand all the pieces of the jigsaw that have to fit together to maximise the online booking opportunity from the hotel website. Our new offering is aimed at taking away some of the headache. We take all the risk away by picking up the ad bill. The hotelier has nothing to lose if uses iBooking as his booking engine provider," said Cent.
The company looks at each customer individually, to understand their offer, any USP´s relative to the competition, and prepares a tailor-made marketing plan based around pay-per-click. It plans to reinvest a proportion of the revenue made from commissions as a way to increase the traffic flow to the hotel website and in turn, generate more bookings.
"We think it´s a unique offer," said Cent. "We have a great booking engine and we already work on a pay-for-performance basis by charging no monthly fees, and no set-up fees. It´s a 100 percent commission model and the hotel only pays after the customer has completed their stay. Offering to reinvest our profit in marketing is just the next step. It makes sense for us and it makes sense for the hotel."
