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Groupon on social travel buying

July 05, 2012 | Hotel Marketing

According to Groupon, more hotels will jump on the flash sale bandwagon this year, however, they will be more cautious about who they work with and put more controls in place.

Flash sales as a concept has grown considerably in several markets including the Asia Pacific region but hotel companies have realised that not all the players can deliver the goods. Certainly choosing the right partners is not easy. By developing partnerships hotel companies hope to reach out to a new set of buyers or focus on increasing off-season occupancy. But such initiatives often fail to deliver.

Among the unexpected results are: failure to attract the right kind of customer; insufficient revenue per room; no repeat business; and giving up too much revenue to the partner site. Flash sale sites, however, recommend that hoteliers (looking to partner with a social marketing channel) research all options thoroughly and select distribution and marketing partners that suit their brand and truly understand their business challenges.

In markets like the UK and Australia, the trading practices of such sites have been questioned and there have been specific concerns over practices such as reference pricing, advertising, refunds, unfair terms and the diligence of interactions with merchants.

Get the full story at EyeForTravel

Read also "How hotel marketers are tweaking flash sale offers"

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