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An HSMAI Partnership Presentation

With Vizergy®

September 21, 2010

Best Practices for Maximizing Your

Hotel’s Online Revenue and ROI

Based on the survey “Assessing the Industry – Hotels’ Online Spend and

Strategy Deployment”

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Overview of Format and TopicOverview of Format and Topic

Webinar Moderator

Fran Brasseux

Executive Vice President, HSMAI

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POLL QUESTION #1POLL QUESTION #1How many people are participating in

this webinar at your location today?

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Agenda

Meet the panel

Examine today's Internet marketing landscape

Review highlights from: “Assessing the Industry – Hotels’ Online Spend and Strategy Deployment”survey

Assess current strategies

Evaluate and understand areas for improvement

Establish steps for a plan of action

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Joseph R. HymanFounder and CEO, VIZERGY®

17 years of hospitality experience

Established VIZERGY, formerly SECURE-RES in 1998 - which

touts over a billion dollars in consumer direct bookings for

its hospitality clients

Under his leadership, VIZERGY is recognized as an industry

leader in hospitality online marketing

VIZERGY was recently named, for the third year, one of the 50

fastest growing private companies in Northeast Florida

Named one of HSMAI's Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in

Sales and Marketing 2009

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Mike Parent

Vice President of Sales & Marketing

Coakley & Williams

Joined Coakley & Williams Hotel Management Company in 2007 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

Previous experience includes sales management positions with Potomac

Hotel Group, TAJ Hotels International, Hilton, and Sunburst Hospitality.

Served as Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships at Choice Hotels

International.

As Vice President of New Hotel Sales Support for Choice Hotels

International, Mike built and led a nationwide team of sales directors and

construction professionals who specialized in opening new and conversion

properties.

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Kathleen Culleninspire resources

Hospitality Consulting Firm

� Provide consulting and training services to hoteliers in areas of revenue management, distribution, reservations and technology assessment

� Previously with Raffles International and SwissotelHotels and Resorts

� Co-Author� “Dynamics of Revenue Management: Top Line to

Bottom Line”

� “Evolving Dynamics of Revenue Management: A

Comprehensive Road Map for Hotel Owners, Operators

and Practitioners”

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Forrester Research estimates that 32% of hotels’revenues come through online bookings. This includes brand.com bookings and those made through third-party websites such as Expedia and Priceline.

Forrester Research also estimates that the overall travel industry allocates 29% of its marketing budget to online, including search, display, mobile and social.

Travel allocates more of its budget to online media than any other industry.

Approximately 62% of a travel company’s interactive marketing budget is currently allocated to search engine marketing.

Why is this so important?

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77% said their website

traffic is growing

70% said their website

revenue continues to grow

70% are seeing their

greatest returns in online

investments

40% of respondents do not

have a social media strategy

47% spend less than 20% of

their marketing budget

online

Study Highlights:

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Does your website sell?

“Does your site focus solely on your

property, or does it include information

about the local area (events, attractions,

transportation, restaurants, businesses,

etc.)?”

67% of hoteliers said that meetings are a part of

their overall strategy. When asked if meeting

planners are looking at their website, more than

half said no or were unsure.

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A Solid Foundation is Key

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Best Practices: Websites

Ensure the website platform will support the latest

technology

Work closely with your vendor to understand your

website’s capabilities and available tools

Examine your website’s tools/technology to help

identify any gaps

Ensure that the website is easy to navigate on a

smart phone

Ensure that visual content such as quality photos

and virtual tours are up-to-date and available

The following are recommendations on items to review to get a ‘status check’

and create a plan to action, as well as some best practice recommendations that should be in place to ensure the site remains up-to-date.

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Best Practices: Websites, cont.

If meetings are a part of the hotel’s overall strategy,

ensure that an online RFP tool is in place

Ensure that content is easy to update

Be authentic and create compelling content

Create content tailored to the hotel’s target market

Get a “fresh” set of eyes to objectively review content

and test tools such (i.e. create a reservation to go

through the RFP process)

Ensure that the pre and post stay messaging is evaluated

and consistent with your brand message

“Use your

post stay

emails to

encourage

guests to

write a

review.”

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Create an Emotional Connection

Create an online customer

experience that transcend

the typical and help

maximize the time the

customer spends on your

site.

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Building the Right Merchandising Platform

Visual Appeal - Creating an emotional

connection with the target audience

Demand Generator Content - Consumers want

to be sure that the hotel of their choice

includes the right location and area

specifications based on their needs for each

unique visit.

Navigation - Website functionality must be

intuitive and easy-to-use.

Flexibility - The website platform must be flexible enough to keep up

with the most modern programming techniques, allowing hoteliers to

keep up with the rapid changes of technology.

Scalability - Keeping an eye towards the future and ensuring that the

website platform has the ability to grow with the needs of a hotel or

hotel company is another important factor.

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• With Google mashups, a rapid influx of new Internet browsers such as Chrome, IE9 and Safari, and increasingly popular mobile sites, online marketing can quickly become dated.

“Is your site mobile ready?”

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Social Media for HotelsWhen hoteliers were asked if they have a social media

strategy, 60% responded “yes” and 40% “no”.

When asked, “Do you have a proactive plan to encourage

guests to post online reviews, photos and comments?”, the

answers were split evenly − 50% “yes” and 50% “no”.

While 40% of the hoteliers surveyed indicated that they

do not have a social media strategy, it appears that more

than half of the hoteliers surveyed are handling social

media in a tactical way.

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Pinpointing Your Property’s Best ROI

70% of those surveyed indicated that they see the

greatest ROI from their online efforts.

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70% of those surveyed indicated that they see the

greatest ROI from their online efforts.

PAID SEARCH

DIRECT

REFERRER

AD CAMPAIGN

NATURAL SEARCH

Pinpointing Your Property’s Best ROI

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How Do Your Peers Spend Their Budgets?

Online projects have longer shelf lives and

better tracking (than traditional media) to

measure ROI.

Email Blast

SEO

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Resources

WEBSITE HOSTING

WEBSITE MAINTENANCE

WEBSITE DESIGN

IN-HOUSE? OUT-SOURCE?

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Best Practices

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Best Practices

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How Much Time Do You Spend on

Measurement and Analytics?

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Understand Your Key Performance Metrics

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Best Practices

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Best Practices

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Q & A

� Kathleen Cullen

� Mike Parent

� Joe Hyman

Thank you!

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The Evolving Dynamics of Revenue Management:

A Comprehensive Revenue Optimization Road Map for

Hotel Owners, Operators and Practitioners

By Kathleen Cullen & Caryl Helsel

Published by HSMAI Foundation in partnership with the HSMAI Revenue Management SIG Advisory Board and TravelCLICK

Revenue Management has continued to grow as a science and an art over the past several years in many

industries, and especially in the hospitality industry. On the most fundamental level, the basis for success is

to have the right revenue management organization in place to support the revenue strategy. A solid

understanding of revenue management is critical throughout an organization, from top to bottom. This

HSMAI Foundation publication brings you and your property the very latest information on understanding the market, market segmentation, forecasting, revenue strategy, pricing, inventory control strategies, and

performance analysis. Included are a plethora of case studies to help you optimize revenue at all levels.

Order today at www.hsmaipublications.com.

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TodayToday ’’s webinar is copyright 2010 by the Hospitality Sale s & Marketings webinar is copyright 2010 by the Hospitality Sale s & Marketing Association International Association International with All Rights Reserved.with All Rights Reserved.