What we hear when we sit down with operators
At smaller hotels and apartments we meet a very high share of OTA bookings. The portal is convenient, it has trust and a good purchase flow. The hotel then gives up and waits for whatever the distribution partner sends.
Ellipse approaches it the other way: an OTA is one of the sales channels. The hotel still needs to get to know the guest it has won, serve them well and give them a reason to come back directly next time.
How Ellipse solves it
This is not one extra feature. What matters is that the steps follow one another and the same piece of data does not have to be entered again in every department.
The direct website has to be a real alternative to the portal
If the guest cannot book on your website, they go straight back to the place where they can. Web Booking therefore has to show availability, the price and the terms, and take the guest to confirmation and payment without unnecessary steps.
The advantage of a direct booking does not have to be only a lower price. It can be a more flexible cancellation, credit, parking, an earlier check-in, a better upgrade or another benefit that makes economic sense for your property.
Loyalty has to have a concrete value
Ellipse CRM can credit the guest with credit, cashback or another benefit according to the programme rules. The customer sees that a direct relationship with the hotel brings them something.
A digital loyalty card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet lowers the barrier to use. The guest does not have to carry another plastic card or remember an account number.
Self Check-in is a good place to bring an OTA guest into your own ecosystem
The guest from the portal already has a booking, but before arrival they enter your digital guest journey. This is where you can clearly offer them entry to the loyalty programme and a benefit they can use during the current stay.
What matters is that joining loyalty is not a trap for personal data. The guest should understand what they gain and how the hotel will use their data.
Communicate when you have a reason
CRM segmentation lets you work with guests according to stay history, consumption or value. You can send a relevant offer to a specific group.
A Wallet notification, an email or another channel matters when it brings value, for example a reminder of credit before it expires, or a suitable stay for a guest who returns regularly.
What changes in day-to-day operations
- The OTA remains a source of new guests, and future sales have more than one source.
- The hotel builds its own CRM profile and a history of the relationship with the guest.
- The loyalty benefit has a measurable value in place of an anonymous blanket discount.
- Web Booking gives the guest a comfortable path back for a direct return.
- Self Check-in and Wallet create further points of contact with the guest.
CONNECTED ELLIPSE MODULES
This solution depends on several parts of the platform working together
CRM & Loyalty
Web Booking
Self Check-in
Hotel PMSCOMMON QUESTIONS
What operators ask us
Do I always have to be cheaper on my own website than on an OTA?
Not necessarily. You can support a direct booking with price or with another benefit. What matters is that the guest understands why it pays to book direct.
How do you get an OTA guest into the loyalty programme?
A good moment is during your own guest journey, for example in Self Check-in or after the stay. Registration should be voluntary and the benefit clear.
What does the guest save to Apple or Google Wallet?
A digital loyalty card according to the programme setup, for example with QR identification, credit or further information.
Does CRM replace Booking.com?
No. CRM does not win a completely new guest in the same way an OTA does. It helps build your own relationship and repeat direct sales.
HOW WOULD THIS WORK FOR YOU?
OTA bookings are fine. Dependence on them is the problem.
We look at your sales mix, Web Booking, the loyalty programme and the guest journey, and we show where you lose the chance of a second direct booking today.
