01Direct presence against the OTAs
I worked on their SEO and PPC, protecting their direct presence against the online travel agents (OTAs) to take a better direct share. Direct share of bookings rose by 24% over the period.
Abbey House
Four-star hotel & gardens · Cumbria
Case studies · Luxury hotels and weddings
Abbey House Hotel: six years winning back direct bookings from the OTAs
Abbey House Hotel, a four-star luxury hotel and wedding venue in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was one of the first clients I worked with when I started with UP Hotel Agency, which involved a long train journey from Rugby to Barrow-in-Furness. Working with the Conroy family, who own the hotel, it led to a long and happy working relationship over a six year period.
- Client
- Abbey House Hotel, the Conroy family
- Agency
- UP Hotel Agency
- Channels
- SEO, Google Ads
+24%
Direct share of bookings over the six years
11%
Average Google Ads cost per acquisition, against OTA commissions of 20% and more
+16%
Wedding enquiries
01 / What I did
Booked direct, well in advance
02Brand and generic Google Ads
Brand and generic bidding on Google Ads averaged an 11% cost per acquisition, against commissions of 20% and more through Booking.com and the other usual suspects.
03Advance bookings, secured direct
The hotel was largely reliant on the OTAs to fill last minute vacant rooms, but leant on me heavily to get advance bookings secured direct, which worked really well through various campaigns.
04A stone’s throw from the Lake District
Being close to the Lake District did them no harm either, attracting guests who didn’t want to pay a Lakes premium but were a stone’s throw away, travelling in by train or car after a night or two at Abbey House.
05Weddings
I also boosted wedding enquiries by 16% during my time working with them, through Google Ads and organic search, and by improving the weddings area of their website.
Next step
Run a hotel or wedding venue?
A thirty minute call is usually enough to see where PPC and SEO can secure more bookings and wedding enquiries direct, well in advance.
See my hotel digital marketing services.
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