Simon & Wendy Bennett run Augill Castle in Cumbria, a fiercely independent 15 bedroom hotel which they started 16 years ago as a 3 bedroom B&B. Below, they write about the challenges that their business faces – the reasons why they launched Best Rooms Direct in order to rally support and attention to the cause of ‘fair’ booking.
Marketing has never been so tough, and the internet, once lauded as a global marketing saviour, has become our biggest challenge.
Guests who book direct
Online Travel Agents, discount voucher sites, they’re all part of the marketing mix. But with the big guns accounting for up to 80% of web traffic and always at the top of every search, it’s never been so important for independent hotels like us to protect & grow our share of the market of guests who do book direct.
We need to avoid paying hefty commissions to companies not supporting the British economy or our local areas. We need to protect our individuality and ensure our businesses thrive in the future. So at the end of 2013 we launched a new website, BestRoomsDirect.com.
Fair Booking is about guests Booking Direct
We are members of Cumbria Tourism, and they have also just launched the “Fair Booking Cumbria” initiative. Licensed for the UK following a French idea, Cornwall and the New Forest are about to join in and together they hope to drive it nationally over the next 12 months. We of course have joined up.
Fair Booking is all about getting guests to BOOK DIRECT and we welcome this and other campaigns like it, as they can only strengthen all our businesses and the message we have been spreading through BestRoomsDirect.com.
Guests who care
BestRoomsDirect.com is not a booking site. We are a gathering of like-minded businesses who want to remain individual and independent. We are already talking to our guests direct and, together, we can all stand up to the large corporations who seem to dominate the new algorithms of Google.
We are focussing on those guests care about where they stay and the quality of their experience, who are concerned with value as well as price. Who will up-sell, recommend and be loyal and therefore will sustain your business.
BestRoomsDirect.com: working to gain a greater share of the direct booking business
You can join BestRoomsDirect.com and be at the centre of the fair booking revolution for a nominal fee of £99 per year.
For this, BestRoomsDirect.com will amplify all our individual marketing efforts through
- innovative PR and social media to spread the message of the benefits of booking hotels direct.
- orchestrating co-ordinated “shouts” to do this to not only your own database of guests, but to thousands of others at the same time.
- campaigning through the national press and lobbying for fair representation on the internet.
We will ask you to offer guests who find you through BestRoomsDirect.com your best room at your best price so the guest still gets a great deal but you get a better one by giving absolute rate parity. And we will ask that you include a link to BestRoomsDirect.com on your website and in your emails.
We will also give you opportunities to advertise additional special deals on our offers page and through regular guest newsletters. And to join other innovative social media campaigns.
We are independent hoteliers just like you. We face the same challenges. We believe we need to stand together with others who share the same issues so that with one loud voice we can ensure the sustainability of our industry’s future.
For more information click here