LanguageMr Cem, sales and Marketing Director, Euphoria Hotels
During 2015 the Turkish travel market was hit by a number of political, financial and military blows which diminished business in some parts by 80 – 90%, in a year that saw many tour operators with the Russian market go bankrupt. It has been a year to change tactic to optimise the performance of all channels to keep coming.
One group of hotels, Euphoria Hotels increased direct bookings by 300% and achieved over 250% increase in overall online sales, by changing the provider for its hotel revenue management and marketing services to focus on driving growth.
Even in the first quarter of 2016 the business was seeing a continued growth of 80% on 2015 business, while the general local market is experiencing a severe decline of 75 – 80%.
The brand portfolio of four Euphoria Hotels and two Porto Azurro Hotels integrated its online channel management, direct booking engine and rate shopping technologies together with a focused strategy to drive bookings through its own websites. Mr Cem has been working with Euphoria Hotels for over 13 years and in the past year a greater focus on driving direct bookings has achieved the largest growth on record.
“It has been important to develop a true partnership with our provider to deliver results we are both proud of and continually developing the sales channels to improve overall revenue growth. We are already achieving more than three times the booking value we did in 2015, not just in our own system and webpage reservation systems but also across our other online reservation systems by optimising how we manage our third party channels.”
Euphoria Hotels belongs to Prince Group in Turkey that works across the travel and tourism space that is expanding its hotel network across the region since rebranding in 2012. The portfolio of five star Euphoria properties and three and four star Porto Azurro hotels is now focusing on its market segment with a tailored online strategy.
The group selected BookLogic to work with in 2015 as a way to streamline communications between the provider and the internal sales and marketing teams.
“We’re a growing business and we realised the potential of working with other companies with a similar position and mindset. Our portfolio is experiencing dynamic change that requires the attention and focus to develop the brand position. Working with BookLogic has realised the potential of fast and direct communications.”
Previously Euphoria Hotels had worked with large technology and marketing services providers who had a legacy in the field of revenue management and sales, however Mr Cem noticed that it was taking longer for the group to take advantage of new market opportunities and improve the existing relationships it had.
“We were not receiving the service we needed; we need specialist knowledge and expertise of the market to keep on top of changes in the industry both seasonal and technological. BookLogic reviews our market position constantly as the business environment is changing more rapidly every day. The team have been instrumental in grasping new opportunities and implementing them throughout the business.”
As a result, web pages are assessed and reviewed to make the direct reservation process more efficient; online marketing visibility is regularly tweaked to increase the audience reach; and third party channels are reviewed to improve the volume of bookings. The group is now seeing its website visitor numbers increase every month which is helping the team to improve conversion results.
The internal team at Euphoria hotels solely look after the online market sales, looking through the systems, the dates, prices, packages, competitors, receiving weekly reports and having daily meetings. The combination of channel manager, rate shopper and distribution has become efficient to implement decisions immediately.
“BookLogic has made our systems simple so every team member is capable of making the relevant adjustments. There is an ongoing political economic struggle in the Turkish market, and bringing about a robust online reservation strategy has helped to compensate losses.”
For Mr Cem, developing and optimising the online segment is paramount to growth and success for a company that is expanding its footprint. The hotel company started by investing just 1 – 2 % of revenue into online direct sales, which has increased to 4 – 5 %, over the next few years Euphoria Hotel group aims to invest more than 20% in its online sales model.
“Everyone, everywhere are choosing to book online, and direct will be our biggest opportunity for revenue growth and brand recognition. BookLogic has proved itself in just 12 months that it is an ideal solution provider in this business and we have every confidence that our businesses will continue to grow together. Our business requires a flexible approach, and BookLogic really does do what it promises – it’s a fresh approach and has made my team incredibly excited for our future.”
