Triptease improving direct bookings for hoteliers

Why do guests choose to book with an online travel agency (OTA) over a hotel’s website? Misconception has it that it is cheaper and easier to use according to an August 2016 Phocuswright report.

To remedy this problem that hoteliers face, Triptease is here to help.

What is Triptease?

Triptease is a company set out to recapture guest relationships by building digital tools that create better experiences and relationships between hotels and guests. Triptease works with over 12,000 hotels to promote trust and transparency to guests.

Triptease aims to help hotels do a better job at direct selling — rather than letting travel sites and hotel booking aggregators, such as Booking.com and Expedia, leech off the top of their profits by means of affiliate revenue. 

Triptease’s best-known product is ‘Price Check‘ that secured an HSMAI Silver Award for Innovation, a widget that sits on a hotel’s website and booking engine displaying real time prices across the web. The idea is to reduce the uncertainty surrounding a hotel’s direct price, and ensure the customer doesn’t wander off to search elsewhere but instead book direct and with confidence.

An example of success with Price Check is from Steigenberger, a hotel group with 89 hotels across Europe and Northern Africa. They introduced the widget to promote price transparency. As a consequence, they have seen a 63% increase in conversion on their booking engine. By keeping prices lower than third party intermediaries, or at least in parity, it will do wonders for increasing direct business.

Here is an interview with Ralf Denke of Steigenberger:

Charlie Osmond, CEO of Triptease in a recent interview advised, “Rewarding guests who book direct is really important, and a small gesture can go a long way. For example, The Strand Palace, one of London’s most iconic hotels and one of our first clients, offers guests a complimentary bottle of Prosecco when they book direct. Their use of Enchantment messaging helps reassure visitors; just as they’re about to leave the website, customised messaging sends a visual reminder that booking direct means not only getting the best rates, but better benefits."

Here is also a BBC news clip of Osmond: