Marketing for resorts and holiday hotels
A resort sells a decision made in February for a week in August, and the tour operator and the OTA both know it. The margin sits in the guests who came last year, in the early-booking window, and in the stay length nobody is asking for. All three are direct-channel problems.
A 30-minute video call. The audit document and the 90-day plan.
What changes
Dependence on tour operators and OTAs for the peak weeks.
A booking window that opens months before anyone is watching.
Shoulder season sold on price because there is no other argument.
Repeat guests rebooked through the same portal they came in on.
Rate parity fights that the direct channel keeps losing.
A season that has to be sold before the season starts.
Everything in a resort is dated. That is an advantage the direct channel can use and a portal cannot: you know who came last August, what they booked, and when they start looking again. The work is to be in front of that guest before the window opens, with a reason to book direct that is not a discount — the room they liked, the week they always take, the extra that costs you little and matters to them.
How it runs
Content on the season’s clock
Pages published against when people search, not when the season happens. The August page earns its rankings in January.
The early-booking window, direct
A CRM campaign to last season’s guests before the public window opens, with the room they had and no commission attached.
Shoulder season with an argument
Reasons other than price: the weather, the quiet, the local calendar, longer stays. Written as pages that rank, not as a rate drop.
Stay length and extras
Pre-stay flows that sell the extra night, the transfer and the board upgrade on nights already sold, where the margin is best.
Every service
Content & SEO
Answer the search that ends in a direct booking.
Newsletter & CRM
The guest already stayed. Get the second night without a commission.
Social
Four pieces a week. Measured in bookings, never in likes.
PR & Media
Authority the search engine can see and the guest can trust.
Branded & Cases
The material your sales team uses to close the group.
Strategy & Data
Cost per direct booking against the commission. The only number.
Questions
We depend on tour operators. Does direct booking threaten that?
It rebalances it. The operator keeps filling the volume weeks; direct takes the repeat guest and the shoulder season, which is where your margin per night is highest anyway.
When should we start for next summer?
Two quarters before the booking window, not before the season. Content needs time to rank and the CRM campaign has to land before the public window opens.
What about rate parity clauses?
We work on value, not on undercutting: extras, room choice, flexibility and the loyalty base. That keeps the direct channel attractive without breaking a parity clause.
Does this work for a hotel with a single strong season?
Yes, and the plan is shaped around it. The publishing calendar and the campaigns follow your booking curve, not a generic twelve-month grid.
Book your free audit
A 30-minute video call. The audit document and the 90-day plan.