In 2023, this marketing tool, made available to Serre-Ponçon's accommodation providers (hotels, campsites, furnished accommodation, etc.), will generate sales of €610,086.
Let's take a look back at this territorial adventure with Séverine Esmieu, in charge of marketing at the Serre-Ponçon Tourist Office.
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Can we go back over the historical background to this commercial adventure?
Until 2017, the Serre-Ponçon Tourist Office operated a central reservation system for accommodations, but now it has decided to take a new direction and make the region's accommodation providers players in their own marketing. To this end, a free, commission-free booking ecosystem (Openpro), commonly known as a "marketplace", was offered to accommodation providers in partnership with the Hautes-Alpes Economic Development and Tourism Agency.
We began working with tourism professionals to train them in this ecosystem,support them in their distribution strategy, and raise their awareness of online booking.
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How did you make the transition from reservation center to accommodation marketplace?
In 2018, the first step was to get in touch with the various accommodation providers in the area, to meet with them, in order to take stock with each of them of the means used to market their accommodation(s).
Specifically, we took stock of how far they had progressed: whether they had reservation software, a website, whether they were already marketing themselves via other sales channels...
This enabled us to assess together the most appropriate solution for taking this step forward: setting up a gateway with their business software for those who were already equipped with technology, or opening a pro reservations space for the others. -
In an area as heterogeneous as a tourist destination, not everyone was ready for this revolution in terms of marketing: we also had to reassure and prepare our hosts for this change, particularly those who were marketed via the central reservations office. Implementing a marketplace also meant giving our hosts back their autonomy and responsibility for their marketing.
What are the advantages and challenges of this marketing system?
For service providers, the advantages are undeniable: I'd say it's a little digital revolution that helps them optimize the marketing of their day-to-day offering, and above all, it's accessible to everyone! In short, a tool that combines :
- Simplicity: a single marketing and management tool for all their availability: a single schedule, but multi-distribution possible thanks to a channel manager that synchronizes the schedule with online booking platforms.
- Autonomy and responsibility: the service provider is in control of its sales policy, schedules and bookings.
- Wide visibility: the offer is visible on both the Serre-Ponçon Tourist Office website and the Hautes-Alpes website. Do you have your own website? This technology also enables you to place the booking engine on your own website, to attract customers directly and avoid the commissioning of booking platforms. You'll increase your brand awareness and optimize your occupancy rate!
- A win/win partnership! As a partner of the Tourist Office, this tool is made available to you free of charge. No commission is charged for bookings made via the OT website. You benefit from personalized support to help you get to grips with the tool, and training in best practices for online sales, and how to showcase your offers.
How do you explain the success of this reservation solution?
With 226 accommodation offers bookable online, and around 80% of our accommodation partners bookable online, I think we've reached our target, but there's still room for improvement.
It's not simply a matter of making technology available to service providers so that they can market themselves independently. Upstream, a great deal of work is needed to meet, motivate and motivate local service providers.
It's a daily exchange with our hosts! It's really interesting to be able to provide personalized follow-up, to study what can be put in place with each guest to boost bookings, and then to be able to evaluate the results!
Depending on their marketing maturity, I advise them on pricing policy, marketing strategy, highlighting their offer, digitizing their offer on their own website, and diversifying their distribution channels, while keeping in mind that the primary objective remains to capture and retain direct customers.
In conclusion, I'd like to stress that it's really the role of animating the region and the relationship of proximity and trust that the Tourist Office maintains with the socio-pros that is key to the success of this digitalization project.
MARKET PLACE BALANCE SHEET
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And what does this mean for the region, economically speaking?
Faced with the OTA's (Booking.com, Homeaway, AirBnB, Expedia etc.) who take an average commission of 17% to 20% on sales, with a realized business volume of over €610,000 the implementation of this marketing scheme by the Serre-Ponçon Tourist Office has resulted in an average induced saving* on the territory of over €120,000 in this year 2023 alone, i.e. an induced saving of around €360,565 since the scheme was launched in 2019.
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Key figures
- 610,086€ in sales in 2023 (+52% on 2021), of which :
339,531€ generated directly on accommodation providers' websites
270,555€ from Serre-Ponçon, Réallon and Crévoux websites. - 226 Accommodation offers bookable online
- + More than 80% of OT accommodation partners are in the Marketplace
- Induced economy* for the region approx. €360,565
* Amount of commissions that would have been paid if this volume of bookings had been made by the OTA's (Booking.com, Homeaway, AirBnB, Expedia etc.).
- 610,086€ in sales in 2023 (+52% on 2021), of which :
