BOOK DIRECT

Why should you book direct when making a room reservation? The easiest answer is MONEY!!

What does it mean to “Book Direct”?

Booking Direct means, you reserve your room directly on the lodging property website.   It is very easy to assume you are on the lodging property website.  The OTA (Online Travel Agencies) want you to make your reservation on their website.  An example of an OTA is Booking.com, Expedia.com, Hotels.com, etc.  The OTA’s, of course, have a much larger advertising budget than a small locally owned property.  So, it is highly likely when you look for a property, the OTA’s will be listed first on your google searches.

When you book thru an OTA, the property pays the OTA a percentage of the cost of the reservation.  In our case, Green Tree Inn pays 21% of the cost of the reservation to the OTA.  Yes, that is correct, every time you book a room thru an OTA, we pay 21%.  In order to offset this high cost, we raise the rates that are available to the OTA’s.  So, not only does the guest pay more but we get to keep less.

So, why do we utilize the OTA’s?  Some guests are comfortable and familiar or have their own favorite OTA.  They may only look for lodging using their favorite OTA or they may just click on the first link that shows up in their search.  (Remember the OTA’s have a larger marketing budget so it is likely they will show up as the first link when you search for lodging.) So, OTA’s are a necessary evil in order to help guests find Green Tree Inn that have not stayed with us previously.

So, what is the answer to the problem:  EDUCATION!  Make guests aware of how much OTA’s cost and how they operate.  If you find a property you want to book, please take a minute and see what website you are visiting.  To book direct with Green Tree Inn you should be on our direct website:  www.greentreeinnelsah.com

We look forward to having you as our guest!