251 | Channel Mix: Hotels balance costs of guest acquisition, OTAs and overall business opportunities
Summary: Online travel agencies. Hoteliers love them. Hoteliers hate them.<br> Brand.com, GDS, call centers, travel agents, groups and so on. There are many types of business in every market.<br> In this episode, Lodging Leaders explores how hotel owners and operators can learn to use third-party platforms such as OTAs and when to tap other resources for those all-important direct channels. The knowledge is critical to a hotel’s profit contribution, say experts.<br> Understanding the full array of business in a market and how to manage communication through the full guest journey can improve the relationship a hotel has with its customers and drive retention and repeat bookings.<br> We feature Mark Lewis-Brown, CEO and president of Vertical Booking USA, which provides customer reservation system software to hotels; Matthew Arrants, executive vice president of Pinnacle Advisory Group; Tim Lee, a consultant with Pinnacle Advisory who used to work for Expedia Group; and Cindy Estis Green, co-founder and CEO of Kalibri Labs, which analyzes the hotel industry’s distribution channels.<br> Resources and Links<br> <br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-lewis-brown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mark Lewis-Brown</a> of <a href="https://www.verticalbookingusa.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vertical Booking USA</a><br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-arrants-cham-8780a114/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Matthew Arrants</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-lee-b6449790/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tim Lee</a> of <a href="https://pinnacle-advisory.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pinnacle Advisory Group</a><br> * <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-estis-green-4554a1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cindy Estis Green</a> of <a href="https://www.kalibrilabs.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kalibri Labs</a><br> <br>
