If you want your direct reservation system (Booking engine) to be competitive with online sales channels such as Booking.com, Expedia etc., the advice is to post promotions or offers on all sales channels at the same time, so that it does not happen that you have an active promotion on Booking but not on the Booking engine, so the price on Booking is lower than the price of direct reservations created through the website.
Note: promotions that you want to place on online sales channels are done directly on sales channels.
To set promotions or some special offers that will be visible to guests when booking through the website, you need to go to All settings - Special offers and promotions.
What is a special offer?
Special offers are promotional or temporary offers that you offer to guests on more favorable terms. The goal of such an offer is to attract guests, increase sales or promote a particular service you offer.
For example, you offer a 2-night stay with breakfast, with free use of the spa area and champagne in the room. You would create a service like this as a special offer and offer it to guests for booking at a price that is more favorable than if all the listed services were purchased separately.
You can use these offers as promo activities for March 8, Valentine's Day, Labor Day etc.
How to set up a special offer?
To set up a special offer, in the left side of the special offer/promotion settings window (All settings - Special offers/promotions), click the plus icon.
Then the window for creating your special offer will open
In order to successfully create a special offer, it is necessary to fill in all the fields from the given window in order.
You need to define the name of the special offer (it will be visible to guests in the overview of the Booking engine), then whether there is a certain minimum or maximum number of nights for which the offer can be used, whether it includes a certain number of adults or children, whether it applies to all services or certain ones, also define for which types of rooms this offer will be valid.
In the second part of the insert offer window, you need to define the conditions related to the price and cancellation policy and whether this offer will appear on the first page of your Booking engine.
If you choose to display it on the first step of the Booking engine, it will be placed right below the date selection field, as in the image below:
Thus, the guest will immediately be aware that your facility offers a special offer.
What are promotions?
Promotions are discounts you can set up to attract more guests. Promotions can help to fill capacities in certain periods and achieve a larger number of reservations. They can be a significant tool in increasing competitiveness, especially in periods of lower demand, or outside the main season.
How to create a promotion for Booking engine?
To create a promotion for Booking engine, you need to click on the plus icon in the right part of the special offers and promotions setting window
Then a window for creating a promotion will open, where you need to fill in all the fields
First, you need to select the type of promotion
Basic deal - Customized promotion is a promotion where you can define your own dates, length of stay, discount and other conditions
When you choose this type of promotion, fill in the fields in which you will define the types of rooms to which the promotion applies, which pricing plan, the amount of the discount, and of course the date of validity of the promotion.
Last minute deal - promotion for late bookings, i.e. for guests who book immediately before the arrival date, for example 7 or less days in advance. This promotion is suitable when you have free capacities that you want to fill.
With promotions for late bookings, it is most important to define how many days before check-in at the facility this promotion will be valid
And then fill in the other fields regarding the rooms, rate plan, discount amount and validity date.
Early Booker deal - promotions for early bookings, i.e. a discount for guests who book in advance, for example 30 or more days in advance. Such promotions give you better occupancy planning.
With promotions for early bookings, the most important thing is to define how many days before check-in at the facility this promotion will be valid
When you activate promotions, the discount will be automatically visible to your potential guests in the search results on your Booking engine page.