Hoteliers are reporting mixed results when participating in flash sales promotions from the likes of Groupon, JetSetter, and Living Social, according to a new survey from TravelClick. Forty percent of the approximately 900 global hoteliers surveyed have used a flash sale website. Of that group who have tried these sites, 38 percent have found it less successful than they had hoped and do not plan to use again. One-fourth of respondents believed that the sales gave up too much revenue to the site operator, and nearly 22 percent indicate that they did not attract the right caliber of customer reflective of the brand did. Furthermore, 21.7 percent did not see enough return business from the promotion.
Nearly 37 percent of those surveyed have not tried a flash sale promotion and have no interest in executing one in 2012, while 23 percent say that they will try a flash sale site for the first time this year. When asked which flash sale website hotels chose to use, the majority (53.3 percent) of hoteliers polled had partnered with Groupon. “The good news is that more and more online tactics are being developed to help hotels fill rooms during low occupancy periods,” says John R. Hach, TravelClick’s senior vice president, global product management. “However, it is imperative that hoteliers don’t get caught up in the hype and keep their eye on executing high-impact activities that achieve measureable results.”
