Understanding the AGODA Games – Finally

Times are tough and when times are tough every penny counts, most hotels have never found themselves empty and in the need of urgent online business before.

As many hotels have been finding out in the last few weeks it is very difficult to truly get a grip on the front end marketing that the various OTA channels have in place, as especially AGODA.

AGODA playing games has been a hot topic in the last few months with many hoteliers becoming very angry and switching AGODA off because of what the front end rates appear to be, we have decided to clarify what AGODA is doing – they are actually helping you convert business without you knowing it, you just need to ensure to manage your platforms accordingly.

Lets get started:

AGODA has got three key elements that seem to be causing the front end pricing confusion amongst many hoteliers, the cross out rate, red discount banners and VAT exclusive searches.

Cross Out Rate

Have you lowered your rates from your normal rate tiers in the last 30 days? This could be the reason your cross out rate makes the discount look so big.

What AGODA does is it takes the highest yielded rate in the last 30 days and makes this the cross out rate, or if you have setup a PROPERTY RACK RATE that is higher it will use this for the cross out rate – ensure to check both to avoid the appearance of a massive discount of your current selling prices.

Red Discount Banner

The Red Discount Banner works in two ways, firstly if you have a promotion loaded on the back end of the extranet it will show the percentage saving and secondly if you do not have a promotion it takes the difference between the highest yielded rate in the last 30 days.

Inclusive or Exclusive of Taxes Display

Are you aware that as a front end shopper you can look at the selling prices inclusive or exclusive of taxes – this is why it may often appear that your rate is lower than the other channels when it is actually a display setting on the front end of the channel.

When working with the various OTA channels it is very important to have a full understanding of what you have in place and what campaigns are linked to what, here are a few more things to keep an eye out for across all OTA channels.

  • Stackable promotions – various discounts stack onto each other so be sure to understand what you are doing when applying the various promotions
  • Mobile Only – you may be losing 10% off your selling price without knowing it, ensure that the mobile offer in place suits your business needs.
  • Promotion Parity – it is key to have the same promotions loaded across all the major channels, if one of these channels are missed rate parity will have a negative effect on all the other channels revenue generating ability.

We feel that sharing knowledge would lead to a better online presence across more channels for more hotels, if you would like to chat to us about how to improve your revenues or online presence email us at info@trevparworld.com and we will happily assist with your distribution needs.

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