How successful were the campaigns?
I have heard no mention of how the first campaign supported by newzealand.com went, however the second campaign that was supported by ads on major Australian radio stations appears to have feared much better. Wotif.com do not usually use paid mainstream media support their promotions, so it will be interesting to see if this investment gave an acceptable return and if it will be used again.
The latest campaign has clearly achieved short term success, with Wotif.com announcing that they have sold more rooms in one day during the campaign than ever before. We suspect that there would have only been a modest drop in the average tariff that would have impacted on the commission revenue, however this would have been balanced somewhat by their rise in the number of customer booking fee opportunities.
We wonder if the high level of heavily discounted rooms sold during the last 7-days will have a detrimental impact on the level of sales directly after the promotion period?
Wotif.com were not the only accommodation reseller knocking down rooms at basement prices recently with Best Western having their own sale from 13 August 2009.
The Best Western 3-day sale offered 40% off in the Asia-Pacific region with more than 70 participating properties.
It is worrying trend that groupings of accommodation providers are defaulting to sending tariff through the floor in order to stimulate short term demand.
Motivating travel is not easy, however there is still room for innovative marketing that appeals to the basic human emotion and desire of consumers for an experience outside their usual location. A great campaign taps into a range of emotions that will drive decisions of consumers.
It is concerning that travel has been dumbed down to the lowest common denominator by promoting a one dimensional bargain basement commodity.
22 August 2009
Press Release: Wotif.com
Wotif.com announces record-breaking global sale results despite financial crisis
Online accommodation provider Wotif.com has seen a record number of consumers taking advantage of their first ever global sale which launched on Monday.
The 7-Day Ridiculous Rates Global Sale, with over 1000 properties slashing rates by up to 70 per cent, has set a new benchmark for the most Wotif.com rooms sold in one day.
Megan Magill, General Manager Brand for Wotif.com said the brand has broken two records in two days with Wotif.com Call Centre and IT teams working around the clock to deal with the influx of bookings.
“It’s reassuring to see that despite the economic downturn, consumer confidence is on the rise with people rewarding themselves when great deals like this come along,” Ms Magill said.
“Some of the biggest hotels in the world are taking part in our sale so it’s a great opportunity for people to snap up a bargain all over the globe.”
Five star properties are offering huge savings with deals available from $105 for a five star hotel in Sydney including breakfast or wine and cheese platters.
The sale is due to finish on the 23rd August at midnight and offers huge discounts at selected hotels around the world.
Go to www.wotif.com to book before this Sunday.
Source: Click HERE
