About Hotel
Marco Polo Gudauri is a 5-star winter resort hotel in Gudauri, Georgia. The hotel features 123 rooms and 3 chalets, ensuring a variety of accommodation options.
With direct access to ski slopes, it caters to winter sports enthusiasts where families can enjoy the child-friendly amenities and activities available. Couples will appreciate the romantic setting and wellness offerings, perfect for a relaxing vacation. Additionally, business travelers can take advantage of the hotel's conference spaces, making the resort suitable for corporate groups.
Challenges
Repeat Guests Choosing OTAs → Low Website Bookings → Revenue Slip Away
Even though there was an official website with a booking engine, repeat guests were more likely to book through OTAs. This resulted in Marco Polo Gudauri missing out on potential revenue. It was important for the hotel that numerous regular customers booked directly on its website, as this lowered OTA commissions and positively impacted profits by increasing the margins per booking.
During the pandemic, the previous provider continued to charge high fees, despite the hotel being closed. This ultimately forced the hotel to terminate the contract. The hotel reached out to Exely for a more flexible and affordable solution that could increase its share of direct sales.
We had quite a few bookings from our website. Back then, most of the people did not even use the website to make reservations, but now the site and Exely Booking Engine have become an essential part of our marketing.
Irina Chikviladze
Reservations Manager
Solution
Exely Booking Engine. Exely implemented the solution, which provides guests with a user-friendly platform for direct booking on the website. Purchase motivators and smart widgets trigger users to book directly.
The solution helped the hotel increase its direct sales share and revenue since it only paid 4% on commissions to Exely instead of 20% for OTA bookings. This significantly improved profit margins, leading to even greater revenue growth as the hotel retains more of each booking.
Customer Success Manager. Our Georgian-speaking CSM worked on in-depth analyses of sales data to identify trends and opportunities for Marco Polo Gudauri growth. By examining key performance metrics and customer feedback, the CSM created tailored strategies aimed at increasing both sales and overall profit margins.
In regular contact with hotel management and staff, the CSM ensures that strategies are effectively implemented and adjusted as necessary. The proactive approach enabled the hotel to respond quickly to market changes and customer preferences.
Since we started using Exely solutions, we have been generating more and more direct sales. This is really important for us because we are a resort hotel and most of the guests we accommodate are repeat customers.
Irina Chikviladze
Reservations Manager
Result
Since implementing Exely solutions, Marco Polo Gudauri has significantly increased direct sales while benefiting from the budget-friendly services offered by Exely.
The hotel continues to receive the same high-quality services as before but at a much lower cost, allowing it to save significantly while increasing its revenue and boosting more direct bookings. Exely granted the hotel a grace period during the pandemic to allow it to fully recover and begin making profits again before resuming fee payments to suppliers.
Before
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Low share of direct bookings -
High OTA commission fees
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The previous provider was less focused on hotel needs
After
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40% of bookings come from the website during the low season, and from 15% to 30% during the high season -
Exely's commissions are x5 lower than OTAs’
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More client-oriented provider with flexible contract terms and customer success services
