About Hotel
Nova Platinum, Nova Gold, and Nova Park are all part of the Nova Group, a collection of hotels located across Pattaya, Thailand. Each hotel has 270, 77, and 94 rooms respectively and offers a prime location, just a short walk away from Pattaya’s top tourist attractions. All three hotels have fitness centers, outdoor pools, and hot tubs to meet guests needs.
Challenges
- Lost access to e-marketing and booking tools after exiting a hotel chain
- Outdated booking engine and website failed to generate direct sales
- Full reliance on OTAs and travel agents for bookings
When Nova Hotels transitioned from being part of a large hospitality chain to managing operations independently, they lost access to the group’s centralized e-marketing tools, booking infrastructure, and strategic support. This shift left the team without a working system for direct bookings — and it showed quickly.
The booking engine and website they inherited from their previous provider were hard to configure and failed to convert visitors into guests. Without a reliable website or direct booking channel, the team had no choice but to rely entirely on OTAs and travel agents.
To rebuild their direct sales strategy and reduce OTA dependency, Nova Hotels partnered with Exely to launch a Booking Engine tailored to their needs and backed by expert support.
The front end was not friendly enough and not interesting enough for the consumer to book. We moved to focus on test-and-go with full support from travel agents instead. We passed the OTA and the online booking.
We receive a lot of last-minute bookings, especially from India. With Exely, we can create short-lead rates and react quickly — just like on OTAs.
Chalisa Phunphawong
Cluster Distribution Manager
Solution
A Booking Engine Built to Compete with OTAs
Exely Booking Engine was installed on a newly updated website, immediately giving the team control over direct bookings. The solution offers multiple language versions for guests from different countries and provides the flexibility to adjust rates and offers in real time.
With pre-set rate plans for urgent bookings and user-friendly design on both desktop and mobile, the hotel’s website became a true sales channel.
Customer Success Service Designed to Strengthen Revenue Strategy
Alongside Booking Engine, Nova Hotels benefited from regular guidance from their personal Customer Success Manager — who helped the team spot issues, stay competitive, and avoid missed revenue.
The team also noted the friendly and prompt support from Exely’s Thai Support Team — especially during recent updates made to boost direct booking performance.
Our Customer Success manager helps a lot. He gives suggestions, checks my setup, and reviews my homework. It’s like having someone watching out for you. Once, I forgot to activate a rate. Suddenly there were no bookings. He asked me: ‘Did you change something?’ That’s how I found out.
Khun Wendy and Khun Dear are always quick to help. They are very friendly, responsive and helpful. Sometimes, when I was struggle, they offer the alternative options to play around.
We used to spend 10 to 12% on marketing through the corporate office just to maintain brand visibility. Now, we’ve already hit our target — even gone beyond it — and we’re spending almost nothing. It’s more organic now, and bookings still keep coming in.
Chalisa Phunphawong
Cluster Distribution Manager
Result
Thanks to Exely’s Booking Engine and expert support, Nova Hotels quickly rebuilt their direct sales channel — and the numbers speak for themselves. In the first two months of 2025, the hotels already got over one-third of last year’s website bookings.
With direct bookings growing steadily, Nova Hotels are shifting focus to the next stage: increasing ADR and reducing cancellations — with Exely’s Customer Success team and payment gateway integration helping lead the way.
Before
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No website bookings -
10–12% spent on marketing to drive bookings
After
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Over 30% of the previous year’s direct booking volume reached by February -
Zero marketing investments, yet steady growth in direct sales
