The Boost Hospitality Podcast is back for another season, and this time, I am interviewing the people who are making a difference in the Hospitality Industry. This episode, I spoke to Steve Lowry from Umi Digital who will talk about choosing the right booking engine.
Steve Lowry from Umi Digital
Steve went backpacking, then returned home and opened a backpacking hostel. This led to him opening up some hotels too. After that, he built up a digital marketing agency. He has now become a public speaker and has been featured in many blogs about topics related to the industry.
We talked about the biggest pain points for hospitality owners. In Steve's opinion, these are knowledge and time. OTAs are putting much pressure on bottom-line hotels, especially independent ones. For example, not all smaller properties can handle the 15% booking fees.
Steve tries to make hospitality owners understand why they need help with their digital presence if they are going to enjoy more direct bookings and occupancy rates.
For smaller properties, it can be hard to invest and come up with digital strategies. The new technology is still fragmented, so you can either end up with many different platforms or none at all. Some software is not as good as it should be, and some software is not innovating the same way as other parts of the industry are. Finding digital tools that match each hospitality owner's needs can be difficult. This is why Steve works hard to educate hospitality owners to pick the right booking engine.
To download this episode, go to our iTunes page.
Find him at Umi Digital's website to learn more about Steve.
The Boost Hospitality Podcast is now in season 3.
Over the past two seasons, I have helped hospitality owners all over the world learn about digital marketing and how they can improve their direct bookings.
You don't have time to sit down for a long podcast as a hospitality owner. That is why every Boostly episode is under 30 minutes long. You can listen to it whilst preparing breakfast or changing over the bedrooms in the morning.
Each episode has been designed to give you practical marketing advice that you can immediately implement into your business.
If you would like more, visit www.boostly.co.uk/email and grab my free email guide on boosting your direct bookings in 5 simple steps.
More Podcast Episodes you will enjoy:
How to boost your bookings in five steps
The Booking Process – How a guest decides where to go
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