Marketing for hotels, holiday rentals and restaurants

Today, marketing for hotels and holiday rentals has a clear goal: more guests who book directly with you instead of through high-commission portals. We combine images that make people want to travel with a website and booking technology that make completing the booking easy.

Most bookings come through portals, and a noticeable share of every room rate goes on commission. Your own website shows dark phone photos, and booking leads to a cumbersome form. The restaurant's menu is online as an outdated PDF. Reviews come in, but nobody replies. And in the off-season rooms stand empty.

We make direct booking as easy as on the portal: with a booking engine, that is, a booking module directly on your site that shows availability in real time and is synchronised with your channel manager. Plus photos, films and drone footage that show the property and its surroundings. We reach past guests again with off-season campaigns, and with our templates you reply to reviews in a few minutes.

Hotel and restaurant marketing: our services

Website with direct booking

Rooms, prices, availability and booking in a few clicks, fast on a phone. With benefits available only for direct bookings, such as breakfast, late check-out or flexible cancellation.

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Photos, film and drone

Rooms in the best light, dishes, hosts and the landscape from the air. One shoot provides images for website, portals and social media, and a short film shows the atmosphere of the property.

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Seasonal campaigns

Campaigns for off-season, public holidays, packages or events, with ads in search engines and on social media, targeted at the regions your guests travel from, and with landing pages for each offer.

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Social media and reviews

An editorial calendar for Instagram and Facebook that shows the season, the kitchen and the surroundings. Plus reply templates for reviews that let you respond to criticism calmly and kindly.

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Automating guest communication

Booking confirmation, arrival information, check-in details and the request for a review after departure run automatically. To do this, we connect booking system, channel manager and accounting so that nothing is maintained twice.

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Digital guest directory

House information, Wi-Fi, breakfast times, excursion tips and restaurant recommendations as a web app on the guest's phone, with no download. You make changes yourself, and extras such as a massage or picnic basket can be booked directly.

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Direct booking, images, reviews: what hosts should know

Direct booking instead of portal commission

Booking portals usually charge between 12% and 25% commission per booking. For a property with many portal bookings, this quickly adds up to a five-figure sum per year. Portals remain important for being found, but every guest who books directly improves the margin. Since a 2021 ruling by the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice), hotels in Germany may offer lower prices on their own website than on portals. Added value often works even better than discounts: breakfast included, parking, late check-out, flexible cancellation. The precondition is a booking process as easy as on the portal.

Images sell overnight stays

When choosing accommodation, guests decide on images first, and many only read the texts afterwards. Dark phone photos, crooked lines or empty rooms cost bookings, on portals too. Good photos show rooms in daylight, details such as bed linen and bathroom, the breakfast, the hosts and the surroundings. Drone footage puts location and landscape into context, especially for properties by a lake, in the mountains or in the countryside. Drone flights are subject to rules, for example on residential properties, crowds and protected areas, which we clarify before the shoot. One shoot provides material for several years and all channels.

Replying to reviews professionally

Reviews are one of the most important decision aids for guests, and they read the replies too. A friendly, concrete reply to criticism often creates more trust than a row of top ratings without any response. A proven approach: say thank you, take the concern seriously and briefly explain what has changed, without justifying yourself. You get more reviews if you ask kindly after departure, for example by automatic email. Bought or self-written reviews are not permitted. You can report false statements of fact to the respective portal.

Restaurants: menu, reservations, allergens

For restaurants and cafés, the menu is the most visited page. As a PDF it is hard to read on a phone and can barely be evaluated by search engines. A text menu that the team updates itself works better, with prices and information on the 14 main allergens that guests must be informed about under the EU Food Information Regulation. Online table reservation takes pressure off the phone at peak times, especially if it sends reminders and makes cancelling easy. In the Google Business Profile, opening hours, rest days and holiday closures should always be up to date.

Questions from hotels, holiday rentals and restaurants

How much does a hotel website with booking cost?

At Trendtreiber, a complete hotel website with room pages, content management system and integrated booking engine usually costs between €12,000 and €35,000. For a holiday rental or a small property, a compact site from €4,000 is often enough. A photo shoot starts at €890, a corporate film at €4,900. All prices are guide prices, net, plus VAT, and the booking system's fees are added. After the free initial consultation you receive a fixed-price quote.

May I be cheaper on my website than on booking portals?

Yes, in Germany hotels may offer lower prices on their own website than on booking portals. In 2021 the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) ruled that so-called narrow best-price clauses, which were meant to prevent exactly that, are not permitted. Instead of a lower price, many hosts prefer to offer added value for direct bookings, such as breakfast, parking or flexible cancellation. You should still check the terms of your respective portal contract.

Is drone footage worthwhile for a holiday rental?

Drone footage is particularly worthwhile when location and surroundings are a reason to book: proximity to a lake, forest, mountains or old town. An aerial image shows in seconds what a text can only describe. For a single apartment, a few shots taken during the photo shoot are often enough. We clarify the legal questions on no-fly zones and neighbouring properties before the appointment, so that you can use the images without concern.

How do I fill rooms in the off-season?

With offers that create their own occasion, and with guests you already know. Packages such as hiking weeks, wellness breaks or culinary weekends give a reason to travel. You reach past guests most cheaply by newsletter, provided they have agreed to receive it. Targeted ads in the regions your guests travel from also help. Sufficient lead time is important so that guests can plan their short break.

Do you also work for small hosts and restaurants?

Yes, also for individual holiday rentals, guesthouses, cafés and restaurants. Every service can be booked individually, for example only a photo shoot, only the Google Business Profile or only a menu that you maintain yourself. Local visibility with a properly set-up Google Business Profile starts at €690 plus VAT. For appointments such as photo shoots we come to you, and coordination in between takes place by phone or video.

Also

Trades

Website, vehicle lettering and apprentice recruitment for trades businesses. Plus digital measuring, quotes and time tracking that work on the building site.

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Medical practices

Practice website, online appointment booking and recruitment for medical and dental practices, physiotherapy and therapy. Factual and compliant with the Heilmittelwerbegesetz and professional rules.

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