With the advent of online travel, many hoteliers have become complacent with how they manage their relationship with online travel websites.  The most common misconception is that once you are �live� with a site, you do not have to worry about HOW to drive in business from that site.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Contracting with a website is just the first step in generating business.  One of the most important parts of this process is achieving a key placement position on the site. 

Why is key placement highly desirable?

Look at a travel website like the doors to your hotel.  If the main entrance to your hotel is hard to find, no one will enter.  If the entrance is clear and well lit with a lot of passing traffic, people will flow into the property.  The same is true with website placement.  If your hotel is hard to find on a travel website, (how often have YOU searched passed page two to find a hotel room?) you will get few bookings as compared to if you stand out on page one on the search results of your city.

The first page, top slot on a travel website is often the most productive position where a hotel can be placed.  The hotel consumer pays particular attention to the first six slots on the first page and the first two slots on the second page.  If your hotel is featured in either of these highly sought-after positions, significant exposure is assured and you will receive excessive market penetration from that market from that website. 

What�s the difference in business, based on my hotel�s placement on a website?

Because many travel website�s brands are so powerful, the difference between being on page one in the top slot and page five could literally make or break a hotel.  Placement has a most powerful impact in a competitive destination market such as Las Vegas, New York, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, etc.  Page one and position one on some websites could generate enough business to literally fill a hotel for weeks on end, while being on page five on the same website would generate relatively little business.

The Travel Website Market Manager Relationship � The Key to Your Hotel Success 

The key question for the hotel then becomes �How do I get better placement?�  The answer is just as simple - ask your market manager.  Once you open the dialogue with the market manager at each website, the relationship process begins.  Get to know each of your market managers by taking them out to lunch, calling them regularly, and learning what they need from you as well as how your hotel can help fill their needs.

Market managers are like anybody else --- they do business with those people they like most, and those hotels that are most easy for them to work with as well as help them make a healthy profit.

Making the Time for a Relationship with the Market Manager � 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... DONE!!!

Many hoteliers complain when dealing with 5, 10, 20 or more travel websites that they are so engrossed in trying update rates and inventory, they do not have time to work on the relationship part of the business.  Managing the extranet side of the process can now be fully automated, allowing you to focus most of your time and effort to building the market manager relationship, and driving more revenue to your hotel.

In less than the time it typically takes to update rates and inventory on one travel website, �EZ Yield� can do 10, 20, 50 or more site updates with just the click of a button. 

With this tool (www.ezyield.com) hoteliers can update Rate, Availability, Inventory, Cutoff Dates, Stop Sell/Closeout, Minimum Night Stay and Closed to Arrival restrictions for �contracted� wholesaler websites.

EZ Yield gets hoteliers out of the Manual Data Entry business and into the Revenue Strategy and Management business, dramatically impacting internet ADR and occupancy.

EZ Yield Benefits:

• Saves Time and money, allows you to update all your sites in the time it takes to do ONE!  Typical time cost savings of 40-50 hours per month per hotel
• Increased Internet Exposure,  EZ Yield can manage as many sites as you require with the click of a button, Allowing you to increase the number of Online Wholesalers,  putting your property in front of a larger audience. With no added time investment!
• Increased Revenue, less time spent managing sites and more sites sending you customers.
• Fast and Accurate, Spider will update within minutes of your submittal. You have the ability to print Manager Reports of all updates to your contracted web sites to confirm your changes.
• Total control of your inventory, EZ Yield allows you to update rates, inventory and restrictions on your contracted web sites with the click of a button. 
• Designated account manager to help implement, maintain and provide advice in the operation and maintenance of the EZ Yield site 
• Low cost to use, In most cases the flat monthly cost is less than a room night. 
• Capture your share of the 20% internet business generated by small and medium sites. 
• Full automation means costly travel site errors are no longer an issue (i.e. forgetting to close sites out when you are sold out)"
• No GDS fees or transaction costs 

EZ Yield Features:

• Web Based, works from any computer in any location.
• No additional software or hardware needed.
• Full customer support and training. 
• Easy to use and learn
• Supports all major and second tear Online Wholesalers
• Real time updates to your contracted wholesalers
• Can be customized to manage as many sites as you desire
• EZ Yield Companion, standard with �SPIDER�, allows 30 second simultaneous view of current room inventory block, pickup and rates on each website.
• 24/7 Customer Service
• Selling Rate functionality provides an easy solution to rate integrity.
• Net Rate functionality allows the hotelier to update their net rates through net rate input, availability, and allotment. 
• Submission Report generates a printable report of all work just completed or for a desired date or date range.
• Mark up Report shows markups, methods of rounding and any exceptions for all of you online wholesalers.