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CLIENT CASE STUDY
Seasonal Growth Programme
for a boutique hospitality business in the Middle East
About the client
Our client is a 5-star luxury boutique hotel with history which offers a very special and exciting place to stay when visiting Bahrain.
As a result of the expansion of big hotel chains to Bahrain, our client started losing its market share.
The client's brief: develop a strategy to keep and grow the market share against the new competition.
As a result of the expansion of big hotel chains to Bahrain, our client started losing its market share.
The client's brief: develop a strategy to keep and grow the market share against the new competition.
2 types of customer journeys
In the hotel industry, customers primarily choose their accommodation via two channels: Online Travel Agents (OTAs) and Direct Booking Channels.
Online Travel Agencies (OTA)
- Relies on third-party platforms, reducing profit margins
- Limited room for growth and experimentation
- Positions the hotel as a place to stay, not a unique experience
Direct Booking Channel
- Gives full control over positioning, traffic and conversions, minimising dependence on third parties
- Builds a loyal audience and offers strong growth potential.
- Positions the hotel as a unique experience, not just a place to stay.
We assessed how the brand is represented across all of its touchpoints and whether, together, they formed a smooth customer journey leading to a purchase.
OTA platforms
Great overall presence
High-quality visuals
Attractive, high-resolution photos that capture the essence of the hotel.
Positive ratings and reviews
Strong, favourable feedback from guests enhances credibility.
Timely review responses
Immediate and thoughtful responses to all guest reviews foster engagement.
Comprehensive profile information
Complete and detailed profiles that provide essential information.
Proactive listing strategy
Aggressive listing on Booking.com to maximise visibility.
Attractive, high-resolution photos that capture the essence of the hotel.
Positive ratings and reviews
Strong, favourable feedback from guests enhances credibility.
Timely review responses
Immediate and thoughtful responses to all guest reviews foster engagement.
Comprehensive profile information
Complete and detailed profiles that provide essential information.
Proactive listing strategy
Aggressive listing on Booking.com to maximise visibility.
Direct Booking Channel assets
Room for improvement
Diluted positioning and messaging
The brand’s unique value was not clearly articulated.
Limited language accessibility
The website and social media platforms were available in English only.
Outdated design
The website featured layouts and designs that no longer met modern standards.
Unclear social media communication
Social media content failed to effectively convey the hotel’s unique selling propositions (USPs).
Absence of YouTube presence
There was no YouTube account to engage with potential guests.
Missing lead capture tools
The website lacked tools for capturing leads.
Lack of engaging video content
There was insufficient high-quality video content to showcase the hotel’s USPs.
The brand’s unique value was not clearly articulated.
Limited language accessibility
The website and social media platforms were available in English only.
Outdated design
The website featured layouts and designs that no longer met modern standards.
Unclear social media communication
Social media content failed to effectively convey the hotel’s unique selling propositions (USPs).
Absence of YouTube presence
There was no YouTube account to engage with potential guests.
Missing lead capture tools
The website lacked tools for capturing leads.
Lack of engaging video content
There was insufficient high-quality video content to showcase the hotel’s USPs.
Market Context
To develop an effective growth strategy, it’s essential to consider the market context. We analysed current market trends in the MENA region, focusing specifically on tourism trends in Bahrain, to enhance our understanding of the target audience.
5 of the top-10 source markets of tourists in Bahrain are located within the Middle East:
- Saudi Arabia
- India
- Kuwait
- Uk
- US
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Philippines
GCC travellers now:
2. Are looking for personalisation: one of the values for GCC travellers is a personalised approach
- Seek unique and authentic experiences, and prefer not just “a place to stay”, but
- personalised tours
- local cuisine experiences
- interactions with the local community
2. Are looking for personalisation: one of the values for GCC travellers is a personalised approach
To compete with large hotel chains and retain market share, the hotel needs to:
-
Develop itself as a destination of its own
1 -
Build its own loyal audience
2
The Direct Booking Channel
presents such opportunity.
Seasonal Growth Programme
To increase the number of bookings, we offered the client to work across the full marketing funnel:
-
REACH
-
CONVERSION
-
RETENTION & ADVOCACY
Let’s explore the key highlights of this programme
1
Reach
The primary goal of the top of the marketing funnel is to raise awareness of the hotel among the target audience — in this case, the travellers from the MENA region.
The greater the reach, the more people will know about the hotel.
According to TGM Research, the top five sources travellers from the MENA region use to discover new destinations are:
- YouTube — 39%
- Travel Companies websites — 28%
- Facebook — 27%
- Instagram — 27%
- Travel blogs — 24%
Tripadvisor, where the hotel has a strong presence, accounts for only 19%. This indicates that the client is missing out on about 81% of the relevant audience.
To use this growth opportunity, our seasonal growth programme diversified the channels for reach
Launch campaigns on key social media platforms to capture traffic from YouTube, Instagram & Facebook
Launch Google Display Network campaigns to capture traffic from travel blogs
Drive traffic to a landing page with a unique seasonal offer
Result
The relevant audience, interested in traveling to Bahrain, is going to learn about the hotel and visit the website
By adding new channels to the hotel's marketing funnel, we expand our reach and increase the potential for more bookings.
By adding new channels to the hotel's marketing funnel, we expand our reach and increase the potential for more bookings.
2
CONVERSION
The OTAs has very limited instruments to engage the traffic. If the user isn't ready to book the room right away or considers other options, the hotel doesn't get a chance to convert them.
The Direct Booking Channel gives the hotel more control over traffic. In this channel, once we've reached the right audience, we are able to:
1. Capture traffic
2. Convert it to a booking
Capturing traffic:
Seasonal landing page
Website is one of the most important steps in the customer journey. It has direct and powerful impact on the Conversion Rate in the Direct Booking Channel.
Key features of a good website:
In our seasonal growth programme for the hotel, we recommended to create a dedicated landing page:
Key features of a good website:
- conveys the unique vibe of the property and its selling points
- highlights how it positively differs from other hotels
- answers frequent questions (logistics, board options etc)
- dispels doubts
- captures customers' email and phone numbers
In our seasonal growth programme for the hotel, we recommended to create a dedicated landing page:
- Seasonal packaged offers
- A sample schedule of experiences
- An overview of Bahrain and Manama as travel destinations and things to do in the area
- A lead capture form to engage potential guests
Converting to purchase:
Email & WhatsApp
marketing
Once we've captured emails and phone numbers from the website visitors, we can keep promoting the hotel to these leads.
Here are a few ideas we used to boost conversion rates and drive bookings:
Here are a few ideas we used to boost conversion rates and drive bookings:
-
messages promoting holidays in Manama
-
messages with personalised offers (birthday, national holidays, etc)
-
messages with seasonal packages and special offers
Result
The hotel is building a long-term database of potential guests, not just for this season but for years to come, reducing future acquisition costs.
3
Retention & Advocacy
In the MENA region, 'word of mouth'—personal recommendations—remains an important bookings source.
Unlike OTAs, which don’t allow for post-stay engagement, the Direct Booking Channel gives us the opportunity to leverage this valuable source of bookings. Here’s how we plan to win guests' hearts, inspire return visits, and encourage them to recommend the hotel to friends.
Email & WhatsApp
marketing
marketing
These channels aren't just for Conversion—they’re essential for the Retention stage too.
For booked guests, emails and WhatsApp messages elevate their experience, and for past guests, they encourage repeat visits and referrals.
For booked guests, emails and WhatsApp messages elevate their experience, and for past guests, they encourage repeat visits and referrals.
Booked guests
Messages to enhance their experience
- welcome emails /messages (before their stay) with useful information
- feedback emails /messages (post-departure) to collect feedback and encourage guests to leave reviews
Past guests
Messages inspiring to come back and refer
- informing about existing offers & packages
- encouraging to come back
Referral programme
We also offered to engage with the existing database with targeted emails & WhatsApp messages featuring a referral link and exclusive offers for the past guests and their friends.
SAMPLE OFFERS:
“Book 4 nights and receive the 5th night FREE”
“Enjoy an art tour of Bahrain”
“Take part in the Arabic calligraphy workshop”
“Kids stay for FREE”
SAMPLE OFFERS:
“Book 4 nights and receive the 5th night FREE”
“Enjoy an art tour of Bahrain”
“Take part in the Arabic calligraphy workshop”
“Kids stay for FREE”
Result
Focusing on retention and advocacy significantly reduces future marketing costs and creates a powerful word-of-mouth effect.
However, for this to happen, the hotel needs to position itself not just as a place to stay, but as a destination in its own right. The website, Instagram, and content play a crucial role in achieving this.
However, for this to happen, the hotel needs to position itself not just as a place to stay, but as a destination in its own right. The website, Instagram, and content play a crucial role in achieving this.
ASSETS FOR CAMPAIGNS:
video content production
video content production
Current trends show that video content greatly increases conversion and engagement rates, and is widely used by competitors from different markets — Saudi Arabia, Asia, Turkey, etc
Videos with real people effectively convey the vibe and unique selling points (USPs). We recommended the hotel to create compelling video content to use on YouTube and Meta, as it would help position the hotel as a 'destination of its own'.
Cost benefit ratio
In this strategy, we laid the groundwork for growth by outlining how to establish a Direct Booking Channel for the hotel. We recommended a strategic mix of advertising channels, launching test paid campaigns to identify the most effective acquisition tactics, and developing a customer engagement program aimed at fostering loyalty.
The projected ROI of the proposed strategy is around 300%. Further experiments would need to be conducted to determine optimal client segmentation, refine the messaging framework, and establish effective loyalty mechanisms.
The projected ROI of the proposed strategy is around 300%. Further experiments would need to be conducted to determine optimal client segmentation, refine the messaging framework, and establish effective loyalty mechanisms.
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