Building a best-in-class hotel booking engine

Success begins with a clear plan, measurable goals, and continuous performance tracking.

Hotels that implement structured measurement frameworks see up to 20% higher revenue growth and a 15% improvement in booking conversion rates, as they are able make data-informed decisions and timely strategy updates.  (1)

In our analysis of 650+ top-performing hotels distributing to all three channels – Booking Engine, GDS, and OTA – Booking Engine contribution averages 35% of the channel mix. (range 20-66%, excluding outliers) (2)

2024 Statistics for Meta Search reflect that the cost of sale through the hotel’s booking engine is 70% lower than OTA margins (at just 5%) . Results from Meta campaigns consistently drive more direct bookings with a return on ad spend of up to 20 to 1. (2)

Key success drivers include:

• Investing in a holistic marketing strategy with defined benchmarks to grow direct bookings and optimize channel mix.
• Prioritizing mobile-first usability to meet the expectations of today’s travelers.
• Leveraging AI, chatbots, and personalization to engage guests and reduce abandonment.

This whitepaper consolidates best practices, usability research and user experience studies, and real-world case studies to guide hoteliers in increasing direct bookings, enhancing guest satisfaction, and maximizing Total Revenue Per Available Room (TRevPAR).

Optimize value proposition and marketing strategy

To drive direct bookings and maximize revenue, hotels must clearly communicate their value proposition while aligning marketing efforts across all channels.

Craft a clear value proposition

Understand your market and competitors through SWOT analysis to demonstrate the property’s unique value within the selling strategy.

• Depending on your market, offer flexible  and/or advance purchase rate options including direct booking benefits such as late checkout, free upgrades, and exclusive loyalty rewards.
• Use compelling visuals and concise descriptions to showcase rooms and add-ons.
• Provide upsell options and ancillaries at varied price points to meet diverse guest needs.

Align marketing across channels

• Drive traffic with SEO, content marketing, and paid media.
• Invest in meta search and sponsored listings (e.g., Google Hotel Ads, TripAdvisor, Check Rates) with direct links.
• Control brand usage in paid search to minimize OTA leakage.
• Promote direct booking benefits consistently across platforms.
• Highlight partner products that enhance the booking/stay experience.
• Engage on social media — hotels responding within an hour see a 12% increase in booking conversions.  (2)
• Expand reach with integrated campaigns across digital, print, and broadcast media.

Mobile-first, user-centric booking experience

With over 50% of bookings now made on mobile (3), a mobile-first strategy is essential. Design booking flows to be fast, intuitive, and conversion-focused using urgency triggers and promotional messaging (e.g., “Book now and save”). Maintain rate parity and use OTA price comparison widgets to retain shoppers.

Reduce friction and boost confidence:

• Display rooms before rates — preferred by 90% of users (4) and used by 85% of top-performing hotels (2)
• Simplify rate options to reduce scrolling and improve comparison
• Use clear room and rate names, bullet-pointed key features and selling points including direct booking benefits, along with utilization of amenity icons
  

• Standardize HTML formatting across brand and booking sites
• Showcase high-quality visuals, including 360° views and AR/VR previews
• Offer flexible payment options like digital wallets and Buy Now, Pay Later — preferred by customers for speed, security, and ease in booking (4)
• Implement invisible security features like biometric authentication and captchas

Personalization, AI, and conversion optimization

To maximize TRevPAR and guest satisfaction, personalization and AI-driven enhancements must be embedded throughout the booking journey. Year-to-date results for the Top 10 Performers for SynXis Retailing sales (ancillary add-ons) show the average order value for ancillaries purchased during the booking flow meets or exceeds the average daily room rate. (2)

This trend highlights a powerful opportunity: guests are actively personalizing their stays through pre-arrival add-ons, driving incremental revenue. These upsells not only enhance the guest experience but also contribute meaningfully to TRevPAR by capturing spend beyond the traditional on-property trends shown by segment here.

Predictive analytics and ancillary integration

• Utilize Add-on solutions that incorporate anonymized booking trends or other predictive algorithms to deliver personalized stay enhancements to your consumers
• Enable guests to customize their stay with add-ons like spa, dining, and tours
• Use filters and tailored recommendations to simplify selection and drive upsell
• Offer ancillaries with clear names and descriptions, quality visuals, and varied price points
• Promote and market goods, services, and unique hotel experiences as standalone offers outside the booking flow to capture share of wallet from local traffic, visitors staying elsewhere, and to encourage post-stay purchases

According to user experience studies, guests value visible ancillary options—rated 4.5/5 for planning ease and 4.4/5 for likelihood to purchase. (4)

In Q1 2025, hotels utilizing SynXis Retailing saw only a 3.3% cancellation rate for bookings with an add-on, compared to a 16.9% cancellation rate for bookings without. (2)

AI chatbots and guest engagement

• Increase booking engine conversion by over 5% with AI-powered chatbots that improve engagement and reduce abandonment (2)
• Automate guest communications with personalized email templates for inquiries,  confirmations, pre-arrival upsell, and post-stay bounce-back offers

Implementation roadmap: Measuring for success

Adopting the components outlined in this document will help you reach your target audience,  share your unique value amongst your competitors, shape and design a booking journey built for the modern user’s needs, complete with opportunities to personalize guest experience.

Success begins with a clear plan, measurable goals, and continuous performance tracking. Measurement is the foundation of success. For the greatest success, establish clear goals, track performance, and iterate based on data insights.

Step 1: Strategic implementation

• Define KPIs tied to revenue, conversion, guest satisfaction, and channel mix.
• Design and test booking flows across devices, especially mobile.
• Integrate and leverage tracking tools like Google Analytics, SynXis Insights, and heat maps to measure performance.
• Optimize for speed, security & accessibility to reduce abandonment.

Step 2: Revenue optimization & continuous improvement

• Gather guest Insights from staff interactions, feedback and reviews.
• Use rate shopping tools to monitor competitive positioning.
• Evaluate booking engine performance quarterly across key metrics.
• Benchmark against KPIs and adjust strategies as needed.
• Iterate based on performance trends and guest behavior.
• Conduct annual SWOT analysis and reviews of hotel content to stay aligned with market expectations.

Our product suite offers components to address each of the respective areas outlined in this document:

SynXis Booking Engine is a commerce solution designed to help hoteliers convert shoppers into guests while controlling brand experience.

SynXis Concierge.AI’s Booking Agent, Email Automation, Social Connect, and Voice Connect allow you to personalize every engagement.

Partner integrations such as Flex Pay, Protect Group, and Sensible Weather offer guest convenience and build brand loyalty with your booking engine.

SynXis Pay provides connectivity to dozens of Payment Service Providers and 250+ Alternate Payment Methods via a single integration to deliver a guest-centric shopping experience.

SynXis Retailing allows hoteliers to drive total revenue by selling beyond the room, with or without a room reservation. Predictive analytics powered by machine learning delivers curated offers to increase conversion.

Hospitality Solutions offers a full suite of Digital Marketing services to drive highly qualified traffic to your website and booking engine, utilizing a variety of digital marketing tactics, including Meta Search, paid search, display, and social media, and Performance Max for travel goals.

Flexible configuration in the SynXis CRS Platform allows for tailored room, rate, and loyalty.

Data sources

1. General Consensus from Multiple Sources

2. Hospitality Solutions’ community data set analysis

3. Machaz, Filipe. How Mobile Booking Gives Independent Hotels a Competitive Edge

4. Hospitality Solutions usability research and user experience studies

Authors/Collaborators

Paul King, Marco de Rosa, Ralf Peppekus, and Suzanne Smith