Frequently Asked Questions
- About Our Approach
Because your hotel faces different challenges in different seasons, and a one-size-fits-all approach wastes resources.
During low season, fighting for direct bookings against OTAs’ massive marketing budgets is expensive and often ineffective.
During high season, when you have strong demand, that’s when direct bookings make the most financial sense.
We help you choose the right strategy for the right moment, maximizing profitability across all 12 months instead of chasing an ideological goal that might hurt your bottom line.
Every other agency in the hospitality space preaches “get more direct bookings” as the universal solution.
We don’t.
We understand that OTAs serve a legitimate purpose at certain times of the year – they provide visibility, trust, and volume when you need it most.
Our SGMS Method recognizes that sometimes it’s smarter to leverage OTA visibility (and accept their commissions) rather than overspend on direct booking campaigns with poor ROI.
We’re strategic, not dogmatic.
Not necessarily.
Yes, OTA commissions reduce your margin per booking.
But if the alternative is spending heavily on paid advertising to compete for direct bookings during low season – when conversion rates are poor and CAC (customer acquisition cost) is high – you might actually lose more money.
OTAs can be a cost-effective distribution channel when used strategically.
The key is knowing WHEN to leverage them and WHEN to push direct bookings.
That’s what we help you figure out.
We’re not for hotel chains with massive marketing budgets and brand recognition.
We’re not for hotels looking for a “set it and forget it” magic solution.
And we’re definitely not for hoteliers who want to hear comfortable lies about “crushing OTAs” without understanding the real economics.
We work with independent hotels ready to think strategically about their marketing mix throughout the year.
- The SGMS Method Explained
SGMS stands for “Single Goal Micro Strategy.”
Instead of chasing multiple objectives year-round, we help you focus on ONE key performance indicator (KPI) per season based on your hotel’s actual business cycle.
For example: during shoulder season, your goal might be maximizing visibility through OTAs.
During peak season, it shifts to driving direct bookings.
This focused approach prevents wasted budget and ensures every marketing dollar works toward the most impactful goal for that specific moment.
We analyze three key factors: your historical booking patterns, your competitive landscape, and your current occupancy forecasts.
A simplified example: if you’re at 40% occupancy in November (low season) and your direct booking conversion rate is 1.2%, spending heavily on direct campaigns makes no sense.
We’d shift focus to OTA visibility to fill rooms.
But in July, when you’re at 85% occupancy and direct conversion hits 4%, that’s when we aggressively push direct bookings to maximize margin.
Yes, strategically.
If pursuing direct bookings in a specific period means spending €3,000 on ads to generate €5,000 in revenue (with a 60% net margin = €3,000 profit), you’ve made zero profit.
But if accepting OTA bookings (with 18% commission) in that same period generates €8,000 in revenue (€6,560 after commission) with minimal marketing spend, you’ve actually made more money.
We optimize for profit, not vanity metrics.
You can, but you’ll leave significant money on the table.
Hotels operate in a seasonal business with fluctuating demand, competition intensity, and customer behavior.
What works in August rarely works in February.
The SGMS Method acknowledges this reality and adapts your strategy to match it.
Simplicity that ignores seasonality isn’t strategic – it’s lazy.
- Working Together
We start with a 90-minute strategy session where we dive deep into your booking data from the past 12-24 months, your current marketing activities, and your business goals.
We’ll identify your seasonal patterns and map out which KPIs make sense for each period.
Within 7 days, you’ll receive your customized 12-month SGMS roadmap showing exactly which strategies to deploy and when.
Then we implement together, with monthly check-ins to adjust based on real performance data.
More involved than with traditional agencies, but in a strategic way.
We need you to share booking data, provide feedback on messaging, and make decisions on budget allocation.
Think of it as a collaboration: we bring expertise and strategy, you bring knowledge of your property and guests.
Expect to invest 3-4 hours monthly in calls and reviews.
We do all the execution heavy lifting – you stay in control of the strategy.
Absolutely not.
In fact, that would contradict our entire philosophy.
We see OTAs as one tool in your distribution mix, not the enemy.
We’ll help you use them strategically – sometimes pushing volume through them, other times reducing dependency.
We might even suggest increasing your OTA presence during specific periods if it serves your profitability goals.
This isn’t about ideology; it’s about revenue optimization.
We’re platform-agnostic and work with whatever systems you currently use – whether that’s Booking.com, Expedia, your PMS (Property Management System), channel manager, direct booking engine, Google Hotel Ads, Meta Ads, etc.
We don’t force you to adopt new tools unless there’s a clear ROI case.
Our focus is on strategy and execution, not selling you software.
- Results & Timeline
It depends on which season you start with us.
If we begin during your high season when we’re pushing direct bookings, you might see measurable upticks in direct channel revenue within 4-6 weeks.
If we start during low season when the strategy is OTA visibility, you’ll see occupancy improvements within that timeframe, but direct booking growth will come later in the year when we shift strategy.
The SGMS Method is designed for 12-month cycles – quick wins exist, but full impact reveals itself across a complete seasonal rotation.
Our clients typically see a 15-30% reduction in overall distribution costs across a 12-month period, not by eliminating OTAs but by using them strategically.
Direct bookings often increase by 20-40% during high season (when we focus on them), while total revenue grows 10-25% year-over-year because we’re filling rooms that would have stayed empty during low periods.
But here’s what matters most: profitability improves because we stop wasting budget fighting unwinnable battles.
We don’t measure success by direct booking percentage alone – that’s a vanity metric.
We track profitability after distribution costs (PADC), which accounts for both OTA commissions AND your direct marketing spend.
We also monitor seasonal occupancy rates, revenue per available room (RevPAR), and customer acquisition cost (CAC) by channel and season.
Success means you’re making more profit across the full year, not just winning an ideological battle against OTAs.
- Pricing & Investment
Our engagements typically range from €2,500-€6,000 per month depending on your hotel size, number of rooms, and complexity of your market.
This includes strategy development, monthly execution oversight, performance analysis, and ongoing optimization.
We usually recommend a minimum 6-month commitment to see the full SGMS Method work through multiple seasons.
We’re not the cheapest option, but clients typically see ROI within the first seasonal shift.
Yes, we charge a one-time strategy development fee of €3,500-€5,000 to create your customized 12-month SGMS roadmap.
This includes the deep-dive data analysis, seasonal mapping, competitive research, and strategic planning session.
This becomes your operating manual for the year and ensures we’re aligned on goals before execution begins.
- Technical & Platform Questions
Both.
We develop the strategy AND handle execution – setting up campaigns, optimizing OTA listings, managing bidding strategies, creating ad copy, A/B testing landing pages, etc.
You’re not paying for a fancy PDF that you then need to figure out how to implement.
We’re hands-on, but you maintain final approval on budget allocation and major strategic pivots.
We can work alongside existing agencies if there’s clear role separation.
However, our approach often contradicts traditional “always push direct bookings” agencies, which creates conflict.
Most clients choose to transition fully to our model or keep existing agencies only for non-distribution marketing (like brand building, social media content, etc.).
We’re happy to have an initial conversation with your current team to see if collaboration makes sense.
Yes, we work globally.
Our clients span Europe, North America, Asia, and Australia.
The SGMS Method principles apply regardless of location, though tactics adjust based on local market dynamics, primary OTAs in your region, and seasonal patterns.
As long as you operate as an independent hotel (not a chain) and conduct business in English, we can work together effectively.
Let's Chat & See If and How We Can Help.
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