Hotel Innovation through Targeting (HIT)

UK hotels and accommodation providers are under pressure from changing demand trends
(unpredictable weather changes, last-minute reservations, highly-contextualised mobile
bookings) and unlevel access to key market insights (Amadeus, 2013). A small number of
global hotel chains rely heavily in analytics to shape their customer offering, whilst the
majority of providers lack access to high-value data. Despite contributing 9.4% to the UK
digital AdSpend (IAB, 2013) the travel industry retains the smallest average conversion rates
(1.5%) (WPP, 2013).
Rated has identified an opportunity to dynamically link contextual information (incl.
weather/events) to hotel room prices, improving Return on Investment (RoI) from digital
Adspend in the UK travel industry. By reallocating advertising to relevant consumer segments
and adapting prices to fluctuating demands, Rated can help small-medium hotel chains (£1m
to £50m turnover), serviced apartment operators, and Online Travel Agents (OTAs) to
improve their conversion rates and compete against global players with higher marketing
budgets.
This project’s key aim is to prove the concept of Rated’s unique algorithm, incorporating
weather and event data; and a platform-agnostic cloud-based application that encapsulates
market insights from conversion rates.
This project will create opportunities for small and medium hotels and serviced apartment
providers to deliver targeted, high-yield marketing campaigns and dynamically adjust pricing
in response to demand/supply mismatches.
With project support from Google and Imperial College London, Rated has assembled a 7-
member team with 42yrs combined experience in online travel management, digital
advertising, software development and analytics, capable of meeting the complex demands of
this multifaceted project.