New third-party distribution platforms such as Amazon and Google can offer independent hotels benefits beyond reservations, hoteliers say.

Bookings are the primary value of aligning with third-party distribution platforms in the hotel space, and hoteliers can talk long and hard about the costs and returns associated with them. But as metasearch matures and new nontraditional distribution players enter the fray (think Google and Amazon), independent hoteliers are seeing some secondary benefits of participating on these platforms that can make a big difference, particularly on the sales-and-marketing front.

Visibility

While getting the booking is first priority, sometimes the visibility associated with being on a particular distribution channel can be a close second when it comes to value.

Bashar Wali, president of Provenance Hotels, which has 11 independent hotels in its portfolio, said that being early adopters of new distribution technology keeps Provenance front and center in the minds of customers.

“For brand visibility, awareness is hugely important for independents,” he said. “We’re often fighting against the big brands, but we are growing as a segment and brands are paying attention.”

Provenance was an early adopter of Amazon Destinations and TripAdvisor Instant Booking, and Wali said Kayak, Google and TripAdvisor right now are the top three metasearch engines he pays most attention to—and money on.

“We’re on (metasearch scrape) sites like these by default, but once we decide which ones we want to play with, so to speak, we focus on ones that we think are trusted sources,” he said.

Visibility can be tough to quantify, though, Wali said. It requires balancing just how much a hotelier spends on something as ephemeral as brand awareness.

So Wali does what he can to put solid return-on-investment data behind brand awareness. “If you don’t focus, you can spend your whole day messing around on these sites,” he said. “Whether it’s on pay-per-click or on rankings, we’re spending money so we have to be ROI-driven.”

He cited TripAdvisor as an example of a site where hotel visibility has led to increased bookings.

“We have a hotel in Seattle, the Hotel 1000, that is No. 1 on TripAdvisor. By being No. 1 and spending some money on Instant Booking, we’re seeing amazing ROI.”

Not all independent hotels need the visibility that comes with spending money on metasearch. The key is knowing your mix, said Tom Varley, VP of Ocean Properties Hotels & Resorts.

“If a property is an independent (that is heavily visible on online travel agencies), we may allow that to go anywhere,” he said. “But if you’re at a resort, we feel relatively confident that guests will go to the individual websites anyway, so we weigh where our traffic will eventually end up.”

Level playing field

Independent hoteliers say that another benefit to more players entering the distribution market is a continuously leveling playing field.

As OTAs consolidate, more metasearch players are jumping in, and independents say that helps everyone—even if you don’t participate actively in a given channel.

Michael Barnello, CEO and President of LaSalle Hotel Properties, said the addition of new players like Amazon is a good thing.

“The more the merrier in terms of what we think we can get in pricing competition for the commission,” he said during LaSalle’s first-quarter earnings call with analysts. “That’s the most important thing for us.” LaSalle has more than 35 independent hotels in its portfolio.

Wali agreed. He called Amazon’s entrée into booking “a huge move.”

“There are very few OTAs now and they’ve become so powerful that adding competition will benefit us,” he said. “It’s a neutralizing factor. I can’t imagine Google doesn’t have an entire team (on this) right now.”

Reaching the next spenders

Visibility isn’t just about attracting consumers who want to book a hotel today, Wali said. Part of why Provenance likes to be an early adopter of new hotel technologies is to keep a finger on the pulse of the next generation of guests.

“It’s education on the future,” he said.

Aligning with brands known for their expansive data reach doesn’t hurt either, he said. Thinking about the possibilities that might come down the road with brands like Amazon can be fun to speculate about, Wali said, like the possibilities of direct-marketing a ski resort, for example, to Amazon customers who just purchased skis.

“Keeping our finger on the pulse is just exceedingly important,” he said.