Quick Answer/ TL;DR
Strategies to Increase Hotel Revenue
When bookings slow but costs stay fixed, smart hotels sell experiences in advance through prepaid vouchers. This brings in cash early, smooths seasonal dips, and protects profit margins without discounts.
The essentials:
- Generate cash sooner with prepaid experience vouchers.
- Protect margins through premium, giftable packages.
- Shape demand using midweek or off-peak redemption rules.
- Drive volume with corporate gifting and reward programs.
Treat vouchers as products, not add-ons, and track performance.
Hotels using this approach, like Celtic Manor with over £2.5M in voucher revenue, prove that selling experiences early is the smarter growth strategy for 2026.
This post explores why prepaid experiences are redefining hotel revenue strategy, and how forward-looking operators are using vouchers to bring cash in sooner.
Want to put this strategy into practice? See our step-by-step guide: How To Sell Gift Cards
Strategies to Increase Hotel Revenue That Solve the Real Problem
It’s that familiar stretch of the year. January rolls in, midweeks are quiet, and the bookings slow down just as your costs stay fixed. The spa team is waiting, rooms are ready, but the revenue isn’t matching the pace of your outgoings.
There’s a growing shift in how smarter operators are dealing with this. They’re not waiting for last-minute bookings or running another promotion. They’re bringing in revenue earlier by selling their experiences in advance. Not just as gifts, but as part of a wider strategy to take control of cash flow and demand.
According to GCVA and KPMG, gift card and voucher sales jumped by 11% in the second half of 2024.
Let’s take a closer look at how that works, and how you can start building that model into your revenue plan this year.
Generate Cash Sooner with Prepaid Vouchers
Every hotel hits a lull. January is often the toughest, with fewer bookings and quieter weekdays. But your operating costs (payroll, supplies, utilities) carry on as usual, and they don’t come with a quiet season.
This is where prepaid experience vouchers come into play.
Here’s the approach: Package up your most appealing experiences (think spa days, two-course lunches, wellness retreats) and promote them during the gift-giving season. Set the redemption period for your quieter months.
InterContinental Singapore generated over SGD 205,000 by pre-selling event vouchers, many of which were redeemed well after the cash had landed.
HSMAI also backs this thinking. Their research shows that vouhers help hotels smooth out seasonal gaps while still offering flexibility to guests.
Selling experiences in advance doesn’t just protect your bottom line. It changes the shape of your revenue calendar.
Curious how this shift is playing out across markets? Read our guide on UK gift card trends 2025 for insights into behaviour, digital growth, and industry direction
Protect Your Margins Without Relying on Discounts
Discounting gets bookings, but it also eats your margins. Guests may bite on a lower rate, but it often comes at the cost of profitability. Once you train your audience to wait for a deal, it’s hard to move them back to full price.
Giftable experiences offer a smarter path. Instead of lowering your rates, you can raise the perceived value of what you’re offering.
The strategy: Create packages that feel indulgent and gift-worthy, then price them cleanly. Think “Spring Escape for Two” at £250 or “Gourmet Getaway” at £180. The experience looks premium, the name feels elevated, and the pricing is tidy.
Why it works:
Guests see a complete experience, not just a room with breakfast. It feels like a gift and that emotional value makes it easier to buy.
You hold your margins. The guest gets a memorable experience. Everyone wins.
This protects your revenue and improves your brand. A well-named experience shows intention, not just another generic offer.
Balance Bookings with Staff Availability
Most hotels are stretched at the weekend and quiet midweek. That imbalance isn’t just inconvenient - it drains your team and leaves valuable resources underused.
Prepaid vouchers help you guide demand toward the times you can serve it best.
The strategy: Set clear redemption windows when you create your experiences. Use weekday-only availability, blackout dates, or tiered value to shape when guests arrive.
Example:
Offer a spa and lunch voucher that’s only valid midweek. It nudges guests into quieter slots, takes pressure off weekends, and helps you make full use of your team and space.
The result:
Your team runs more smoothly. Guests get consistent service. And you're not chasing bookings at the last minute.
This is where smart experience design becomes an operational tool, not just a marketing one.
Sell More by Targeting Corporate Buyers
Corporate gifting is often overlooked, yet it’s one of the fastest ways to boost voucher sales. HR teams, event planners, and sales leaders are all looking for ways to reward and recognise - your hotel experiences can be the answer.
The strategy: Create ready-to-send packages for business use. Think spa and lunch bundles, client overnight stays, or golf and dine offers. Keep them simple, polished, and easy to buy in volume.
Why it works:
It’s a thoughtful gift with zero admin. You fill quieter slots, bring in high-value guests, and open the door to repeat business.
What Most Hotel Revenue Strategies Miss
A lot of hotel revenue advice hits the same points: boost direct bookings, optimise your OTA listings, adjust your pricing, run a few upsells. All useful, but all reactive.
Most strategies miss one thing: timing. Selling earlier gives you control when demand is low.
That’s where vouchers stand out.
They let you:
- Sell ahead of service
- Match demand to staff capacity
- Capture both buyer and recipient data
- Build brand loyalty without chasing discounts
Most operators treat vouchers as seasonal extras. The ones seeing real growth treat them like product lines, with clear pricing, strong names, and fixed redemption windows.
The Revenue Potential When You Treat Vouchers Like Products
Hotels that treat vouchers as a side revenue stream only yield small results. Those that invest in naming, packaging, and promotion experience real growth.
Celtic Manor now generates over £2.5 million annually from vouchers. The difference was strategy, not scale.
See how Celtic Manor built a £2.5M voucher strategy using clever packaging, redemption controls, and a product-first approach.
Here’s how to bring that same thinking to your own property.
Collaborate with Local Talent
Local partnerships add depth to your offers. You don’t need to do it all in-house.
Ideas to Inspire:
- Celestial stays: Partner with a stargazing guide or observatory for a "Night Under the Stars" escape with telescope access and late checkout.
- Farm to fork weekends: Include a guided market visit, chef’s tasting menu, and wine pairing with a local producer.
- Gallery & stay: Team with a local artist or curator. Offer a private gallery tour, meet-the-artist session, and overnight stay.
They add place-based value that guests remember.
Build Seasonal Campaigns That Feel Fresh
The calendar is full of moments to anchor around. Go beyond Christmas and Valentine’s Day.
Inspiration to steal:
- Spring revival: A 24-hour detox including sunrise yoga, a light seasonal lunch, and spa time.
- Autumn unwind: Forest walks, warm cider, fireside dinner.
- Local event hooks: Create packages linked to food festivals, concerts, or seasonal markets.
With a strong name and a timely hook, these offers sell themselves.
Add Surprise Layers and Tiered Offers
People love an upgrade. Especially if it feels like a bonus.
Tactics to try:
- Surprise and delight: Randomly upgrade some voucher redeemers with a bottle of wine or room upgrade. Small gesture, big impact.
- Tiered pricing: Create Silver, Gold, and Platinum versions of the same core experience. Let buyers self-select their spend.
- Pre-arrival upsells: Offer options to extend spa access, add meals, or include experiences during the voucher redemption flow.
These layers lift both average spend and guest satisfaction without needing more hard selling.
Why It Works
- Guests buy emotionally, not logically. Vouchers sell best when they feel like thoughtful gifts, not transactions.
- Local collabs expand your story, your value, and your audience.
- Strong campaign ideas cut through the noise and help people choose your brand before others.
Whether you’re a boutique rural retreat or a city-centre spa hotel, this model works. The more creative and intentional you are, the bigger the return.
Quick Start: Launch Smarter Vouchers in 30 Days
You don’t need a big team or new tech to start selling experiences. Here’s how to get your voucher programme off the ground in under a month.
Week 1: Package and Price
- Choose three core experiences you already offer (spa day, overnight stay, afternoon tea).
- Give each one a strong, emotional name that sounds like a gift.
- Set simple, round pricing (for example, £95, £150, £250).
- Write a short description that sets the scene.
Week 2: Set Redemption Rules
- Define when each voucher can be used (midweek only, off-peak dates, advance booking required).
- Use these rules to shift redemptions into quiet periods and protect peak time.
- Make redemption terms visible and easy to follow.
Week 3: Promote Where It Matters
- Feature your vouchers on your homepage, not buried in the footer.
- Add banners and links to your booking confirmation emails.
- Train staff to mention vouchers at checkout or when guests ask about gifting.
Week 4: Build a Simple Journey
- Follow the full cycle: Buyer → Recipient → Redeemer → Return Guest.
- Tag buyers in your CRM or email tool so you can re-market later.
- Ask recipients to opt in at redemption so you can build your audience with every gift.
A simple voucher launch can drive fast revenue. From there, build seasonal offers and campaigns that fill calendar gaps.
FAQ: Smart Voucher Strategies for Hotels
Are gift vouchers really profitable for hotels?
How do I avoid overbooking from voucher redemptions?
What types of vouchers sell best?
Do digital or physical vouchers work better?
Can corporate vouchers really drive growth?
Smarter Tools for Smarter Voucher Sales
Enjovia is built for hotels that want more than just gift cards. It gives you everything you need to create, promote, and manage experience-led vouchers - from campaign-ready templates to real-time analytics on what’s working.
You can package offers, control redemption rules, and track performance across seasons, promotions, and guest types. Enjovia gives you dashboards to see which campaigns drive sales, track redemption curves, and refine your offers in real time.
Ready to turn vouchers into a serious revenue stream?
Ready to turn this strategy into action? Read our guide on How to Sell Gift Cards for step-by-step implementation.
Quick Answer/ TL;DR: How to sell gift cards effectively
- Put gift cards front and centre online
- Equip staff to sell naturally
- Automate year-round campaigns
- Track and optimise performance
- Stay compliant on expiry, fraud, and refunds
Put gift cards front-and-centre online, equip staff to sell naturally, automate year-round campaigns, and use data to refine what works.
This guide focuses on the how. Setting up your voucher tech, marketing automation, and staff systems for consistent sales.
For a bigger-picture view of how vouchers reshape hotel revenue, explore our 2026 Hotel Revenue Strategy guide.
How to Sell Gift Cards: A Year-Round Revenue Guide for Hotels, Spas, and Restaurants
Every December, gift cards take off. By February, they’ve disappeared.
The front desk stops mentioning them, your website tucks them away, and revenue slides back into the usual peaks and troughs.
Gift cards shouldn’t disappear after Christmas. Treated as a year-round channel, they can consistently drive new bookings, repeat visits, and higher guest spend.
The real problem isn’t the product, it’s the way most businesses sell them. Too seasonal, too hidden, too reactive.
The fix is practical - visibility, staff engagement, and automation.
This guide is for hospitality marketers and operators who already understand the revenue power of vouchers and now want to optimise how they’re sold, promoted, and tracked.
Sell Gift Cards Online Through Your Website
If guests can’t see it, they can’t buy it. Most hotels, spas, and restaurants bury their voucher links in the footer, where only the determined ever find them.
Your website should treat gift cards like a core product. Place them in your main menu, use a homepage banner, and add prompts in your booking journey.
When a guest books a dinner reservation, show a ‘Buy a Gift Card’ prompt before checkout. Test its placement and copy for conversion.
Make checkout seamless. Mobile-first design, digital delivery, and minimal steps. The more clicks, the fewer sales.
Avoid friction. Connect your voucher system directly to your website or booking flow (ideally with API integration) so the checkout feels seamless and mobile-first.
Quick wins:
- Add “Gift Cards” to your top navigation.
- Use a homepage banner during key seasons and off-season.
- Integrate vouchers into booking and checkout flows.
See also: Top features of a hotel gift card system
Optimise Conversion and Checkout
Use A/B testing to refine CTA text, placement, and visuals.
Add urgency copy (‘Limited Edition Valentine’s Gift’) and trust badges at checkout.
Keep the process under three clicks.
Enable Staff to Sell More Gift Cards
Your team drives on-site sales, especially at front desk, spa reception, and dining touchpoints.
Train teams with short, repeatable scripts that sound natural. For example: ‘If you loved your treatment today, our spa gift cards make perfect gifts. I can help you order one right now.’
Add light incentives (5% commission or staff leaderboard).
Quick wins:
- Create a short staff script for common touchpoints.
- Run a monthly leaderboard with small prizes.
- Add voucher sales goals into staff KPIs.
Related: How to Market Gift Cards Successfully
Market Gift Cards Year-Round, Not Just at Christmas
Gift cards shouldn’t disappear after December. Guests buy them for birthdays, anniversaries, and small thank-you moments throughout the year.
Set up simple automations like a post-stay email that says “share the experience” or a short birthday message with a voucher link.
Post about your gift cards from time to time so they stay visible. Add an Instagram “Gift Card” button or pin one clear post with the link.
Jot your main campaigns into a simple calendar so you know what’s coming up and don’t end up rushing later.
Quick wins:
- Map out a 12-month voucher campaign calendar.
- Add an Instagram “Gift Card” button.
- Automate post-visit emails with voucher prompts.
- Track campaign KPIs: email click-through rate, average voucher value, and redemption timing. Adjust creative and timing quarterly.
Related: Ways to unlock total revenue using gift cards
Sell Experiences, Not Just Cash-Value Gift Cards
Flat-value gift cards are easy to set up, but they rarely maximise revenue. The strongest programs sell experiences. Specific, bookable packages that guests can picture themselves enjoying.
Why? Because experience vouchers outperform cash-value cards in three ways:
- They sell at higher price points (premium positioning).
- They nearly always generate extra on-site spend at redemption.
- They solve operational problems like filling off-peak slots.
Here’s what that looks like across hospitality sectors:
- Hotels: Two-night weekend escape with spa access (boosts ADR) | Midweek spa + stay package (fills low occupancy days).
- Spas: Champagne day package (encourages F&B upsell) | Mother’s Day pamper deal (capitalises on seasonal demand).
- Restaurants: Chef’s table with wine pairing (premium spend) | Sunday roast for four (drives group bookings + bar sales).
- Golf Clubs: 18 holes + clubhouse lunch (increases F&B revenue) | Twilight round with drinks (monetises quieter tee times).
Package your experiences like products: name them, price them cleanly, and photograph them well. Track sales data to identify which experiences convert best, and refine the next season’s lineup accordingly.
Quick wins:
- Replace generic £50/£100 cards with curated packages.
- Use photography that sells the experience.
- Price packages to encourage upsell (guest spends more when redeeming).
Insight: Boost hotel revenue with smart gift card solutions
Target Corporate and Group Gift Card Buyers
Don’t limit your focus to individual buyers. Corporate orders are often the highest-margin sales and easiest to repeat.
Pitch to HR and sales teams as staff recognition gifts or client rewards. Offer downloadable order forms and volume pricing tiers (e.g., 10+ vouchers = 5% discount).
You can also partner with local businesses for co-branded experiences, widening your reach.
Quick wins:
- Create a “Corporate Gifting” page on your site.
- Reach out to local HR departments with offers.
- Offer bulk-purchase discounts.
Follow up with a simple CRM workflow: send a thank-you email, track company spend, and create an annual reorder reminder.
Use Redemption as a Loyalty Engine
Every redeemed voucher is a new guest in your property. Redemption is the start of your loyalty funnel, not the end.
When a guest redeems:
- Capture their data (with permission).
- Offer an upsell or add-on during their visit.
- Follow up with personalised offers to bring them back.
Quick wins:
- Add a “welcome back” email sequence post-redemption.
- Encourage staff to mention loyalty programs.
- Use special offers to turn first-time redeemers into repeat guests.
In your CRM, tag redeemers separately from buyers. Send a follow-up email 7 days post-visit with a rebooking offer or review request.
Set Up the Right Tech Stack
Check that your systems actually work together. Link voucher sales to your booking system so details flow through to guest profiles.
Pull finance data into one place so you can see what’s been sold and what’s still open.
Use tools you already have, like Mailchimp or HubSpot, to send emails and check which ones bring sales.
If you’re using Enjovia, most of this connection work is already covered.
Keep track of who buys a voucher and who redeems it. It makes later marketing a lot easier.
Track, Measure, and Scale Gift Card Sales
If you can’t measure it, you can’t scale it. Yet many hospitality businesses sell vouchers without ever reviewing performance.
Monitor metrics like redemption rates, average spend above voucher value, and repeat visit conversion. Use redemption data to forecast staffing needs and cash flow, and to time future campaigns.
Automate reporting through your voucher platform or CRM. Track redemption rate, breakage, average upsell spend, and repeat-visit conversion in one dashboard.
Once you’re tracking performance, benchmark your results to see if your voucher programme is healthy.
Below are benchmark ranges you can use to assess performance:
Key Voucher KPIs to Monitor:
- Redemption rate: 70–85%- shows engagement; too low means poor promotion, too high may cause over-redemption risk.
- Average spend above voucher: +20–30% - indicates effective upselling during redemption.
- Breakage rate: under 10% - healthy level of unused value without over-liability.
- Corporate order share: 15–20% of total sales - signals balanced mix between consumer and B2B demand.
Quick wins:
- Track voucher sales separately in your POS.
- Monitor average spend above voucher value.
- Forecast redemptions to plan staff scheduling.
Guidance: HospitalityNet opinion: improving gift card operations
Follow a Gift Card Revenue Maturity Model
Most operators are stuck at stage one: seasonal, ad hoc sales. To operationalise growth, progress through these maturity stages:
- Seasonal Sales - Christmas and Valentine’s only.
- Always-On Sales - year-round website visibility.
- Experience-Led Sales - packages, upsells, corporate orders.
- Scaled Growth - full reporting, forecasting, loyalty integration.
At the ‘Scaled Growth’ stage, integrate voucher data with your PMS and CRM to trigger upsell or loyalty campaigns automatically.
Quick wins:
- Identify which stage you’re at.
- Add one new tactic from the next stage.
- Build a roadmap to scale steadily.
Manage Compliance and Risk in Gift Card Programs
Gift cards feel simple, but they carry hidden risks.
- Expiry rules vary by region, so make sure you’re compliant.
- Fraud is real: use secure codes and track redemption centrally.
- Breakage (unused balances) must be accounted for responsibly.
Quick wins:
- Publish clear terms & conditions online.
- Work with finance to handle liability.
- Use a system with built-in fraud prevention.
Use voucher software with built-in expiry controls, fraud monitoring, and audit trails for liability reporting. Platforms like Enjovia include these features, keeping operations compliant and guest experience seamless.
How to Sell Gift Cards: Make Gift Cards a Year-Round Revenue Engine
Gift cards are a retail product within your hospitality business. With the right systems, they can drive bookings and repeat visits all year.
The top performers treat vouchers like a managed product line. Tracked, optimised, and integrated into marketing and finance workflows.
Platforms like Enjovia simplify this process (from setup to real-time reporting) making year-round voucher management frictionless.
See how leading hospitality brands use Enjovia to turn gift cards into predictable, year-round revenue.
FAQs
Do gift cards really increase revenue in hospitality?
What’s the difference between gift cards and experience vouchers?
How do I stop gift card sales being seasonal?
What legal issues should I watch for?
Quick Answer: What Are Experience Gift Vouchers?
Experience gift vouchers let hotels, spas, and restaurants sell memorable experiences in advance packages like dinners, spa days, or weekend stays that are prepaid and redeemed later. They bring in revenue before the guest arrives, help fill quieter days, and often lead to higher on-site spending when redeemed.
See how Enjovia helps hotels turn experiences into prepaid revenue
The Midweek Lull Problem
It’s mid-week and the restaurant is quiet. A few rooms are still empty, and the spa team has gaps on the schedule. Payroll is fixed, energy costs keep running, and there’s no way to fill the space last-minute without discounting.
Now picture the same day, but prepaid. The dining room is busy with voucher guests. Spa appointments are already booked, paid for weeks ago. No flash sales, no OTA commissions- just steady, predictable revenue sitting in your account before the doors even open.
That’s the difference experience gift vouchers make. They turn empty days into full ones and keep cash flow moving through the quieter months.
In our last post, How the Experience Economy Is Shaping Hospitality, we looked at how guest expectations are changing. This guide shows what to do with that shift - how to package and sell those experiences before guests even arrive.
Why Experience Gift Vouchers Matter in the Experience Economy
Most hotels and spas know the cycle. Summer is busy, then everything slows, but the bills keep coming. OTA fees chip away at margins, and discounts become the fallback just to keep things moving.
Experience gift vouchers help break that pattern. They bring in cash before the guest arrives, fill quieter days without cutting prices, and keep the full value of the sale in your hands.
Picture a city spa in January. It’s usually quiet, but with a Weekday Wellness Pass sold as a gift, those midweek appointments are already booked and paid for.
The Celtic Manor showed how well this works. By offering simple, well-timed experiences that were easy to buy and easy to redeem, they generated more than £2.5 million in voucher sales and turned slow periods into prepaid revenue.
Across the industry, voucher guests spend about sixty to seventy percent more when they redeem. That extra spend, and the new guests vouchers bring in, can make a real difference over the year.
Experience vouchers aren’t just for the holidays anymore. They’re a dependable part of how experience-led hospitality earns steady income all year.
See how The Celtic Manor did it here with the right strategy and tools.
Real-World Results from Leading Operators
Across hospitality, operators who treat experience vouchers as part of their main sales strategy are seeing measurable gains. Rooms fill earlier, cash flow evens out, and marketing reach extends through every gifted experience.
Resorts, spas, and restaurants that package experiences well report steady year-round sales, not just holiday spikes. Voucher guests consistently spend more when redeeming (often sixty to seventy percent above the value of their gift) and many visit again on their own.
Industry reports from the Gift Card and Voucher Association confirm that experience-based gifting continues to grow faster than retail. It’s proof that guests now value memorable moments over material gifts, and that the businesses offering them are turning that preference into real revenue.
How Hotels, Spas, and Golf Clubs Use Experience Vouchers
Experience gift vouchers work best when they feel like products in their own right, not side offers. The strongest results come from packages that are simple, well-timed, and clearly named so buyers know exactly what they’re giving.
Hotels
Many hotels use seasonal vouchers to secure early revenue. A Spring Escape with one night, afternoon tea, and a late checkout can turn slow early-year dates into prepaid bookings. Guests enjoy the sense of occasion, and the property gains guaranteed income before the stay.
Spas
Spas often use vouchers to bring in locals during quiet times. A Rest and Restore Retreat that includes treatments, thermal suite access, and a light lunch fills midweek gaps without discounting. It also introduces new guests who often return for full-price treatments later.
Golf Clubs and Restaurants
A Nine and Dine package (a round of golf followed by a clubhouse meal) works well as a corporate gift or group offer. Restaurants can do the same with tasting menus or seasonal dining experiences that make easy, thoughtful gifts.
Each example looks different, but the result is the same. Experience vouchers bring in cash before the guest arrives, attract new customers, and usually lead to extra spending when redeemed. Over time, they help operators smooth demand, lift average spend, and keep teams busy all year.
Designing the Voucher Experience Guests Actually Want
A good voucher should feel like the beginning of the experience, not a receipt. The way it’s named, presented, and redeemed shapes how both the giver and the guest feel about it.
The Name
The name is the first impression, so it should make people imagine the moment they’re buying. Something like Winter Hideaway for Two feels warm and personal. One Night Stay with Dinner sounds like a transaction. Small details like this make a big difference in how a voucher sells.
The Presentation
People notice how a gift looks and feels. A well-designed digital or printed voucher feels more considered and shareable. Many guests post them online, giving your brand organic reach before the experience even begins.
The Pricing
Pricing should reflect gifting, not discounting. Round figures look confident and easy to give — £250 feels like a gift; £249 looks like a deal. The goal is to make buying simple and emotional, not technical.
The Booking and Redemption
The process needs to be quick and flexible. Guests expect to redeem online without extra steps or restrictions. When booking is easy, redemption rates rise, and the overall experience feels effortless. That simplicity often leads to repeat visits and higher on-site spending.
Digital vouchers now account for most voucher sales across hospitality. They’re faster to deliver, easier to promote, and better suited to how people shop and gift today.
Selling Experience Gift Vouchers Beyond the Booking Page
It’s easy for vouchers to end up buried in a website footer. The problem is, if guests can’t see them, they won’t buy them.
The example below shows a simple way to fix that - by putting an experience voucher banner right on the homepage, where every visitor will see it.
Once vouchers are visible, sales tend to follow. Add them to your homepage, mention them in email newsletters, and include them in spa menus, restaurant brochures, and in-room materials.
Staff can also make a big difference. When a guest checks out after a great stay, that’s the moment to say, “Would you like to give this experience as a gift?”
Short videos work well too - a chef plating a dessert, a therapist setting up a treatment room, a glass of champagne being poured. Simple moments like these tell the story quickly and remind people what they could give.
Looking Ahead: From Experience to Revenue
The experience economy isn’t slowing down. It continues to shape how guests decide where to stay, relax, and spend their time. People are choosing places that make them feel something, not just somewhere to stay or eat.
For hotels, spas, restaurants, and golf clubs, experience gift vouchers turn that demand into reliable income. They bring in revenue before the guest arrives, attract new visitors without discounts, and create moments people talk about long after they leave.
The operators who succeed are the ones who don’t wait for bookings. They package experiences as vouchers, sell them all year, and let those prepaid sales smooth demand through every season.
If your experiences are worth talking about, they’re worth selling. And if you’re ready to build a voucher strategy that delivers steady, prepaid growth, Enjovia can help you get there.
FAQ: Experience Gift Vouchers in Hospitality
Why do experience gift vouchers work so well?
Is the experience gift market still growing?
What kind of vouchers sell best?
Are digital vouchers more popular now?
When’s the best time to promote experience vouchers?
Further Reading
If you want to keep learning about how hotels are turning experiences into steady income, take a look at:
- The Experience Economy and How It’s Shaping Hospitality
- Gift Card Trends: What’s Driving Experience Gifting
- The Problem with Gift Cards (and How to Fix It)
- 9 Revenue-Boosting Ideas for Hotels
If your experiences are worth sharing, they’re worth selling.
See how Enjovia helps hotels and spas turn great moments into prepaid revenue.
Quick answer: What Is the Experience Economy?
In hospitality, the experience economy is the shift you can see when guests start choosing places for how they feel rather than what they buy. It’s about the mood of a stay, the story behind a meal, the memory that makes people come back or tell their friends.
The Experience Economy Has Become the Hospitality Economy
Walk into any hotel or spa right now and you can feel it. The attention has moved from the things guests buy to how those moments make them feel.
You can see it if you spend time in the business. A couple buying a massage day instead of another gift card. A restaurant team turning a slow Thursday into a small tasting night just because people want something to remember. Guests are still looking for value, but what they really want is a feeling they can hold onto. That’s the space hospitality is working in now, the one people have started calling the experience economy.
It’s not a passing phase or a marketing idea. It’s a change in what people value when they travel and spend.
How the Experience Economy Is Shaping Hospitality
You hear people mention the Experience Economy a lot now, but the idea isn’t new. It first came up back in 1999 when Pine and Gilmore described it as the next step after goods and services. What’s changed is how deeply it’s shaped travel. Technology, social media, and the habits left behind from the pandemic have turned experiences into the main currency of the industry.
Reports back this up. The World Travel and Tourism Council expects the sector to reach around eleven trillion dollars in value this year. Hilton’s 2024 trends study shows more travellers mixing rest with a bit of discovery, and Gensler’s research found 73% of people are happy to travel further and spend more for something that feels immersive.
For anyone working in hospitality, the message is clear enough. Growth now depends on how well you can design and deliver experiences that guests want to come back for, or tell their friends about later.
These shifts sit at the centre of current hospitality trends, shaping how operators think about travel, design, and guest connection.
How Hotel Guest Expectations Have Changed
Guests care about comfort, but additionally, they’re looking for something deeper. They want to be part of a story, create a memory- not just another booking. A dinner that celebrates local produce or a quiet spa moment can mean more than any upgrade. The difference comes from how each part of the team shapes that feeling, from the welcome to the farewell. When it’s done well, the stay feels personal instead of routine.
How Hotels Create the Moments Guests Remember
The memories guests talk about later rarely come from one big gesture. They come from the flow of small, thoughtful details that fit together.
That’s what guest experience design really means in practice. Creating a rhythm guests can feel but not always name. When every part of the stay shares the same idea of what it should feel like, it shows.
It shows in everything they do. Guests will remember how it felt, and that’s what brings them back.
The Four Realms of Experience in Hospitality
Every strong guest experience usually hits a few emotional notes. The Four Realms of Experience help explain why some moments stay with people.
Entertainment
This one shows up first. You can feel it the moment you walk in. Maybe it’s music drifting from the bar, people laughing a little louder than usual, the chef stepping out to tell a story about what’s on the plate. It’s that mix of sound and movement that makes a place feel alive.
Education
This one’s about curiosity. Some guests like to understand what they’re tasting or seeing. A few minutes with the bartender showing how a drink comes together, or a gardener pointing out what’s in bloom, can turn a visit into a memory. They leave knowing something they didn’t before.
Escapism
This one is quieter. It’s when a guest forgets what day it is. Maybe they’re floating in the spa pool or walking a path they’ve never seen before. The noise of home drops away, and they’re just there in the moment. That’s escapism at its best.
Aesthetic
This one happens before a word is spoken. The light, the smell in the air, the way a space feels when you step inside. It’s what sets the mood before service even begins. Guests don’t always name it, but they feel it right away.
When a stay brings all of these feelings together, it starts to tell its own story. The guest might not think about entertainment, education, escapism, or aesthetics as separate things, but they feel the balance. Each touch, each sound, each small act of care adds another layer. That’s when service begins to turn into something more memorable.
From Service to Storytelling
When the elements of an experience come together, the story begins to tell itself. In the experience economy, every touchpoint becomes part of that story.
- Check-in can be an arrival ritual.
- Dinner can become a narrative of local ingredients.
- A farewell gift can remind the guest of how the visit felt.
- These stories are what turn a transaction into loyalty.
- They also spark the kind of word-of-mouth that marketing can’t buy.
The Business Case for Experience-Led Growth
Designing better experiences is not only about creativity. It directly improves key metrics and, as our Gift Card Trends in Hospitality report shows, can open new prepaid revenue streams through experience-led gift programmes.
Higher emotional satisfaction increases repeat visits.
Immersive experiences lift average daily rate and on-site spend.
When guests talk about your property, direct bookings rise and reliance on third parties falls.
Experience-led growth is measurable. Operators who invest in experience design see stronger brand preference and steadier year-round revenue.
This is how hotels, spas, restaurants, and golf clubs can grow without discounting or commissions.
It’s a practical example of experience-led growth, where creative design turns guest emotion into measurable results.
Looking Ahead- From Experience to Revenue
The Experience Economy is evolving into its next stage, sometimes called the Transformation Economy, where guests seek personal impact as well as pleasure.
For hospitality leaders, the question is how to turn this demand into consistent income.
One of the most effective ways is to package and pre-sell those experiences so that revenue arrives before the stay.
This approach also answers the rise in experiential travel, giving guests something to anticipate and operators income they can rely on.
FAQ
What is the Experience Economy in simple terms?
How is the Experience Economy affecting hotels in 2025 going into 2026?
What are examples of experiences in hospitality?
What is experience-led growth?
If you want to see how leading operators are turning their experiences into prepaid revenue, read our next article:
Experience Gift Vouchers - Hospitality’s 2025 Growth Play.
TL;DR/ Quick Summary: Hotels facing shrinking margins need more than cost-cutting; they need smarter operations. By automating workflows, forecasting staffing needs, optimizing guest journeys, and launching experience commerce strategies, hotels can unlock up to 12% more margin without compromising service.
How Can Operations Improve Hotel Performance?
Smarter Strategies for Inflation-Era Hospitality
Burnout doesn't mean you're failing. It usually means your operating model no longer fits the reality you're working in.
You've already cut costs, reduced service hours, and scaled back your offerings. Yet the numbers aren't improving.
If you're managing hotel operations, this likely feels all too familiar. Despite all efforts, profit margins keep narrowing.
Why Margins Are Under Pressure
Most hospitality models were built in a different economic climate. They aren’t coping well with today's sustained inflation.
Since the pandemic, costs have climbed across the board. Energy bills are higher. Laundry services cost more. Wages have increased. Even when room revenue appears stable, the bottom line tells a different story.
This isn't just a pricing issue. It's a deeper problem with how margins are being squeezed.
You might see RevPAR holding steady, but other key metrics like GOPPAR, ARPAR, and EBITDA reveal a decline in profitability.
What This Blog Covers
This post isn’t about making more cuts. It’s about using operations more strategically.
We’ll walk through four ways hospitality teams are reshaping their operations to protect profit, deliver value, and stay resilient in a high-cost environment.
The Hidden Cost of Inefficiency
Manual processes. Rigid scheduling. Disconnected departments. These aren’t just operational headaches; they’re profit drains.
Inflation is squeezing every line on your P&L. Labour costs rose by 4.8%, and maintenance expenses (including utilities) increased 5.0% across U.S. hotels in 2024, according to CBRE. Meanwhile, linen inefficiencies add up fast. One analysis shows that a typical 150-room hotel can lose 20–30% of its linen inventory annually, with costs exceeding $50,000/year (HospitalityTech).
The result? Revenues may look stable, but profitability is slipping. While TRevPAR (Total Revenue per Available Room) rose 2.7%, Gross Operating Profit margins shrunk by 1.1 percentage points — meaning every extra pound earned cost more to service (Hotel News Resource).
Missed margin opportunity: Hotels running on manual processes and disjointed operations often forfeit 8–12% of potential profit, lost in unnecessary labour, utility overuse, and avoidable guest friction (PwC UK Hospitality Outlook).
Even with strong RevPAR, profit isn’t guaranteed. As revenue flows through operating layers, inefficiencies can quietly erode margin. This progression shows how performance KPIs compress when ops aren’t optimised.
4 Operational Levers That Grow Hotel Profitability
It’s time to think about operations as a performance toolkit. Here are four levers smart hoteliers are pulling:
1. Workflow Automation
If you're exploring how to reduce hotel operating costs without compromising service, automation is a high-leverage starting point.
Hotels that automate key workflows report efficiency gains of up to 30–40%.
After switching to a cloud-based PMS, one UK hotel group saw a 37% improvement in operational efficiency and a 40% reduction in admin workload (HospitalityNet).
2. Smart Staffing & Forecasting
A lot of hotels still plan staff rotas based on what worked in past years. But things have changed. Guest demand is more unpredictable now, and those old patterns don’t hold up. That’s why many hotels are starting to build rotas around real-time demand instead. They’re using up-to-date booking data to plan shifts, so the right number of staff are on when guests actually need them.
Switch to smart staffing unlocks:
- Improved forecast accuracy by 35%
- Falling labor costs by 5-15%
- Aligning staffing with real demand prevents burnout and boosts morale
- One hotel group reported a 17% drop in staff turnover and up to 40% better forecasting precision after adopting AI-powered scheduling tools. (Shyft)
Building your labor model on live performance indicators, rather than relying on guesswork, leads to thriving teams and improved margins. This approach fosters a more effective and efficient work environment.
3. Revenue Protection via Experience Commerce
Experience-led revenue is resilient revenue, especially in uncertain markets. By offering pre-paid bundles, seasonal vouchers, and high-conversion upsell paths, hotels don’t just increase income, they safeguard it.
Selling curated experiences in advance, such as spa packages, romantic getaways, or chef-led tasting menus, boosts TRevPAR and ARPAR. It also helps to reduce no-shows and late cancellations. By monetizing guests before they arrive, you avoid relying on upgrades at checkout.
This pre-arrival spend model is fast becoming a revenue backbone. Guests buying into the experience early make them more committed, emotionally invested, and less likely to cancel.
4. Guest Journey Optimisation
Guests feel every moment of friction, whether it's a clunky check-in, slow service handoffs, or unclear payment flows. And in hospitality, every delay costs both loyalty and upsell potential.
Today’s leading hotels are eliminating these blind spots with real-time operational dashboards. By syncing teams across departments and reacting to guest signals in the moment, they deliver a smoother, more responsive experience, from check-in to spa to checkout.
The result is fewer delays and faster upsell windows. The guest journey feels intentionally choreographed, not reactive. This is how operations management enhances hotel performance in real-time. It unblocks service friction before it affects satisfaction.
The Strategic Ops Mindset
How profitable are hotels that embrace operational leverage?
To survive in today’s climate, ops can’t just run the hotel, they have to grow it.
Enter the concept of Operational Margin Leverage. The strategic use of smarter processes and real-time data to increase profit per guest without adding cost.
This mindset means treating your operations team the way you treat your revenue team: a source of leverage, not just logistics. The same strategic thinking you apply to marketing.
How Enjovia Powers Profit‑First Operations
Enjovia is more than a gift voucher platform. It’s an operations-driven growth engine, built to integrate seamlessly into your hotel’s existing tech stack. By enabling smarter monetisation, tighter fulfilment, and real-time reporting, it turns back-office workflows into front-line profit levers.
Integrated Experience Commerce
Offer guests curated, pre-paid experiences. From spa days to tasting menus, with built-in upsells at purchase points. Enjovia can integrate directly with your PMS and POS to trigger operational flows as soon as a booking is made.
Real-Time Revenue Reporting
Track 50+ data points per sale, sync directly with Google Analytics or your CRM, and monitor redemptions and guest spend in real-time, all without leaving your dashboard.
Operational Fulfilment Automation
Enjovia’s integrations enable task handoffs to departments automatically, based on what the guest purchased. QR redemption and POS syncing reduce admin load and improve delivery accuracy.
Flexible, Plug-and-Play Architecture
Enjovia is designed to connect easily with your PMS, POS, and CRM. No complex rebuilds, just smoother data flow and smarter operations.
When your sales engine talks to your ops engine, profitability stops leaking and starts scaling. Enjovia helps you get there, without disruption.
FAQs- How Can Operations Improve Hotel Performance
How can operations management improve hotel performance?
How does inflation affect the hospitality industry?
How can hotels reduce operational costs without losing service quality?
Explore your options for experience building with Enjovia.
Is it profitable to own a hotel in today’s climate?
Hotels that combine smart tech with strong guest offerings tend to do better. Utilising new tools such as enjovia helps. This is through turning everyday services into profitable experiences, sold in advance and delivered with less manual effort. Get started here.
Conclusion: Own Your Ops, Protect Your Profit
How Can Operations Improve Hotel Performance?
Smart operations aren’t about spending more, they’re about spending wiser. From experience commerce to automation, the tools are already within reach, and Enjovia is purpose-built to help you activate them.
Profit isn’t just about bookings. It’s about building a business that works smarter, not harder.
Sign up with Enjovia today
Quick Answer: What Is a PMS System?
A PMS system, or property management system, is the software that runs a hotel’s daily operations. It manages bookings, check-ins, payments, and room status in one place. Modern PMS platforms also connect with tools like Enjovia to personalise stays and boost revenue.
What Is a PMS System? The 2026 Guide to Connected Guest Journeys
Another app. Another login. Another platform that doesn’t quite talk to the others. If that sounds like your hotel’s tech stack, you’re not alone.
According to Hotel Tech Report, over 80% of hoteliers believe technology improves efficiency. But fewer than half feel it actually gives them a competitive edge. That gap often comes down to one thing: fragmented, poorly integrated systems.
This guide is built for general managers and operations leaders who are tired of tech noise and ready for clarity. It unpacks the tools that actually improve guest satisfaction, drive efficiency, and boost revenue, mapped neatly to each stage of the guest journey.
We explain important technology tools for hotels, such as property management systems, guest messaging apps, virtual reality, and digital upsells.
We cover what these tools do, why they are effective, and how to get started. Whether you are changing systems or improving what you have, this guide will help you with your hotel's tech tools.
Evolving Hospitality Technology
Technology moves fast, and the hospitality industry is now being influenced in a bigger way than before. Since the pandemic, hoteliers recognised the importance of using tech for growth.
With fewer staff and new guest needs, automation and personalization have become essential.
Today’s guests want convenience. They expect smooth check-ins, instant communication, and tailored offers. Meanwhile, hotel staff are stretched thin. They need tools that simplify their work.
Hotels need to reconsider their technology strategies. They should focus on how different systems work together and invest in tools that enhance both revenue and guest experiences.
Why a PMS System Is the Central Nervous System of Your Hotel
Think of a PMS as the hotel’s central nervous system. Coordinating bookings, check-ins, payments, and even cleaning schedules. Without it, things fall apart fast.
Modern PMS platforms include features like mobile check-in and guest messaging, improving the guest experience. Without a good PMS, hotels may struggle with disorganized operations.
Essentially, a PMS manages all hotel tasks, ensuring a smooth experience for guests. A modern PMS streamlines processes and prepares hotels for future tech updates.
And it’s an important feature! With UK hoteliers reporting in the UK Hotel Trading Performance Review, the constant pressure they feel to keep their technology updated and current.
How to Choose the Right PMS for Your Hotel in 2026
When choosing a Property Management System (PMS), keep these important points in mind:
1. Cloud readiness
Can your team use it from anywhere?
2. Integration
Does it work well with other tools you use?
3. Guest experience
Does it offer automation and self-service options?
4. Efficiency
Does it cut down on manual work and provide real-time updates?
5. Scalability
Is it suitable for small hotels, larger resorts, or multiple properties?
The right PMS boosts your tech and improves the guest experience.
Look for user-friendly options, which have a simple design that makes training easier.
Checklist for Switching to a New PMS
Switching to a new PMS can feel daunting, so here’s a quick checklist to help you decide if you need to make the next move.
Do you resonate with any of these pain points?
“Our current PMS limits integration with other guest tools”
“Staff complain about slow, clunky interfaces”
“We're not leveraging guest data for personalisation”
“Manual tasks slow down front desk and housekeeping”
“We rely heavily on IT to update or connect systems”
“We’ve missed some revenue because of tech delays”
If you checked three or more, it may be time to consider a platform that's ready for 2026.
Leading PMS Platforms in 2026
| PMS Platform | Key Strengths | Ideal For |
| Mews | Cloud-native, open API, intuitive UX | Modern boutique or chain hotels |
| Cloudbeds | Easy channel management, built-in guest tools | Independent hotels |
| Opera Cloud | Enterprise-grade features, robust reporting | Large hotel groups with legacy needs |
Illustrative Example: The Switch to a Modern PMS
When boutique hotels switch from old management systems to new cloud-based ones (like Mews), everything runs more smoothly, making it easier to keep operations flowing.
For example:
- Hotels like Paradise Resort Gold Coast and Postillion Hotels reported up to 30-36% faster check-in times using digital and self-service tools powered by Mews.
- At Pillows Hotel Reylof, automating upsells via Mews and Oaky led to a 23% increase in upsell conversions, directly lifting total revenue per available room.
- The C-Hotels group cut 93% of calls between housekeeping and front desk by streamlining operations through Mews’ automation tools, dramatically reducing manual errors and miscommunication.
These aren’t outliers; they’re real-world outcomes from hotels embracing the potential of modern PMS integrations. By simplifying operations, hotels unlock time for what matters most: delivering an exceptional guest experience.
Top PMS Integrations That Improve Guest Experience
Is it top B2B hospitality tech integrations that truly elevate guest experience and efficiency? It depends on how well your tools connect, not just which tools you use.
Your PMS is only as good as the tools it integrates with. For hoteliers, that means prioritising connections that enhance personalization, automation, and guest independence.
Guest messaging platforms
When your PMS is connected to tools like Duve or Akia, your team can send timely, personalized messages through SMS, WhatsApp, or email. Whether it's a welcome message or a feedback survey, these touchpoints feel thoughtful and improve the guest experience.
Upselling tools
Platforms like Enjovia and Oaky use booking data from your PMS to suggest upgrades that actually fit each guest’s stay. Instead of pushing generic offers, guests see relevant options before arrival, increasing both satisfaction and revenue.
Virtual reality travel experiences
Virtual reality travel experiences give potential guests a way to explore rooms, amenities, or spa packages before they book. These tools become more than just a visual aid when integrated with your PMS. Guests can check availability and confirm their reservation instantly, creating a seamless booking journey from preview to purchase.
Kiosks and mobile keys
Self-check-in systems and smart room access only work well when they update in real time. A connected PMS ensures that access codes, room status, and ID verification are accurate across all platforms, helping guests check in smoothly.
API-first platforms
Modern PMS systems like Mews are built to integrate easily with other tools. This approach allows your team to expand or refine your tech stack without long development delays or vendor lock-in.
"43% of travellers now use VR to plan their trips"
"80% of travellers prefer automated front desk options."
"Legacy PMS = slow, costly integration."
Smarter PMS Integrations = Smoother Guest Journeys
What are the leading integrations for hospitality businesses in 2026? It’s not about stacking tools - it’s about connecting the right ones to your PMS to personalise, automate, and grow.
Focus your tech strategy around these four essentials:
- Prioritise integration: Fragmented tools lead to fragmented service.
- Invest in guest-centric platforms: Think automation and personalisation.
- Use data to personalise: Insights from Enjovia and PMS drive better timing.
- Focus on experience commerce: Guests buy stories, ease, and anticipation.
Leading hospitality tech isn’t about collecting platforms, it’s about creating cohesion.
Mapping Tools to the Guest Journey
Every guest journey has multiple touchpoints. When your systems are connected via your PMS, each one becomes an opportunity to impress, personalise, and convert.
| Guest Journey Stage | Example Tools | Use Cases |
| Pre-arrival | Enjovia, Duve | Welcome comms, gift card redemptions |
| On-site | Canary, Digital keys | In-stay requests, seamless access |
| Post-stay | Akia, CRM platform | Feedback, loyalty offers, re-engagement |
Examples of Hospitality Tech Tools Mapped to the Guest Journey
Pre-arrival
- Enjovia- Gift voucher and experience commerce platform
- Duve - Guest experience platform for check-in, upsells, and communication
On-site
- Canary Technologies - Contactless check-in, tipping, and guest messaging
- Digital Keys - 5G IoT-powered smart room access
Post-stay
- Akia – AI-powered guest messaging and CRM
- Salesforce – CRM with personalised guest re-engagement tools
Example: The Connected Guest Journey in Action
A guest books a spa weekend using Enjovia → receives a pre-arrival upgrade offer via Duve → uses a mobile key for seamless check-in → and ends their stay with a personalised loyalty message from Akia.
This illustrates how a connected tech flow with the right property management system (PMS) creates seamless and personalized guest experiences at every step.
FAQ
What Is a PMS System in Hospitality?
How do guest messaging tools actually help?
Do gift cards increase revenue?
What is virtual reality used for in the hospitality industry?
What is API in hospitality?
Want to know more about API-first tools? Learn how Enjovia integrates with leading PMS platforms.
How Much Does a PMS Cost for Hotels?
What’s the ROI of Investing in Hotel Technology?
What Is Mews?
It offers features like mobile check-in, upselling, and smart integrations with tools such as Enjovia, Duve, Akia, and VR. Mews is a powerful central platform that helps hotels bring together their tech, reduce friction, and boost revenue, making it easier for hoteliers to streamline operations and enhance guest experiences.
Should I Use One All-in-One Hotel System or Build a Best-in-Class Stack?
What’s Next for Hospitality Tech?
The Property Management System (PMS) has evolved into a vital tool that enhances guest experiences, boosts revenue, and improves operations.
As we look toward 2026, hotels need to emphasize flexibility and strategic planning. Integrations will become essential, and personalization will shift from a luxury to an expected standard. Successful hotels will effectively align technology with key points in the guest journey.
If your current setup feels disjointed, it’s time to reassess. A modern PMS can streamline operations while fostering loyalty, driving innovation, and ensuring long-term success.
Discover How Enjovia Helps
Tech should never slow down service. Enjovia empowers hotels to shift from system juggling to guest journey optimisation, all while unlocking new revenue streams.
With Enjovia, you can:
- Pre-sell meaningful experiences - from spa to dining bundles
- Connect seamlessly with your PMS for smooth operations
- Gain data insights on redemption and repeat bookings
- Ensure smooth checking in/ redeeming with responsive support
- Adapt to any hotel type- from resorts to boutiques
- Personalise guest interactions through data-driven insights
- Free up staff time by automating upsells and gift redemptions
Enjovia helps you sell more than rooms - you sell anticipation.
Ready to turn tech into a competitive advantage?
Enjovia helps hotels enhance gift vouchers by linking offers with guest data and booking behavior. Want to convert those vouchers into bookings?
Quick Answer:
An OTA is an Online Travel Agency, like Booking.com, that sells hotel rooms for a commission, helping visibility but reducing direct profit.
Introduction: The Hidden Cost of OTA Dependency
What is an OTA, and why does relying on them cost you more than you think?
OTAs are Online Travel Agencies like Booking.com or Expedia.
As a hotelier, you’ll likely be aware of OTAs, as 77% of online bookings in Europe are made through them.
The OTA Trade-Off: Visibility vs. Value
77% of bookings come through OTAs, but at up to 30% commission. Who really profits?
While OTAs offer exposure, they come with trade-offs:
- Revenue loss
Commissions of 15-30% per booking can quickly erode your profit.
- Limited guest insights
OTAs often only share basic info like name and stay dates. Making it hard to upsell, follow up, or build loyalty.
- Brand dilution
Guests often remember the OTA, not your hotel. Reducing the chance of direct repeat bookings.
While the bookings are great, the convenience comes at a cost. The commission ends up eating into your margins. OTAs also control the guest data, limiting your ability to market personally or build long-term loyalty. It's like renting your guest list- convenient, but unsustainable.
OTA vs Direct Booking Revenue Impact Example
| Metric | OTA Booking | Direct Booking |
| Room Rate | £150 | £150 |
| Commission | -£30 (20%) | £0 |
| Guest Data Access | Limited | Full |
| Brand Exposure | OTA-Branded | Hotel-Branded |
| Rebooking Control | Low | High |
Shifting even 20% of OTA bookings to direct can return thousands to your bottom line and put guest relationships back in your hands.
What a Direct Booking Strategy Really Looks Like
A smart direct booking strategy doesn't just add more tools. It makes every touchpoint work harder for you. A good booking strategy focuses on three interconnected pillars:
- Mindset-first
Great bookings start with great experiences. Instead of chasing transactions, optimise your guest journey to feel personal, seamless, and worth returning to.
- UX-led
Your website is your digital front desk. From mobile responsiveness to intuitive navigation, every detail should guide the guest naturally toward booking.
- Brand-led
People remember experiences. Your hotel or spa has a story that OTAs can’t tell. Let your brand voice, photography, and values shape how you connect with guests.
Think of this as building a digital concierge that reflects your brand and removes booking friction at every stage.
Effective hotel marketing has upgraded. It’s experience-led, emotionally aware, and designed to convert. When these three elements align, you’re increasing direct bookings and building lasting relationships.
The Independent Guest Funnel
Awareness → Consideration → Conversion → Retention
This funnel turns online visibility into lasting guest relationships.
- Awareness
SEO-rich blog posts grab attention and provide valuable information. When you pair them with engaging social media and targeted ads, your brand reaches more potential customers.
- Consideration
Make your offering stand out by showcasing guest reviews. People trust what others say. Use comparison tools to make it easy for them to see the differences. Highlight clear benefits that help make a smart choice.
- Conversion
Encourage customers to book by providing an easy booking process. Make sure you’re highlighting special offers. Use clear calls to action (CTAs) with the booking link simple to find. This will motivate them to book with you!
- Retention
Stay connected post-stay to turn guests into repeat, satisfied customers. Use your email list, loyalty programs, and referral incentives.
Fragmented funnels = fragmented revenue.
Align each stage with your digital marketing for hotels strategy to get more direct bookings online.
Ready to turn interest into bookings? Below is your guide on how to get more bookings online.
How to Get More Online Bookings
1. Optimise Your Booking Engine
Why it matters
A one-second delay in page load can reduce conversions by 7%.
Slow loads, a poor mobile experience, or a confusing flow block bookings. If you experience any of these, you’ll lose conversions. It’s that simple.
What to do
Step 1: Speed first
Ensure your online booking system loads in under 2 seconds on mobile.
Step 2: Frictionless checkout
Offer one-click or autofill payment options.
Step 3: Build trust
Include trust signals like secure payment icons, recent reviews, or a contact number.
Quick win: Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to test your current setup.
2. Streamline Your Website Funnel: Guide Visitors to Book Faster
Why it matters
Your website funnel is the journey from the homepage to booking confirmation. If it’s confusing or cluttered, visitors might leave before booking.
What to do:
Step 1: Prioritise the journey
Highlight one primary call to action per page. Such as “Book Now,” “Special Offer,” or “Get Offer”.
Step 2: Declutter navigation
Remove distractions like pop-ups or competing buttons.
Step 3: Visual and verbal clarity
Use short, benefit-driven copy paired with high-quality imagery.
Quick win: Test your homepage! Is the booking action obvious within 5 seconds?
3. Use Gift Vouchers (aka Gift Cards) as Conversion Tools: Turn Interest into Revenue
Gift cards were once a fast way to raise cash. Today, they’re a key part of hotel marketing. As the guest experience becomes increasingly important, voucher systems are evolving. They are designed to deliver more value at every interaction.
- Attract new guests with gifts.
- Generate off-peak demand to extend seasonal reach.
- Reconnect with past visitors through personalised offers.
- Boost direct revenue with pre-paid bookings.
- Increase sales with upsell bundles and add-ons.
- Use built-in analytics and promotional tools to promote new campaigns and forecast revenue.
Leading hospitality brands treat vouchers not just as products, but as part of their experience commerce strategy.
Gift vouchers create emotional purchase moments that lead to measurable revenue.
What to do:
Step 1: Choose a feature rich gift voucher system.
Not all gift voucher systems are built the same. Choose one that not only supports your revenue goals but also avoids the common pitfalls many platforms face. This post outlines the key features that make the difference: https://enjovia.com/the-problem-with-gift-cards/
Step 2: Promote creatively
Use paid ads, seasonal content, and social media platforms to spotlight your offers and draw in potential customers. Heres a helpful guide on how to use social media for gift card offerings: https://enjovia.com/social-media-gift-cards-promotions/
Step 3: Bridge booking gaps
Offer time-limited vouchers to email subscribers or visitors who didn’t complete their booking. It’s a compelling second-chance CTA.
Step 4: Upsell at checkout
Prompt current guests to “add a gift” when booking. Turning bookings into future revenue and referrals. Here’s nother quick guide on how to introduce add-ons in your selling funnel: https://enjovia.com/create-unique-experiences-with-gift-voucher-add-ons/
Quick win: Hotels using Enjovia’s gift card system often see seasonal uplift and better cash flow. Because Enjovia integrates easily with your existing tech stack, you can launch branded, flexible vouchers that drive real bookings, without the operational headache.
Try this: Map where a voucher could live in your own guest funnel. Is it part of your booking abandonment email? A homepage promo banner? Use it to reduce friction and build intent.
4. Capture Lost Traffic (Email & Exit-Intent)
Win Back Visitors Before They Leave
Why it matters:
In the travel industry, over 80% of bookings are abandoned before completion. With, hotel websites experiencing abandonment rates around 70%!
Without a strategy to re-engage these visitors, potential revenue is lost.
What to do:
Step 1: Implement smart pop-ups
Utilize tools like Sleeknote or OptinMonster to detect exit intent and present visitors with last-minute deals or incentives.
Placement of these tools is crucial to avoid disrupting the website funnel. Trigger exit-intent pop-ups on high-intent pages like room listings, special offer pages, gift voucher pages, and cart/checkout pages.
Avoid placing them on the homepage or blog/info pages where immediate action isn’t needed. These tools pop up when the mouse moves towards the browser bar or close button, providing a last chance to re-engage without interrupting the browsing experience.
Step 2: Send follow-up emails
Deploy automated emails reminding visitors of their incomplete bookings. This is a great opportunity to include personalized offers to encourage completion.
Step 3: Personalize incentives
Tailor offers based on the visitor's behavior. Such as the pages they viewed or the duration of their visit. This increases relevance and conversion likelihood.
Quick win: Test an exit-intent pop-up offering a 10% discount for email sign-up. Studies have shown that well-crafted exit-intent pop-ups can recover 10–15% of abandoning visitors.
5. Incentivise Repeat and Referral Bookings
Increase Lifetime Value
Why it matters
Acquiring new guests is costly. Incentivising return visits and referrals maximises each stay’s value.
What to do:
Step 1: Reward repeat stays
Offer perks like late checkout or exclusive discounts.
Step 2: Create a referral loop
Give guests a reason to bring a friend.
Step 3: Use loyalty tiers
Gamify benefits with bronze, silver, and gold status.
Quick win: A simple “Refer a friend, get 20% off” campaign can boost bookings and guest loyalty.
How Enjovia Solves This
Enjovia is a gift voucher and experience commerce platform built specifically for hospitality businesses.
Many tools add layers of complexity to your booking process. Enjovia simplifies it, making it easier for guests to buy and for operators to manage experiences without technical hassle. Each capability is designed to solve the challenges that matter most:
| Challenge | Enjovia Solution |
| Lost revenue via OTAs | Voucher Strategy Engine |
| Low repeat rates | Loyalty & Referral Tools |
| Site friction | Booking Funnel Simplifier |
| No guest re-engagement | Email & incentive integrations |
| Tech overwhelm | Human-first onboarding |
You don’t need to rebuild your tech stack, just rethink your guest flow.
Reclaiming control over your revenue, brand, and guest experience shifts you from survival mode to long-term sustainability.
Resulting in building loyalty, driving higher margins, owning your guest journey, your guest relationships and your brand.
Quick Recap: How to Get More Bookings Online
| Action | Goal |
| Optimise your booking engine | Reduce friction, increase conversion |
| Streamline your website funnel | Guide guests to book faster |
| Use gift card creatively | Attract new guests, extend seasonality |
| Capture lost traffic | Turn site visitors into future bookings |
| Incentivise referrals & loyalty | Boost repeat stays and lifetime value |
Ready to stop handing your profits to OTAs? Book a free strategy call with Enjovia.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to get more direct bookings?
What does OTA mean in hotels?
Are hotel gift cards a good idea?
