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 mobilebookings) and unlevel access to key market insights (Amadeus, 2013). A small number ofglobal hotel chains rely heavily in analytics to shape their customer offering, whilst themajority of providers lack access to high-value data. Despite contributing 9.4% to the UKdigital 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 digitalAdspend in the UK travel industry. By reallocating advertising to relevant consumer segmentsand adapting prices to fluctuating demands, Rated can help small-medium hotel chains (£1mto £50m turnover), serviced apartment operators, and Online Travel Agents (OTAs) toimprove their conversion rates and compete against global players with higher marketingbudgets.This project’s key aim is to prove the concept of Rated’s unique algorithm, incorporatingweather and event data; and a platform-agnostic cloud-based application that encapsulatesmarket insights from conversion rates.This project will create opportunities for small and medium hotels and serviced apartmentproviders to deliver targeted, high-yield marketing campaigns and dynamically adjust pricingin 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, digitaladvertising, software development and analytics, capable of meeting the complex demands ofthis multifaceted project.