SECTOR
Direct acquisition measured destination by destination, season by season.
Direct bookings matched against the hotel's PMS and compared with OTA commission: cost of acquisition per direct night as the compass for the budget.
The cost of acquiring a night through direct channels must be measured and compared with the OTA commission. When the direct cost stays below the OTA commission, direct is more profitable: you still have to prove it, with data, reservation by reservation.
RevPAR, revenue per available room, is a hotel's health indicator. The marketing challenge is to raise it through the channel mix: shifting reservations from OTAs (net rates) to direct (gross rates), and targeting the segments that spend most.
The share of direct reservations is the strategic indicator: every point gained on direct is one commission less. A demonstration example: a starting point at 20-30% direct, an objective at 40-50%, set with the hotel and tracked reservation by reservation. No figure is promised before it is measured.
The comparison between direct acquisition cost and OTA commission is the compass of hotel media planning. As long as the cost of a direct night stays below the commission, investment in direct acquisition returns a positive net result.
Campaign data (Meta, Google, TikTok, LinkedIn, and online press bought directly) is matched with the reservations in the hotel's PMS, by export or connection depending on what the hotel opens up, to tie each direct booking to a campaign, keyword and segment. The matching is done every day.
Bids are set by occupancy rate, season and local events, and arbitrated every day; any budget change is decided by a human go-ahead. Low season or low occupancy: investment rises. Full high season: spend comes down. Budget follows revenue management logic.
Every month, the acquisition cost per direct night, channel by channel, is compared with the commission rate actually paid to OTAs. The dashboard, open at any time, shows the general manager and the revenue manager whether direct is gaining ground. Each direct booking saves a commission.
Ad monitoring records competing hotels' ads every day: offers, promotions, destinations and segments promoted.
Each destination or property has its own visual identity. Creatives follow the seasons (summer, Ramadan, year-end, events) and the source markets (France, UK, Gulf, Morocco). Creative angles are compared against each other before budget goes up.
Follow-ups are built step by step. Before the stay: booking confirmation, room upgrade offer, activity suggestions. After: review request, loyalty program, retargeting for the next booking.
By combining three levers: a media plan focused on qualified audiences, not those already captured by OTAs; a booking engine designed for conversion; and search campaigns on your brand, so that OTAs don't buy your name in your place.
Yes, with your revenue manager. PMS reservations are matched with the campaigns to set advertising pressure on forecast occupancy: more investment when rooms need filling, less when the hotel is already full. Every change is decided by a human go-ahead.
Hospitality is among Sandbox's client sectors. For an independent hotel, the team runs the media plan, measurement and creative. For a chain, it complements group campaigns, on the properties that need finer local handling.
Yes. Campaigns run in French, English, Arabic, German and Spanish depending on the property's source markets (Europe, Gulf countries, Africa). Creatives and landing pages are adapted to the target market: a Marrakech hotel doesn't speak the same way to a French, a Saudi or a German guest.
The conversation looks at what a direct night costs you today against OTA commission, and at what needs tracking to measure it.