Statistics show 86 percent of the global population owns a smartphone. Mobile phones are everywhere, and travelers use them to book trips and stays. In fact, 54 percent of Expedia Group travelers book on mobile devices (Expedia Group internal data, 2021-2022). How can you ensure their searches find you?
Target On-the-go Travelers
To get found on mobile, you have to go mobile. This means you need a mobile-optimized website and booking engine—and mobile-only rates to attract on-the-go travelers.
It’s easy to offer mobile-only rates for your property through an OTA partner like Expedia.
Mobile-only rates are discounted rates offered to travelers searching for accommodation on a mobile device. These rates are prioritized or highlighted in mobile search results to make your property stand out and incentivize mobile bookers to click that “book now” button, well, now.
Mobile is the preferred channel for last-minute bookings, so people searching for hotel availability on their smartphones are likely ready to book. Targeting these on-the-go travelers on their mobile devices boosts visibility and drives more bookings.
How to Set Up an Expedia Mobile-only Promotion
It’s simple to create a mobile-only promotion in Expedia Partner Central.
1. Log in to Expedia Partner Central.
2. Navigate to the marketing section of Partner Central and select Promotions.
3. Select Create a Promotion.
4. Select option Mobile.
5. Define the booking dates and other details and restrictions.
6. Click Create – that’s it! Your promotion is now live to all travelers on Expedia Group mobile sites.
If your Expedia account is integrated with your WebRezPro Property Management System, make sure any new rates or promotions created in Expedia are correctly mapped to WebRezPro.
Once your mobile-only promotion is set up and mapped in WebRezPro, sit back and watch those bookings roll in!
Managing Expedia Rates and Reservations with WebRezPro
Managing your Expedia inventory and reservations is effortless when your Expedia account is integrated with your WebRezPro property management system. The automated, two-way connection saves hours of valuable time by eliminating the need to manually update inventory and reservations across the two systems.
Through the integration, WebRezPro sends pricing and inventory updates directly to Expedia, and Expedia delivers reservations straight to WebRezPro.
It’s important to know that while updates to existing Expedia rates in WebRezPro are automatically sent to Expedia, any new rates or promotions created in Expedia must be mapped to WebRezPro to ensure your Expedia bookings are attached to the correct rate plan in WebRezPro. (Whenever you make changes to rate plans within Expedia Partner Central, please contact WebRezPro Support, so we can update your mapping.)
If a promotion is added on top of an existing rate or promotion in Expedia, re-mapping is not required—as long as the base rate remains unchanged. Expedia bookings under such promotions will come into WebRezPro with the appropriate discount applied to the mapped rate plan.
While promotions are set up in Expedia Partner Central, the WebRezPro integration allows you to view your Expedia rates and promotions within WebRezPro. You can review your Expedia pricing at any time without logging in to Partner Central.
If you are interested in saving time, reducing double bookings, and increasing revenue by connecting your Expedia account to your WebRezPro PMS, please reach out to your WebRezPro account executive.
