Hotel Exclusives seeks to expand partnerships after pivot to CPC model

Hotel Exclusives seeks to expand partnerships after pivot to CPC model

Closed user group aims to raise profile among potential advertisers Continue reading

Closed user group Holiday offers website Hotel Exclusives is looking to raise its profile among potential advertisers having switched to cost-per-click model.

The Hemel Hempstead-based firm has been moving away from its original commission-based contracting model focussed on independent hotels to CPC for around a year.

Now fully transitioned, the firm has taken on Carl Cromie, former Columbus Travel Media business development director and Minicabit head of partnerships, to develop trade partnerships.

Cromie, who joined as travel client director last August, said since the strategy switch holidays supplied by tour operator partners have featured more heavily on the deals site.

“The scale of our audience and the data we have is key. We are looking at all different angles and becoming more sophisticated in terms of retargeting and personalising emails,” he said.

Hotel Exclusives claims to have 4 million opted in UK customers registered mainly recruited through corporate employee benefits schemes like John Lewis.

Its core audience has been 45 to 65 year old ABC1s but the site says it has seen a rise in interest from families.

Registered users are sent three emails a week including around 20 offers and it claims to have an open rate of 13%.

Key partners include some of the mainstream package holiday operators like Jet2holidays, Tui, First Choice as well as Southall Travel, Superbreak, Riviera Travel and Emirates Holidays.

Hotel Exclusives said the average order value of the holidays its members buy is £1,500 and usually they favour higher-end four and five star product but like to bag a bargain.

Chris Orrell, founder and chief executive, who established Hotel Exclusives five years ago, said: “Since we pivoted away from the commission model we’ve not looked back.

“We are quite email focused but have some very smart systems behind the scenes that really helps with conversions and driving return on investment for travel partners.”

Orrell added Hotel Exclusives is adding 50,000 to 60,000 users a week. “We know our database very well and we know what to promote to them. Personalisation like that does really help.”