Breaking Free from Price Competition: Strengthening Comprehensive Marketing Support to Maximize Direct Bookings and Reduce OTA Dependency

Hinotori Inc. (Headquarters: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Yohei Osaki), a company providing marketing support for regional tourism and lodging facilities, is strengthening its "comprehensive marketing support for lodging facilities" to help them break away from price competition and OTA dependency while maximizing direct bookings. We provide end-to-end support, from strategy design to SNS management and sales initiatives, integrating measures that are often fragmented. By rapidly iterating the PDCA cycle based on data, we build a customer acquisition foundation that generates sustainable results. Through concept redesign and a review of booking funnels starting from social media, we achieve an increase in the ratio of direct bookings and an improvement in revenue structure.

Background | Breaking the Cycle of OTA Dependency Currently, much of the marketing in the lodging industry is in a state of "partial optimization," where individual measures function in isolation. Reliance on "Ad-hoc Improvements" and the Absence of Strategy While it is possible to improve sales through "techniques" such as OTA promotions and price control, focusing solely on these immediate responses causes the "strategy" and "concept refinement"—which define the true strengths of the property—to be neglected. As a result, direct bookings fail to grow, and facilities remain stuck in a structure of continued dependency on high-commission OTAs. The Disconnect Between "Sales Strategy" and "SNS Management" Social media should be a powerful touchpoint for conveying a property's concept and leading to direct bookings. However, in reality, many operations remain stuck in "posting for the sake of posting" without alignment with sales strategies, or focus solely on acquiring followers. A major challenge is the failure to convert the engagement generated on social media into actual direct bookings. These "scattered measures" and the "accumulation of ad-hoc responses" make it difficult for facilities to take control of their own customer acquisition. Hinotori resolves these structural issues with a "consistent support system." We formulate solid strategies based on data analysis and immediately reflect them in on-site execution, such as social media posting and plan creation. By rapidly circulating the strategy and execution, we build a sustainable customer acquisition foundation that is not swayed by temporary fluctuations in numbers.

From Strategy Design to Execution: "Comprehensive Support Menu" to Maximize Direct Bookings Hinotori's support covers all areas necessary for lodging facility marketing, executing them end-to-end under a single strategy.