The Science of Traveller Behaviour. The Art of Winning Direct Bookings.

How Hoteliers.Guru and Sojern, a RateGain Company, Help Independent Hotels
Influence the Booking Journey Before a Reservation is Ever Made

Travellers no longer choose a hotel after visiting a single website. Today's booking journey spans search engines, maps, review sites, travel platforms and social media, where guests compare destinations and accommodation long before making a reservation. For independent hotels, remaining visible throughout that journey has become just as important as delivering an exceptional guest experience.

To help hotels meet this challenge, Hoteliers.Guru has partnered with Sojern, a RateGain company and one of the travel industry's leading performance marketing specialists. By combining powerful hotel technology with data-driven digital marketing, the partnership helps independent hotels reach more qualified travellers, increase direct bookings and strengthen their online presence through a performance-based marketing model with no upfront investment.

How Travellers Book Hotels Today

The way travellers plan and book accommodation has changed dramatically over the past decade.

Today's guests rarely visit just one website before making a reservation. Instead, they spend days—and sometimes weeks—researching destinations, comparing accommodation, reading reviews, watching videos, browsing social media and searching for the best deals before deciding where to stay.

For hotels, this creates a new challenge. If your property only appears when someone searches specifically for your hotel by name, you've already missed much of the traveller's decision-making process. The hotels that win more website bookings are often the ones that remain visible throughout the guest's planning journey.

This is where Sojern adds real value.

Who is Sojern?

Sojern is a global travel marketing specialist that helps hotels attract more direct bookings by promoting their properties to travellers who are already planning a trip.

Rather than advertising to everyone online, Sojern uses travel insights to help hotels reach travellers who have already shown an interest in visiting a particular destination.

Its marketing campaigns appear across many of the digital channels travellers use every day—from search engines such as Google, to Google Maps, metasearch platforms like Google Hotel Ads and Tripadvisor, travel websites, and social media channels including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. This keeps your hotel visible throughout the travel planning journey, creating more opportunities to attract guests before they make their booking decision.

Why Sojern Was the Right Fit

When Sojern approached Hoteliers.Guru about a partnership, we immediately recognised the value it could bring to our hotel customers. While our SaaS platform helps hotels manage distribution, pricing and website reservations, Sojern helps more travellers discover your hotel while they're planning their trip, creating more opportunities for commission-free bookings.

With more than 15 years of experience focused exclusively on travel marketing, Sojern works with leading travel brands around the world to promote hotels across search engines, metasearch sites, social media and other digital channels.

Together, Hoteliers.Guru and Sojern give independent hotels a powerful combination of proven hotel technology and performance-based travel marketing designed to help increase visibility, attract qualified travellers and grow direct revenue.

Flexible Marketing Solutions

Hotels can choose the marketing option that best suits their business.

The Pay on the Stay programme allows hotels to promote their property with no upfront marketing costs, paying only a commission on guests who complete their stay. It includes professionally managed advertising campaigns, booking reports and dedicated support.

Performance-Based Advantage

• Zero-risk model – Pay only a 15% commission on completed guest stays generated through Sojern.
• No upfront investment – No media costs, campaign fees or long-term contractual commitments.
• Fully managed service – Sojern manages every aspect of the campaign, requiring no additional staff, specialist tools or operational effort from your hotel.
• Clean attribution – Built-in de-duplication technology ensures bookings are accurately attributed, preventing duplicate commission charges.

For hotels looking to promote a seasonal offer or special campaign, Managed Campaigns provide a fixed-term marketing programme designed to increase visibility during key booking periods.

Both options utilise Sojern's extensive travel marketing network, helping hotels reach potential guests across search engines, metasearch sites, social media and other trusted travel websites.

Looking Ahead

At Hoteliers.Guru, we're continually looking for ways to help independent hotels compete more effectively in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Our partnership with Sojern reflects that commitment by combining proven hotel technology with one of the travel industry's leading travel marketing specialists. Together, we provide independent hotels with a seamless solution that not only simplifies daily operations but also helps attract more qualified travellers, generate more direct bookings and reduce reliance on Online Travel Agencies.

See Sojern in Action

Discover the success stories behind hotels that have increased direct bookings and revenue through Sojern's performance-based travel marketing.

Explore Sojern's customer success stories, including Anantara The Palm Dubai (video case study) and Accor South East Asia, showcasing how hotels have successfully increased direct bookings and maximised revenue through Sojern's marketing solutions. Visit the Sojern Success Stories page to discover these and many more examples of hotels achieving measurable results: https://www.sojern.com/success-stories