Customer Stories: Increasing direct bookings and nurturing guest relationships with Empire Riverside Hotel Hamburg

In this Customer Story, Marilena Niemeyer from Empire Riverside Hotel Hamburg explains how the collaboration with Hotelchamp has helped them get closer to their guests by offering more personalised messaging on their website. Plus, how the Hotelchamp CRM integration helps them grow their newsletter subscribe database without any hassle.

1. Who are you and how would you describe Hotel Empire Riverside?

My name is Marilena Niemeyer and I am the Marketing Campaign Manager at the Empire Riverside Hotel. Our hotel is a lifestyle and design hotel located in the centre of St. Pauli between the Reeperbahn and the Elbe. It is characterised by its unique style and the wonderful view of Hamburg's harbour. We also have a diverse target group - from solo business travellers to couples on their honeymoon.

2. What are the main challenges you are facing in your day-to-day in terms of direct bookings and getting close to your guests?

The main challenges in our daily business relate to direct bookings, the strong competition in the Hamburg hotel market and (maintaining) the close relationship with our guests, which is often created by customising our offers. It is essential to establish a direct connection with guests and encourage them to book directly via our website and to highlight the benefits of this without being pushy.

3. When and why did you decide to start working with Hotelchamp?

The decision to work with Hotelchamp was driven by the need to increase our direct bookings and build more effective communication with our guests, as well as to make certain offers and special highlights more popular on our website - all while being as unobtrusive and compelling as possible. This was the main reason for the collaboration. Compared to other providers, Hotelchamp convinced us with its personalised support and the technical possibilities within the tool. As a company with more than one hotel, the "partner interactions" function helps us a lot, as this is very effective and time-saving - the countless options for personalising and designing the interactions and the monitoring by our account manager are also fascinating.

4. How does Hotelchamp help you tackle the challenges you face?

Hotelchamp helps us overcome these challenges by providing us with tools and solutions to engage directly with potential guests, capture their attention and encourage them to book directly through our website. Of particular note are Hotelchamp's many exciting newsletters and blog posts, which always provide practical best practice tips. These resources help us to understand current trends and implement successful marketing strategies.

In addition, Hotelchamp is extremely helpful when it comes to creating campaigns, whether for simple or more complex requirements. The team is quick and effective in assisting us, offering support and helping to ensure our marketing campaigns are successful. Personally, I appreciate the opportunity to try out a lot myself and familiarise myself with the platform. However, if we don't have the time, Hotelchamp has been incredibly supportive.

5. You’ve recently started using Hotelchamp’s CRM Integration—what was your experience (i.e. setting up, collecting leads)?

We recently started using Hotelchamp's CRM integration, working with Revinate as our CRM platform. The integration was done using an API token and was incredibly fast. I would particularly like to emphasise the great support I received when creating the email campaigns via the Hotelchamp tool.

Thanks to the appealing campaigns developed with the help of Hotelchamp, we have already been able to acquire a considerable number of new newsletter subscribers, and without much effort. The platform has allowed us to integrate seamlessly and efficiently, and we have found that the investment in CRM integration is already having a positive impact on our marketing objectives.

Particularly noteworthy is Hotelchamp's willingness to accept our specific improvement requests, which stem from my penchant for perfection, and to implement them swiftly. This flexibility and customer-orientation have made the cooperation with Hotelchamp extremely pleasant for us.

6. How does using the CRM integration benefit you?

Utilising Hotelchamp's CRM integration has made a significant difference. Before the introduction of this integration, it was tedious to import the leads from Hotelchamp into our CRM, which meant that we could not optimise the newsletter function. Since the direct API integration was set up, the process no longer requires a lot of manual work.

Thanks to this seamless integration, we can now attract many new subscribers to our newsletter directly from our Internet Booking Engine (IBE). This has not only significantly reduced the workload, but has also helped us to utilise the newsletter function more effectively and expand our guest database. The direct API integration of Hotelchamp has therefore significantly increased the efficiency of our marketing activities.

7. What would you tell someone who is considering working with Hotelchamp?

When it comes to working with Hotelchamp, I have nothing but positive things to say. The platform is not only extremely intuitive, but also versatile. Hotelchamp's support is particularly helpful and is always on hand to help us with any questions or concerns. The team is absolutely open to suggestions for improvement, which makes the collaboration even more pleasant.

Before considering the tool, it is advisable to talk to a Hotelchamp account manager. Together, you can discuss your individual requirements, look for customised solutions and develop the perfect strategy for increasing direct bookings. Personalised support and advice help to exploit the full potential of Hotelchamp and successfully achieve the desired goals.