Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Lafayette, CO, USA
Programs: SPG Lifetime Plat, AA Gold, UA Gold, DL Silver, HH Gold, Vail Epic
Posts: 9,096
Groupon doesn't currently make a lot of sense for me for hotel marketing. Since Groupon mostly focuses on local offers, it doesn't do well for marketing hotels in other cities.
I really wouldn't care much if there was a Groupon offer for a local hotel near my home.
IMO, no one has really put forth a good group buying website for travel marketing to a nationwide or bigger audience. A map clearly showing all current offers would be nice.
A group buying concept that I think would be nice for hotels would be one in which the price steadily drops for everyone as more people commit to the offer. For a Starwood hotel, the concept could be pretty simple by using its common method of giving a percentage off of the BAR rate based on the total room nights booked by the entire group. Here's an example:
200+ room nights = 20% off BAR
400+ room nights = 25% off BAR
600+ room nights = 30% off BAR
800+ room nights = 35% off BAR
Obviously, some hotels would be willing and able to discount much more than 35%.