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Hear the hotelier
We spoke to Markku Inkilä, founder and CEO at the Northern Lights Villages, about how a premium property with such unique accommodation transformed their online booking tech stack.
3 years of journey for more direct bookings
Let's give the word now to André Henke Marques, General Manager at Northern Lights Village:
Have direct sales changed in the last three years?
"Over the past three years, the landscape of our direct sales has witnessed significant shifts. Initially, our reliance on booking partners was paramount, and we express immense gratitude for their role in establishing Northern Lights Village’s global reputation. These partners effectively marketed our services and attracted guests from various corners of the world. Our commitment to continuous improvement led us to meticulously analyse guest feedback. Learning from our mistakes, we have cultivated sustainable growth. The results speak for themselves: our consistently excellent reviews are a testament to the dedication of our core team, many of whom have been with us for years.
Enter Profitroom, a game-changer. Their expertise in marketing and booking engine optimisation transformed our efforts into a robust online presence. Now, alongside our global partners, we’ve built a solid foundation of direct bookings."
How has this affected the Reception Team’s daily work?
"We’ve adopted a strategic approach: separating sales and operations. The reception team does not Profitroom-related tasks. Instead, they focus exclusively on guest experiences during their stay. This specialisation ensures efficient service and minimises distractions. For the sales team, the impact has been remarkable. Profitroom’s flexibility empowers us to tailor pricing, terms, and offerings to our vision. No longer bound by rigid guidelines, we optimise our sales process, creating rates, packages, and restrictions that align with our unique perspective. Fewer manual tasks and more streamlined operations have been the welcome result.
Previously, we navigated a maze of workarounds to achieve our goals. Now, with our streamlined setup, we operate more efficiently, requiring fewer clicks and gaining a clearer overview of our status. This clean and organised foundation is crucial—it enables us to pinpoint areas for optimisation and fine-tune our processes. Despite our increased email volume, which correlates with our growth, I shudder to think about the daily influx if we didn’t have an efficient booking engine. Profitroom not only facilitates direct bookings but also empowers our partners to reserve online using a booking code. This streamlined process enables them to book at net rates without the need to enter credit card details. Instead, we invoice them afterward. They enjoy the same benefit of instant confirmation as our direct guests and don’t have to wait for our reply, especially during peak season when our response time can stretch up to 24 hours."
How do you see cooperation with Profitroom going forward?
"For us, as clients, having robust support and a dedicated account manager is paramount. It’s about feeling heard and knowing that our software provider genuinely cares about our business goals and innovation needs. In this regard, our experience with Profitroom has been noteworthy. Profitroom isn’t about resting on laurels. They tirelessly enhance their features and solutions, directly benefiting our sales and operations. This commitment to progress has been evident from day one. Samantha, who introduced us to the platform, left a lasting impression. Her expertise set the tone for our journey with Profitroom. Our questions found swift answers, thanks to our dedicated account manager, Karolina. Her availability and willingness to assist have been invaluable. Profitroom actively listens to our needs. Various feature requests—such as refining OTA distribution, optimising the booking form, and enhancing extras settings—have been promptly implemented.
Looking forward, we seek a solution that empowers our valuable booking partners. A portal with granular management capabilities would be ideal. We’re optimistic that Profitroom will continue to be our trusted ally in this journey."
The challenge
The Northern Lights Village required a new website that could be found easily online and would effectively showcase the brand and all of the offers and experiences available and convery the personality of the two properties. The previous booking engine did not achieve a high conversion rate due to many factors including offering a poor online booking experience.
The distinct North Lights Villages offer a wide range of unique and exciting guest experiences and offers that needed to be repositioned to showcase the brand to the prospective guest to encourage them to book and also be on brand.
It's all about results
“We’ve been working together with Profitroom since 2020 and we’ve massively grown our direct business in each of our target segments.
We’ve really benefited from having a conversion-led website that is intuitive, mobile-friendly and with clear ‘calls to action’. The custom-designed website has really elevated the brand and showcases our experiences, ” says André Henke Marques.
In the first year of cooperation, after implementing Profitroom's solutions, the direct online revenue for the Northern Lights Villages Saariselkä and Levi increased by amazing 300%. Direct online sales from the last 365 days (as of 31st July 2024) for the Northern Lights Villages Saariselkä and Levi have also experienced a significant growth:
- +31% in number of bookings
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+37% in direct online revenue
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+30% in room nights
The right connections at the right time
“Profitroom has really enhanced the customer experience online and also provided three routes of entry into the booking engine, with subtle conversion tools to obtain data and increase conversions and upsells at each point of the online customer journey. The user-friendly navigation of well-curated content in all the right touch-points along the customer’s journey now makes it easier for them to actually imagine a stay.
The new custom built and designed website focuses on all of the types of experiences and offers guests can enjoy through the year as the seasons change, which now makes it appealing to both the domestic and international market,” concludes André Henke Marques, General Manager at Northern Lights Village.
