Launched in 2016, Boostly has built over 1,500 Wordpress websites and helped over 2,500 operators scale their business to date. It now generates an average of £81k ROI per website annually for its customers, who are educated with personalised coaching and CPD-accredited training videos to achieve a minimum of 65% direct bookings.
UK – Boostly’s ‘Book Direct’ movement has hit a new milestone, with the company reporting an “astounding” £50m in direct bookings for its clients this year. Boostly, the website design and training platform for property managers and hospitality businesses, unlocked £2.5m of direct bookings for clients in 2022 but has already exceeded that by 1,900% this year.
Founder Mark Simpson – who has written a number of books on the direct booking model – says part of the success can be attributed to a rise in property management software (PMS) integrations, which offer property managers a greater level of flexibility and customisation. Last month, the business announced a further four strategic integrations with key short-term rental players, PriceLabs, Jurny, Direct Booking Tools and Dtravel.
A new integrated customer relationship management (CRM) system, which allows hosts to schedule emails and social media posts, and a new booking engine, which enables hosts to embed more lead generation touch points across their website, have also contributed to the team achieving its milestone.
Earlier this year, Boostly became the first website design agency to directly embed ChatGPT into its direct booking websites. The introduction of AI enables property managers to instruct the tool to create detailed property listings, tailored blog posts and branded website copy.
Boostly founder Mark Simpson said: “My mission with Boostly has always been to help property managers win as much control over their bookings as possible, using direct booking websites to reduce their reliance on OTAs.
“This milestone is astounding and shows that the ‘book direct’ movement is definitely moving in the right direction and gathering pace. Around two-thirds of companies we speak to have less than 25% direct bookings, and a third don’t have a website. That needs to change but we’re now starting to see the booking revolution we’ve been working towards, as property managers embrace autonomy and create thriving, sustainable businesses.”
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
