RESEARCH AND COMPARE the pricing for your property using EACH of the following three sources: the hotel website (called direct) An online travel agent (OTA) such as Expedia, Travelocity, hotels.com or booking.com A travel search engine (such as TripAdvisor or Kayak) that will compare multiple booking sites (do NOT compare multiple OTAs for this activity) Rate Analysis 6 results: 2 dates, 3 websites each For this part, you must include the date that you searched for rates and screen shots of your results for comparison. Using three websites (one of each: hotel direct, OTA and online travel search engine) that you have chosen, do a search for a reservation for both the following stays: 4 night Weekday: (dates provided by your Professor) 3 night Holiday Weekend: (dates provided by your Professor) Answer the following: How far ahead are you looking at booking (how many days until the reservation you are trying to make) What are the resulting rates depending on your method of booking? How many different rates were offered? Please include the average nightly rate for the stay as well as the specific rate for each night of the stay. What are the cancellation policies that accompany the various rates offered? Did cancellation affect the price? Did any of the rates require a deposit? Were there any loyalty member specific rates? Were there discounts available for those dates (such as CAA) or not? Identify the best rate possible for the dates with the full details of booking source/deposit/cancellations policies What trends do you see about rate offerings for the different booking sources? What do you notice about rate variance for weekday vs weeknight stays? How do rates vary for each night of a stay (what nights are less/more expensive) and why do you think that is? Description of Promotions/specials available What hotel direct promotions does the hotel offer? Describe what is included. (usually found on the hotel website under book/specials or promotions) Which of these promotions were available for these dates? Were there any different promotions or specials offered through the OTA? Room types *these should match the room types described in Part 1: Info Book What room types appeared as options in the booking process? Which room types have the same rate level? Which room types have a higher rate? What is the cost difference? Were there any room types that were not available for these particular dates? (this might vary by booking source). Competitor Hotels What are the 3 closest hotels to yours - indicate their name, distance (in km) from your hotel and describe how they would compare Do you consider these hotels to be the main competition for your property? Describe the reasons for your answer (hotel rate, services etc). If not, what other 2 hotels are likely to be the best competition for your property in the area. Based on your online searches, other hotels were probably suggested to you - did they match the closest hotels or were there others? Conclusion Based on your rate analysis and research - what do you think is the best booking source for a guest stay. As a reservations agent, you always want guests to call direct, what are the benefits for a guest to book directly with the hotel? Select one of the two date options and choose one of the rates/packages that you found. Create a detailed stay experience for a couple (following the stages guest cycle) including descriptions of the services that guests would use at various points in their stay and include estimated additional costs based on those services (F&B, Spa etc.) and also area recommendations for excursions. Be sure to include the total cost of the stay. The date is night weekend November 24-28 December 8-11 Holiday weekend December 8-11 The hotel is Ritz Carlton Montreal