The problem
Roughly 78% of bookings arrived through OTA channels whose commissions consumed a large share of room revenue, and two prior attempts to grow direct booking had failed because the direct channel could not answer a guest fast enough or in the right language. Six property-level desks meant no cross-property offer, and seasonal demand tripled between low and peak season.
What we did
- Consolidated six property desks into one group queue that can offer across all properties
- Made WhatsApp a first-class channel with the same service level as voice
- Routed enquiries by detected language to pooled desks, raising German and Russian utilisation
- Contracted seasonal surge band matching cost to the demand curve, with a returning-agent pool
Results
Direct-channel booking share rose from 22% to 49% by month 12, with median first response falling to under two minutes on both voice and WhatsApp. Cross-property conversion, effectively zero before, now accounts for 11% of direct bookings. The client's internal modelling attributes a material annual margin improvement to the channel shift, which Corpshore has not independently verified and does not present as its own claim.
Metrics
Before and after
- Direct-channel booking share+27 pts
- Before22%After49%
- First response, voice-87%
- Before14.2 minAfter1.8 min
- First response, WhatsApp-89%
- Before22.0 minAfter2.4 min
- Enquiry-to-booking conversion+127%
- Before8.4%After19.1%
- Cross-property booking shareNew capability
- Before0%After11%
Bars compare the starting position with the measured result. Each row is scaled separately because the units are not the same.
Figures relate to the period stated and were provided by the client. They depend on that client's starting point, so they are not a forecast for another operation.
The Punta Cana location was the deciding factor. We had been told for years that German and Russian capability would mean recruiting in Santo Domingo and paying people to relocate. Corpshore hired those desks locally, in the corridor, from people who already worked in this economy.
What stayed in place
The consolidated group queue is now the client's permanent commercial infrastructure, and the language-routing model has become a Corpshore Dominicana standard now used on two further hospitality accounts.