Strategies for Improving Direct Distribution Channels for Hostels in La Candelaria (Bogotá, Colombia)

La Candelaria neighborhood, located in the center of Bogotá (Colombia), is the epicenter of the culture and history of the city, thus generating a large flow of tourists, and its main accommodation offer consists of a series of hostels, which sell their product using different channels. The scope of this research is to propose strategies to strengthen the direct distribution channels of these hostels to generate more income, based on digital marketing strategies and interpretation of hotel indicators. To achieve the objective of the research, accommodations in the area with the highest concentration of hostels in the city were analyzed. Some of them are run independently, others are part of a hostel chain. The variables that were analyzed are RevPAB (Revenue per Available Bed), ADR (Average Daily Rate), occupancy percentage, sales by OTA (Online Travel agencies) and number of sales by other direct channels. This is the first investigation carried out in Colombia and Latin America, in which the behavior of hostel sales is analyzed, and valid strategies are presented to improve the marketing of hostels anywhere in the world. The results shown in this article are the product of the analysis of the marketing channels used by the hostels that were object of study of the present paper during 2018. The latter research work leads to recommending strategies focused on the consolidation of direct channels, making use of digital tools such as the hostels’ websites and social networks, which generate a lower cost compared to the use of other channels such as OTA.