Europe is too broad an answer to the question of who we intend to sell to. We need a more precise understanding of the customer and the problem we can help solve. In Resaco's international work, that has taken us towards travel and hospitality.
We know the industry through client work in Finland. We have worked on helping tourism businesses reach demand through their own websites and turn that interest into bookings. It gives us a clear connection between marketing activity and the company's own sales. We want to apply that experience in Resaco's international hospitality work.
A direct booking channel provides something concrete to improve. The guest needs to find the business, understand the offer and complete a reservation. Each stage may need attention. That means the discussion can move forward using actual pages and booking information.
For me, the Aavalevi engagement is a useful example. The website, advertising and organic content were developed around direct bookings. There is a clear commercial objective. It also shows why looking at a single marketing channel gives us too narrow a view of the customer's situation.
Choosing an industry helps us learn. When a similar booking-path question comes up again, we can ask more precise questions. Where does a visitor go after leaving the website? Is the information needed for a decision available before that transition? How does a completed booking appear in reporting? Experience improves the next investigation when we use it carefully.
That does not mean delivering the same answer to every hotel. A property in Lapland and a European city hotel may need different demand at different times. Their guests have their own reasons to travel. Booking systems also create particular limits on what can be changed and measured.
We have to examine those differences with each new client. I want to understand what the direct channel already sells and what it costs to generate that business. Then we can judge where marketing work belongs. A prepared service description cannot replace that conversation.
Distribution partners deserve an equally practical discussion. They can bring a business demand that its own sales do not yet reach. Developing a direct channel adds options, but it also requires work and money. Commission avoided tells us only part of the acquisition cost. I care about the arrangement that makes commercial sense for the client.
The industry focus also helps us manage Resaco. Once we know which customer we want to serve, we can develop our content, sales conversations and delivery around the same needs. The team can deepen expertise that the next engagement will actually require. The focus also helps us decide where we will not spend our time for now.
The international work led by Daniel Laurean needs that clarity. Europe gives us a direction on a map. Travel and hospitality tell us much more about the conversations we need to be capable of having and the evidence a prospective client needs to see.
I want us to earn growth by understanding the customer's situation and being able to deliver appropriate work. As we build experience, we can make a better judgement about the next step.
My reflections on Aavalevi's direct booking work explain more about how I look at this as a founder.
