Tourist affiliate program while using online booking system with possibility of entering B2B code

Abstract

Affiliate marketing programs are one of the most powerful tools for online marketing since the merchant presenting a product or a service decides on the commissioning model and the commission is granted only if the desired results have been reached. Affiliate marketing is based offline as much as tourism itself and it relies on the commission that tourist companies pay to their partners (affiliates) who bring new guests. This paper will present the basics of how online affiliate programs work, benefits they bring and steps for their further implementation. It will explain in detail how to establish an affiliate program for dynamic web pages which use online booking system platforms ffB2BS-that offer a possibility of entering a B2Bcode. Special attention will be paid to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It will also present results of a research on Croatian hotels web pages and the implementation of the online booking system and affiliate programs. Having in mind the insufficient deployment of online potentials, the aim of the paper is to stress the need for setting up an effective method of monitoring changes and updates in the online world as well as implementing new promotional possibilities, all aimed at increasing sales. The goal of the paper is to explore advantages and disadvantages of the affiliate program as a new sales channel and promote the possibility to implement it in one of the biggest Croatian hotel companies, Maistra d.d. Rovinj. Along with methods of data acquiring and different techniques of creative thinking, the following scientific-research methods were also used: statistic, historic, descriptive, comparison, interview, analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction.