Increasing Direct Bookings +108% Through Smarter Paid Search
Staycity Group hired Glassbox to deliver immediate performance gains while establishing a scalable, strategically segmented approach across global markets, tailored to location-specific booking behaviours and intense OTA competition.
Staycity Group: Staycity.com and Wilde.com
Europe’s leading aparthotel provider with over 30 locations across the continent.
Industry
Aparthotels
Founded
Ireland, 2004
Growing with Glassbox since
2025
Challenge
Auction Saturation: Aggressive bidding from OTAs was driving up CPCs across brand and generic terms.
Market Complexity: Six active markets, global user targeting, and cross-border travel intent required nuanced geo-targeting and bid strategies.
Property-Level Variance: Underperforming and new properties needed dedicated strategies distinct from always-on activity.
Solution
Glassbox rebuilt Staycity’s global Google Ads campaign from the ground up, structuring activity by intent and location to sharpen targeting and control. Brand campaigns focused on reclaiming traffic from OTAs with capped CPCs, while generic campaigns ran “always-on” to capture incremental demand.
Underperforming properties received tailored campaigns with unique keyword sets and goals, supported by portfolio bidding and shared budgets to stay agile. Using insights from Google’s Travel Analytic Center, we expanded into high-potential regions and added Hotel Ads through Derbysoft to diversity direct booking acquisition.
Impact
The results reflect significant growth in bookings and direct channel value, which was achieved with only a marginal increase in spend. Below are the immediate results after implementing our solutions:
Bookings more than doubled, while ROAS increased 76% compared to the previous period.
There was an 86% increase in bookings, with a 91% ROAS increase compared to the same period in 2024.
Testimonial
Couldn’t be happier with the impact Glassbox has had on our performance. They’ve put a clean and scalable structure in place and have brought some very fresh ideas to the table. The numbers speak for themselves but beyond that, we’ve found a real partner for sustainable growth.
