Expedia has recently introduced a nice feature for hotels to manage their own promotions saving time from their rather slow manual process. It covers the basic discounting model for promotions, private sale promotions (through their newsletters) and a same day deal option.
Why do it?
1) Get better visibility on Expedia (watch out for rate parity issues with other OTA’s with basic discounting model
2) Reach Expedia customers through e-mail marketing (a bit of hit and miss whether you get included – or rather level of discounts offered)
3) Getting rid of distressed inventory – too many rooms left to sell on a day. This needs to be managed carefully as doing it regularly can have a negative impact on overall pricing and positioning.