Garda Relais
Smartconnect allowed us to start a journey we had in mind but couldn’t put into practice. Now we know it’s possible to turn unused contacts into real guests.
Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy
21
Context
Located close to the main parks of the southern Lake Garda area – including Gardaland, Movieland, and Caneva World – Garda Relais is a B&B that has evolved over time, maintaining a warm and family-friendly atmosphere while offering modern comforts and a focus on sustainability.
The property features 21 rooms – double, triple, and family rooms – mainly welcoming families and couples. Over the last year, it has expanded both its target audience and its seasonality, experimenting with winter opening to successfully cater to business travelers, a segment often overlooked in the area.
In addition to overnight stays and a buffet breakfast, Garda Relais enriches the guest experience with extra services, including tours, local experiences, and discounted tickets to amusement parks.
The challenge
Before using Smartconnect, Garda Relais focused exclusively on acquiring new customers. Through the CiaoBooking property management system, they sent pre- and post-stay communications but lacked a targeted email marketing strategy aimed at guest retention.
"We realized that over the years, we had built a significant database of contacts that we weren’t utilizing. We wanted to change course, creating a dialogue with our former guests and turning them into loyal guests, ambassadors of our property." - Garda Relais Team
Additionally, booking distribution was heavily skewed toward OTAs (64% from Booking.com, 34% direct), reducing profit margins and limiting control over guest relationships.
The solution
Garda Relais chose Smartconnect to work more effectively with their contact database, enabling them to send relevant messages and reactivate relationships with former guests. With Smartconnect, the property was able to:
- Segment contacts into micro-audiences, creating personalized newsletters and offers based on guests’ real interests.
- Easily create an editorial calendar, allowing the team to plan and implement communications effectively throughout the year.
- Automate email creation and sending, without investing additional time in manual tasks.
The results
Thanks to Smartconnect, Garda Relais achieved tangible results from the start. For the reopening of Gardaland, the property launched a targeted newsletter to 201 contacts, offering free entry for stays of at least three nights.
The campaign generated 3 direct bookings totaling €1,159, with a revenue of €5.77 per email sent – a return on investment (ROI) up to 115 times higher than the industry average (€0.05–0.25 per email).
"Smartconnect is the tool that allowed us to start a journey we had in mind but couldn’t put into practice. Now we know it’s possible to turn unused contacts into real guests." - Garda Relais Team
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