For everyone involved in providing hospitality, the
Internet is set to dominate our lives. A recent Merrill
Lynch study predicts that by 2010 up to 45% of all hotel
bookings will be made online. Of course 1this varies
between countries and between types of hotel, with branded
budget hotels getting up to 90% online.
But despite all this, I have found that there is a 1 lack
of real understanding by some accommodation operators about
how they can capture their share of this booming
distribution channel. This lack of understanding is all the
more amazing when you consider these 3 factors:
1 It is now relatively easy for independent hotels
to get distribution. 2 The extreme power of peer reviews. 3
How you can be exploited if you don't understand Internet
terminology.
1 Distribution. The Internet has revolutionised the
potential for independent accommodation providers to
distribute their rooms. In the past, when you had to rely
on traditional media advertising, it was only the large
hotel groups, the franchises and the consortia that could
afford to cost-effectively reach their prospects.
There was no way that a small independent hotel with only a
few rooms could afford to advertise nationally. It is not
quite all plain sailing now either. Some of the major
search terms have been 'appropriated', so it is sometimes
quite difficult to compete for organic search on the search
engines. However if you are clever with your
differentiation and market segmentation you can compete on
even terms.
Independent hotels do not now need to seek protection from
a consortium or a franchise, which no longer necessarily
always provide more reservations than you can yourself.
2 Peer reviews. From a standing start, up to 75% of all
travellers now research their visits on the Internet. This
is not to say that they then actually make an online
booking but they get their information this way. And this
information includes not only what you say about yourself
on your website but also what other people say about your
product and their experiences of it. Always check out
TripAdvisor and don't forget the reviews on the third party
intermediaries such as LateRooms.com or Booking.com that
send you reservations.
The other day I was reading about a study that had
concluded that 24% of those that actually booked hotels and
restaurants read online reviews before making a choice.
They are also so trusting of these reviews that they are
prepared to pay anywhere between 20% and 90% more if the
service was rated 'excellent' rather than just 'good'. In
fact it transpired that 80% of those searching for hotels
said reviews played a big part in their choice.
This is a really awe-inspiring statistic and could be
really frightening if you are not up to date with what
guests are saying about you.
3 Understanding Internet terminology. A few years ago, when
the potential of the Internet were not that clear, it was
probably acceptable for business owners to claim ignorance
of how the Internet worked. You could claim a computer
phobia and let your children work it out for you!
But in my opinion this is no longer an acceptable way to
run your business. How can you profess not to really
understand a distribution channel used by around 33% of
your guests to actually make a reservation, and 75% to
explore the possibilities?
Any ignorance of some of the technical issues will leave
you wide open to being exploited by suppliers who will
trade on this ignorance. You need to understand how
websites work and how they can be constructed to really
deliver reservations. You need to know about e-mails, how
to gather them in and how to send them out so that they are
opened and read.
The truth is that the Internet in principle is not that
complicated, although a lot of technical people do their
best to make it appear much more so than it really is.
----------------------------------------------------
Michael Cockman is a marketing mentor to the hospitality
industry, advising owners of independent hotels on industry
best practice. He specialises in tools and techniques for
maximising room revenue.
His recent Teleseminar answering 19 practical questions
about how to generate more online bookings is available to
download from: http://www.HotelProfitSystems.com
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