A LOOK UNDER THE SHEETS AT THE EVER-EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOTELS AND OTAs.
Of the two great innovations that technology has enabled in the hotel business in the past 15 years, only one has been truly disruptive: the rise of Online Travel Agents.
What makes the disruptive innovation of OTAs so fascinating is that they are simultaneously the hotels’ biggest competitor, and potentially their largest online sales channel (for all but the largest chains). The OTAs and the hotels clearly need each other.
Accepting this fact, how can hospitality brands make the most of their online friends-cum-enemies? Read the rest of this entry »
Checking into a hotel, the staff on the desk informed me that the minibar was “pressure-sensitive,” so if you took something out and then put it back, you’d still be charged. I couldn’t help but wonder why the minibar was smart enough to know when I had taken a beer, but not clever enough to forgive me after my moment of weakness.. I nodded in acknowledgment, thanked him politely and then shuffled off to my room, pondering the changes in technology and human behaviour, and how they affect the bottom line. Read the rest of this entry »
Checking into a hotel yesterday, the guy on the desk informed me that the minibar was “pressure-sensitive“, so if you took something out and then put it back, you’d still be charged. I mean, what next, you open the door and the minibar points a Magnum in your face, saying “Go Ahead Punk, Make My Day” in its best Dirty Harry voice? I understand that they want to maximise revenue, and people regularly use the minibar and refill at 7-11, but surely it’s not come to this? Remember, before wifi became the number one gripe for travelers, minibars were the topic of the day. Innovative hotels, mostly in the USA, were even emptying their minibars so that guests could chill their own drinks. In the end i was too scared to open the door (although the tariff sheet was enough to scare me off).
Anyone seen this before?
As someone who has been building hotel websites for the last 10 years, i’ve seen my fair share of mistakes — i may even have made some of them in the past! Avoid these issues, and you’ll be on your way to an effective website that persuades visitors to become bookers.
Mistake 1: No Balance
Some sites are all images; other sites are all text with lousy images. Try to strike a balance — visitors have different drivers, needs, and motivations: some will be won over by great images; others may not care, they want the facts. A well balanced site should cater to both of these needs, and appeal to both user groups. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m fascinated by booking engines. A few years back i was involved in a large project to build a booking engine for Accor in Asia Pacific, and through all the pain of building a usable, profitable solution from this maze of rates and allocations, with availability stretching 700+ days into the future for 200+ hotels, i was captivated by the complexity and challenge of it. It’s also given me an insight into the crucial role of booking engines in an effective online presence for hotels. Read the rest of this entry »
This is a common one. I’ve been building hotel websites for clients for 10 years now, and a common request is to make them multilingual. However, there are 2 particular issues you need to look out for.
Firstly, have you thought about how much it costs to create the copy in a 2nd language? Were you thinking about freelancing it, or getting a member of staff who speaks the language to translate it? Think again. Consider how long you agonised over every single word in English, to get exactly the right copy, the right persuasive tone, that would bring you more bookings. Are you going to get the same perfect, persuasive text in a second language? It costs money to do the job right! Think copywriting in the 2nd language, not just translation. Read the rest of this entry »
Most hotels need to make a choice about a 3rd-party booking engine at some stage, unless they’re part of a medium to large chain: most users expect to be able to make a booking online in realtime, so having a contact form is often not enough. There is so much choice in 3rd-party booking engines, not just in functionality, but also in business model. Clients often ask for advice in this crucial area. Here are a few considerations.
A new post on the Keen website looks at 66,000 bookings from 6 million visitors, making bookings at 45 hotel and resort properties in 8 countries in Asia Pacific, to work out which visitors are the best hotel customers from a technical viewpoint. Key takeaways are the importance of tracking visitors to your site, testing across browsers and operating systems, and why visitors with large screens are so important to you.
Anthony Green – June 2010
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