Briefing: The battle for bookings pivots on tech

According to Hipmunk, an online travel company, one-half of millennials say they’re “travel hackers”, meaning they know the best way to get a good travel deal. Research from Google states that only 23% of leisure travellers are confident they can find all of the same hotel and flight information on their smartphone that they can on their desktop. In the battle for bookings consumer behaviour is being swayed by on-going technological changes, opportunities for efficiency and value, and curiosity about new products.

In these videos experts discuss booking technology:

While the booking portals that travellers are using are changing, booking a holiday is still generally considered a big ticket purchase and requires a lot of consideration, planning and saving. Infact research from WordPay found that in the US, 72% of people still use instalment-based payments for vacation packages.

This also means that travel researchers are using multiple devices to ensure they have the best deal. A report from Google shows 94% of leisure travellers switch between devices as they plan or book a trip, and two thirds of leisure travellers double-check prices on a desktop after shopping.

More and more websites and opportunities for ‘travel hacking’ continue to appear. A website called Dream Cheaper is now even offering to help find travellers a better deal after they have booked.

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Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: The distribution channels keep coming

In June, Ryanair announced its intention to enter into the world of accommodation. “Ryanair Rooms” is just the latest addition to the changing sphere of hospitality distribution. The company has 116m customers and this move from air travel to accommodation booking, again highlights the potential for any established brand to disrupt the industry. There is still much debate around where Airbnb, which has a “mission to change the way people travel”, could sit in the industry in the future.

In these videos, experts discuss developments in distribution and booking behaviour:

In April this year Airbnb launched an updated mobile app with a focus on personalisation that aims to match people to better hosts, neighbourhoods, and experiences. This product indicates Airbnb’s continued effort to use developing technology as an edge.

Ryanair Rooms will launch on the 1st October, and will provide a variety of low cost accommodation in the form of hotel rooms, hostels, B&Bs, holiday villas and homestays. Diversification is a common move from aspirational business in today’s business world. Ryanair sees this as a natural progression towards Ryanair.com becoming the “Amazon of air travel”. Ryanair already has a hire car service which it launched last August.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: Understanding your digital skill level

According to the L2 Digital IQ Index, Marriott has the highest digital IQ of all luxury hotel brands, at 162. This is a considerable margin above the second ranked hotel group, which has been given a Digital IQ of 137. An understanding of how to engage online is vital to the success of a hospitality business today, but given that traditional hotel brands’ strongest skill is in service, they will always be at a disadvantage to specialised tech companies in the digital arena, as our hospitality experts discuss:

The Index assesses the digital competence of 55 Luxury Hotel brands by looking at the ‘effectiveness of brand site and E-commerce investments’, ‘Search, display and email marketing efforts’, ‘Social Media presence, community size, content and engagement,’ and ‘Mobile compatibility, optimization and marketing on smartphones & tablets’.

One reasons for Marriott’s high score is its online visibility. The study shows that in a Google search made from the US, Marriot is the most visible brand when looking for hotels in The Americas and Asia, and top three in Europe and Asia.

The study found that 81% of online travel booking is abandoned before completion. The study highlights frustrations during the booking process as key factor in and says that nearly 40% of sites surveyed required four or more clicks from search result to reservation.

Another barrier in the booking journey is the device used. According to the study, 46% of travellers who performed research via a mobile device did not execute their booking on that same channel.

If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.tv for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

Briefing: like, share and embed travel experiences

Online feedback has transformed the hospitality industry. Comment cards and guest books have always allowed customers to share their thoughts on their stay, but now these experiences, both good and bad, are being shared immediately online and it’s influencing where customers choose to spend their money.

Consumers want to get a glimpse of holiday destinations before they go. They are getting their ideas directly from other visitors, not just marketing teams.

So how are hotels dealing with review websites? In what new ways can the holiday experience be shared? And can digital communities be integrated into the marketing plan? Comment from:

  • Charlie Osmond, Chief Tease, TripTease on content creation & social media driving business growth
  • Sinai Pedreschi, Director of Sales & Marketing, The Stafford London on TripAdvisor and customer feedback
  • Satyan Joshi, Industry Manager – Travel, Google on the impact of video reviews on hotels and OTAs
  • Christopher Michau, VP – Global Partner Group, Expedia France SAS on integrating social media into the travel business model
 


If you’ve been sent to this page and you’re not yet on the circulation list to receive these regular briefings and you would like to sign up, you can do see here. It’s free.

Video clips produced by ybc.hpgcms.wpengine.com for the Hospitality Channel, including interview from industry conferences such as the IHIF conference as well as specific Hospitality Channel shoots.

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