Websites specialised in hotel reviews can be very positive for hotels, but it is mostly seen and felt as the pet hate of the industry. Some people take pleasure into posting negative reviews, just for fun. But for us hoteliers it provoques a decrease in revenue, so not good for us. I agree with what Agnès said, that hoteliers should definitely respond to the negative reviews. But I believe they should also respond to positive reviews. As we say, it is good to point out what's negative, but let's not forget to point out what's positive also. Do training sessions or strategies exist to help hoteliers know how and what to answer to reviews? I doubt it.
Link to article
mardi 14 décembre 2010
dimanche 12 décembre 2010
Now is the time for hotel marketers to shift focus from price to value
It is known that Hotels lead in recession and lag in recovery, the same situation as for the airline companies. The last 2 years have been tough on hotels because of the worldwide economic crisis. Companies had to cut off their expenses which meant reducing a lot their travel expenses. Therefore it was difficult for hoteliers to fill in their hotels. In order to be competitive, they to sell off their room rates. During this period, value had no importance compared to price. A interesting room rate was a big value.
But today, hotels are slowly starting to recover from the economic crisis, and the low occupancy rates. They are willing to increase their prices, and add more value to a guest's reservation and stay. Indeed, as Wyman Roberts, president of Chili’s Grill & Bar said: "There are other ways to provide value than just price". Hotels need to increase their prices, stay competitive and focus on value.
The impact on the hotel business would be beneficial as it would increase the room revenues, but also the additional revenues of the industry. Hoteliers can add value by applying the dynamic packaging on their websites, which is proposing some special offers to guests, including many different things that would attract them, and invite them to book. Dynamic packaging should be place on the booking engine of the hotel, while customers are making their bookings. In addition to the room, they can book other services of the hotel that they would probably not have thought about. I believe dynamic packaging is very important for hoteliers as it is a real source of additional revenue. Hoteliers should also take great care of their websites as it also adds value to the hotel. A hotel website is a brochure, a business card, a link to share with other friends,... It is everything that can add real value to the hotel, and encourage customers to book, regardless of a higher rate.
Link to article
But today, hotels are slowly starting to recover from the economic crisis, and the low occupancy rates. They are willing to increase their prices, and add more value to a guest's reservation and stay. Indeed, as Wyman Roberts, president of Chili’s Grill & Bar said: "There are other ways to provide value than just price". Hotels need to increase their prices, stay competitive and focus on value.
The impact on the hotel business would be beneficial as it would increase the room revenues, but also the additional revenues of the industry. Hoteliers can add value by applying the dynamic packaging on their websites, which is proposing some special offers to guests, including many different things that would attract them, and invite them to book. Dynamic packaging should be place on the booking engine of the hotel, while customers are making their bookings. In addition to the room, they can book other services of the hotel that they would probably not have thought about. I believe dynamic packaging is very important for hoteliers as it is a real source of additional revenue. Hoteliers should also take great care of their websites as it also adds value to the hotel. A hotel website is a brochure, a business card, a link to share with other friends,... It is everything that can add real value to the hotel, and encourage customers to book, regardless of a higher rate.
Link to article
mercredi 8 décembre 2010
mardi 7 décembre 2010
The impact smart phones have on the travel market. Comment on Deborah's blog
Mobile phones have incredibly changed since their creation. Indeed, it was first created to communicate more easily with people by phoning or texting them. Today, with the smart phones, you can share information via applications. Smart phones almost replace computers. A smart phone is really useful on the travel market, especially for travelers, as it can be seen as a travel tool. Indeed, you no longer need travel documents such as hotel confirmation, or flight reservations, dictionnary, travel websites, or travel guides. You can access all these documents via applications through smart phones. They are revolutionary for travelers. People search more and more their holidays via their smart phones. Therefore, as Deborah pointed out, it is important for companies to be visible and accessible through smart phones.
Link to Deborah's blog
Link to Deborah's blog
dimanche 5 décembre 2010
Online travelers don’t value brand loyalty
Brand loyalty is an everyday challenge for companies in the hospitality industry, from hotels to travel agents.
This article is very interesting as it analyses the habits of online bookers, how they proceed when booking their holidays. It is based on a survey made on 2000 UK consumers.
Online searching for holidays has become more and more famous towards people. Indeed, the survey shows that 37% of British adults look up on the internet the holiday destinations and offers, and 26% finally book online. But most of the online seekers do not book right away.
They search on different travel websites, take notes, and look up those offers again later, probably to check out if any new offers have been posted online. As the article says, it can be a long process for up to 4 months in advance before booking their holidays.
The main interest for all online consumers is to make the better deal according to their needs and expectations. Therefore, they do not really value the travel website on which they make the reservation. It is not their top priority on their check list.
Not only do consumers want the best deal, they need to feel comfortable and secure with the travel websites. The travel websites should be able to answer any customer questions. The article suggest that the websites need to be safe and attractive, in which the consumer feels secure enough to proceed with the payment. This brings us back to the importance of having an easy, and safe booking engine.
mardi 30 novembre 2010
Comment on Customer Loyalty Article
This article on customer loyalty is very intersting and indeed foster customer loyalty is a full time challenge. During my last internship in an international hotel chain, I have also experienced the importance of retention within the affiliate hotels. Indeed, for a hotel chain, it is important to foster loyalty of its members hotels, and this is not always very well understood. Besides bringing business to them, hoteliers need recognition, just like guests in a hotel need a personalized service. Customer loyalty is often an issue that is not taken care of as a priority for hoteliers, but I believe they should focus a lot more on finding ways to attract these clients again.
Internet Jobs criteria research
I found on Accor's website an interesting job offer as Junior Developer in the Sales and Distribution Department. The job is based in Accor's headquarters in Evry, France, but will require a lot of travelling around France. The job requires the following elements:
- Fluent English
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Team spirit and be autonomous
- Flexibility
- Good representativeness
- Strength of persuasion towards your contacts and good negotiation skills
- Ability to synthesize, good editorial
- Good respect of the internal procedures of integration for a hotel
dimanche 28 novembre 2010
Trends in hotel booking-engine design
This article expresses the result of the study made by the Università della Svizzera italiana, as the importance of attractive online booking engines for hoteliers, and its future trends.
The online booking engine is an online reservation system that enables guests to check room availabilities, room rates, and book rooms. This element is a strategic tool for hoteliers as it is one source of business for them. It has been proven that an attractive and easy to use booking engine is more likely to receive room reservations.
The study was made on 162 hotel chains booking engines, as to evaluate the how to design or improve a booking engine to make it more attractive and welcoming.
There are a few important elements for a booking engine to be successful. The booking engine button must be easy to see on the hotel's website, and most importantly it must lead through only a couple of steps up to the reservation, and be trustworthy. In other words, it should have 2-3 steps such as: 1st - check availability by entering the dates; 2nd - check the room types and rates, and choose which the one that suits best; 3rd - proceed to the reservation payment. Indeed, if a guest does not feel comfortable with the website, either because there are too many steps and information at once, or because the website does not seem secure enough, the reservation will not proceed.
This study suggests that the future booking engines should become a recommendation system rather than being a system that informs the guests on the hotel's availability. It should be more human-like oriented. This brings me to the question of how is it possible to make a reservation system become more of an advice tool for guests? Does that imply adding more criteria while checking the availability of the hotel, like a reservation agent would ask?
I wonder ...
Link to the article
The online booking engine is an online reservation system that enables guests to check room availabilities, room rates, and book rooms. This element is a strategic tool for hoteliers as it is one source of business for them. It has been proven that an attractive and easy to use booking engine is more likely to receive room reservations.
The study was made on 162 hotel chains booking engines, as to evaluate the how to design or improve a booking engine to make it more attractive and welcoming.
There are a few important elements for a booking engine to be successful. The booking engine button must be easy to see on the hotel's website, and most importantly it must lead through only a couple of steps up to the reservation, and be trustworthy. In other words, it should have 2-3 steps such as: 1st - check availability by entering the dates; 2nd - check the room types and rates, and choose which the one that suits best; 3rd - proceed to the reservation payment. Indeed, if a guest does not feel comfortable with the website, either because there are too many steps and information at once, or because the website does not seem secure enough, the reservation will not proceed.
This study suggests that the future booking engines should become a recommendation system rather than being a system that informs the guests on the hotel's availability. It should be more human-like oriented. This brings me to the question of how is it possible to make a reservation system become more of an advice tool for guests? Does that imply adding more criteria while checking the availability of the hotel, like a reservation agent would ask?
I wonder ...
Link to the article
Inscription à :
Articles (Atom)