HeBS Articles & Publications « HeBS Internet Marketing Blog

Archive for the ‘HeBS Articles & Publications’ Category

2009: Another Year That Confirmed the Internet as the Only Growth Channel in Hospitality

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

The latest eTRAK Full Year 2009 report on hotel bookings by channel yet again confirms that today, the online channel is the only growth channel in hospitality. In the difficult economic environment, when travel supply outweighed travel demand by far, Internet bookings for the top 30 hotel brands increased by a remarkable 6.6% in 2009 vs. 2008 (eTRAK).

This increase in Internet bookings comes at the expense of the GDS and Voice Channels, both of which have been declining for many years now.

The growth of the Internet channel for the top 30 hotel brands is not an isolated phenomenon. HeBS reported steady increases in direct online channel bookings across its hotel client portfolio, even in a difficult year like 2009.

In dire economic times like these, characterized by sharp declines in travel demand, a comprehensive ROI-centric Internet marketing strategy can help hoteliers continue to generate much needed incremental revenues and out-smart their competition.

Here are some of HeBS’ findings based on the latest eTRAK benchmark report, surveys and industry data from PhoCusWright, ARC and our own research.

GDS Channel Is in Steady Decline:

GDS hotel bookings via the CRS of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 3.7% 2009 vs. 2008, and constitute 23.6% of total CRS bookings in 2009 vs. 27.3% in 2008 (eTRAK).
Back in 2006, GDS CRS reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands. GDS share has decreased by 24.6% from 2006 to 2009, when it was reported at the 23.6% level.
Travel Agency Share from Total Travel Market in the U.S. dropped from 41% in 2006 to 33% in 2009 (PhoCusWright).
U.S. Travel Agency Locations decreased by 7% in 2009 vs. 2008. The number of locations has been decreasing at an average rate of 4% every year since 2001, and the number of travel agencies has declined from as high as 35,000 in 1995 to less than 16,450 in September 2009 (ARC, HeBS).

The Voice Channel Contribution Is Decreasing:

Voice channel hotel bookings via the CRS of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 2.9% in 2009 vs. 2008, and now constitute 22.2% of total CRS booking in 2009 (eTRAK).
Last year’s decrease is in addition to a decline of 2.8% for the full 2008 vs. 2007 (eTRAK).

The Voice Channel is in decline for the 6^th consecutive year (HeBS). Back in 2006, voice reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands. Voice Reservation share decreased to 25.1% in 2008 and 22.2% in 2009.

The Shift from Offline to Online Channel is Permanent:

54.2% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of 6.6% vs. 2008 (eTRAK).
60% of leisure and 40% of business travel will be booked online in the U.S. this year (PhoCusWright).
45% of hotel bookings in 2010 will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS).

Direct vs. Indirect Online Channel: Dynamics Follow the Economy:

Typical of economic times such as the present, the hotel industry (similar to post 9/11) has again “succumbed to the devil” in the face of the major OTAs. Since mid-2008 travel supply has outweighed demand and hoteliers have been more susceptible to panic, resulting in deep discounting and embracing of the OTAs. The result is that we have witnessed a significant shift from the direct online to the indirect online channel in 2009:

In 2009, 70.9% of online bookings came from the direct online channel (i.e. the major hotel brands’ own websites), while 29.1% came from the indirect online channel (the Online Travel Agencies—OTAs) (eTRAK). This constitutes a significant increase of the contribution from the OTAs compared to 2008, when 75.2% of online bookings came from the direct online channel, while 24.8% came from the OTAs.
Compare this to 2007, when the direct channel contributed 76% of CRS Internet bookings.

Here is a summary of eTRAK’s most recent reports on hotel bookings by channel:

Top 30 Hotel Brands: CRS Hotel Bookings	2009	2008	09 vs. 08	2008	2007	08 vs. 07
Internet Bookings	54.2%	47.6%	6.6%	47.6%	42.0%	+5.6%
* Brand Website	70.9%	75.2%		75.2%	76.0%
* Third-Party/OTAs	29.1%	24.8%		24.8%	24.0%
Brand GDS Bookings	23.6%	27.3%	-3.7%	27.3%	29.3%	-1.9%
Brand Voice Bookings	22.2%	25.1%	-2.9%	25.1%	28.8%	-3.7%

The Bottom Line: Focus on the Direct Online Channel

Hoteliers need a robust Direct Online Channel Strategy, accompanied by adequate marketing funds to be able to take advantage of the steady growth in the Internet channel and shift from offline to online bookings in hospitality due to declining GDS and voice channels. Hoteliers must carefully employ ROI-centric initiatives, including website redesign, website optimization and SEO, paid search, email marketing, online display advertising and proven social media initiatives.

Even in this economy, you should not decrease or eliminate your hotel Internet marketing budget. The Internet, and especially the direct online channel, is the only growth channel for hoteliers and the only “light at the end of the tunnel” in this environment. Even in these difficult times we see “Return on ad spend” (ROAS) as high as 3500% from Internet marketing campaigns we run for our clients.

Market researchers provide various projections for the growth of the online travel channel in 2010, from a small decline as reported by a travel research company, to growth rates as high as 11% in 2010 as projected by eMarketer. These optimistic projections are supported by the leading e-Commerce research company, which declares that overall U.S. online sales will increase by 9% in 2010. HeBS believes that online travel, having always been the most dynamic and fast-growing segment of the overall online marketplace, will experience similar growth rates. Whatever the case might be, the online travel channel, and especially the direct online channel, provides hoteliers with the only viable option for any growth during this recession.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications | No Comments »

Innocent Ignorance or Crime and Punishment: The Perils of Duplicate Web Content

Monday, January 18th, 2010

by Max Starkov

Duplicate Web Content Defined

Duplicate Web content is when two web pages with different URLs contain “largely identical content.” These two pages may reside on the same website (internal duplication) or on two different sites with two completely different core URLs (external duplication).

Here is Google’s definition: “Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.”

What are the reasons for duplicate Web content?

In some cases duplicate content is a result of hoteliers’ “innocent ignorance”. Example: a hotel signs up with an online travel agency (OTA) and completes the OTA questionnaire, providing the OTA with hotel descriptions which are an identical copy of the content descriptions from the hotel own website. When the OTA publishes these descriptions on its own website without editing or altering them in any significant manner, then we have a clear case of duplicate content under two different core URLs (external duplication).

An example of internal duplication is printer-only versions of web pages on the hotel website.

In other cases content is deliberately duplicated across the Web in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. These deceptive practices are usually performed by shady SEO vendors or self-taught in-house “experts”.

In all cases, in the eyes of the search engines such duplicate content practices, if served within the search engine results, result in a poor user experience.

Duplicate Content and the Search Engines

Generally speaking, search engines hate duplicate content. Why? The search engines are working very hard to index and show pages with distinct information. For them duplicate information is not beneficial to the search engine users and inhibits the user experience. Duplicate content is “spam.” This is the reason why when two or more Web pages are identified as “too similar,” one or more of those Web pages usually disappears from the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Google’s own guidelines to webmasters are very clear: “Don’t create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.”

The search engines perform duplicate content filtering throughout the three main parts of the search engine process: spidering or crawling, indexing, and query processing. In this way some duplicate content is filtered out before Web pages are even added to the search engine index, some during the process of cataloging new content (indexing), and later, when responding to user searches and serving the SERPs. The end result is that typically duplicate content is not displayed in the search results.

What do the search engines do when they discover duplicate content?

Internal Duplication:

In the case of a simple internal duplication e.g. if your site has a “regular” and “printer” version of each page, and neither of these is blocked with a “noindex meta tag,” the search engines will choose one of them to list. If your site contains multiple pages with largely identical content (e.g. large e-commerce sites or poorly structured hotel brand or OTA websites), there are a number of ways you can indicate your preferred page and its URL to Google and the other search engines. This process of identifying the preferred URL is called “canonicalization” and may involve the use of a 301 re-direct or noindex meta tag.

External Duplication:

As mentioned above, a typical example is a hotel providing hotel descriptions to an OTA that are identical to the ones from the hotel’s own site. When the search engines discover this duplicate content about the hotel on both sites, which one prevails? Typically a site that is better known, has a larger user audience, and a better link popularity (backlink structure in Google-speak), is likely to trump any other website. In other words, the search engines will include the OTA pages about the hotel in the search results and ignore the hotel’s own website.

Deliberate Content Duplication:

In cases of content duplication in which the search engines perceive that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate search rankings and deceive users, the search engines make “appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved”. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the search engine index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.

Hotel Websites and Duplicate Content

Providing content about the hotel to other sites is inevitable on the Web. This is not a new phenomenon. All hotels provide hotel and room descriptions to various third-party sites, branding and distribution partners, etc:

Major hotel brands, soft brands and hotel rep companies
OTAs, GDSs, booking engine vendors, etc.
Hotel listings on CVB and Chamber of Commerce sites, hotel directories, destination portals, etc.

In addition to distributing the hotel inventory to a wider audience, some of these content listings provide added benefits to the hotel’s own website. Hotel listings on directories, destination sites, CVB sites, etc. which feature a URL link to your own hotel’s website directly affect how your hotel is ranked on the search engines. Search engines love such incoming links to your site (so-called strategic linking; Google calls them backlinks) as each such link is considered a vote of confidence in your website’s content.

In other words, hoteliers cannot avoid sharing content descriptions about their hotel with other sites. But hoteliers have to be very smart about it and avoid providing duplicate content to any external distribution or marketing partner site. Unfortunately, this has been a serious problem in the industry for many years: hoteliers provide the third-party sites with exactly the same content descriptions found on their websites. Why? It is much easier to “copy and paste” than to write “significantly different” hotel and room descriptions.

The inevitable result of the existing practices is that many of these third-party sites like the OTAs know SEO (search engine optimization) techniques far better than the hotels do, and the result is that the OTA listings end up higher in the search engine rankings than the property’s own content.

Unique Content to the Rescue

So what should hoteliers do to avoid having their own sites excluded from the search engine results, not indexed at all by the search engines, or being ranked lower than third-party sites?

To begin with, avoid duplicate content at all cost. Make sure that all content descriptions about the hotel are “significantly different” across the Web:

Franchised Hotels: on the brand website vs. the hotel’s own vanity site
Independent Hotels: on the hotel’s own site vs. the management company’s website vs. the hotel rep company’s site
All Hotels: the hotel own site vs. hotel’s descriptions on the OTA sites.

Understand that the real threat is not in providing content in the form of hotel listings on a CVB site, or in the form of re-seller listings on Expedia.com, but to use the same content on your own website.

By providing unique hotel and hotel product descriptions on the hotel’s own website, your site will have a clear advantage in the eyes of Internet users and search engines alike, compared to all other sites that provide duplicate content descriptions about your hotel. Therefore, creating the best, deepest, most unique and relevant content (textual and visual) about your hotel on your own website, naturally optimized for the search engines (SEO) as per best practices, should become a top priority for any hotel in 2010.

Case Studies:

A typical Marriott Hotel:

Expedia has 4-6 pages of content for each Marriott hotel on its website.
Marriott.com has in average 30-50 pages of content for each Marriott hotel with good SEO
The result? Property content pages from Marriott.com are usually ranked better on Google and the other search engines than Expedia’s content pages on the same properties.

Mandarin Oriental:

Expedia has 4-6 pages of content for each Mandarin Oriental hotel on its website.
MandarinOriental.com has in average 100-150 pages of content for each Mandarin Oriental hotel with good SEO
The result? Similar to the Marriott.com case, property content pages from MandarinOriental.com are usually ranked better on Google and the other search engines than Expedia’s content pages on the same properties.

In other words, the content on your own website has to be able to “outshine” any other description of your hotel product and services on any other website. If the CVB site or a hotel directory or an OTA site has a single page of content/description of your property, your own website should have at least 25 pages of deep, unique, relevant and SEO-friendly content about the property.

Conclusion

Sharing textual and visual content about your hotel with third-party distribution and marketing sites is inevitable. In the same time hoteliers should avoid at all costs having content from their own website duplicated on other sites to avoid the hotel site from being marginalized in the search engine results or de-listed by the search engines altogether.

Hoteliers should strive to create the best, deepest, most SEO-friendly and unique content (textual and visual) about your hotel on your own website, complimented with the following action steps in 2010 aiming to position your hotel website as the most sought-after source of information about your hotel:

Re-design the hotel website as per industry’s best practices
Create fresh and deep textual and visual content on the sites (the best content about your hotel should be on your website)
Implement robust Web 2.0 functionality on the hotel website:
- Blogs
- Customer reviews/comment card on the site
- Interactive calendars about local events/happenings, special offers and packages
- Photo and experience sharing
- Interactive contests and sweepstakes
- Rich media and videos
- Implement solid SEO on the website
- Implement robust strategic linking from relevant, preferably non-paid sites and directories
- Implement social marketing initiatives (Twitter profile, fan pages on Facebook, etc), and maintain regular engaging postings and new content creation – Google now delivers real-time results from these social networks to its search result pages
- Implement comprehensive Internet marketing: email marketing, search marketing, banner advertising and sponsorships, mobile marketing, etc), each piece featuring unique content about the property
- Implement an online PR campaign and property news dissemination campaign, featuring unique content about the property
- Implement an enterprise level website analytics and campaign tracking (e.g. Omniture SiteCatalyst and Omniture SearchCenter) to measure the results and ROI from your efforts.

Partner with hotel Internet marketing experts who understand the intricacies of how search engines work and provide in-house copywriting and SEO expertise as per industry’s best practices, as well as guide your direct online channel strategy, website re-design and optimization, search and email marketing, social marketing and mobile Web initiatives.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in Best Practices, HeBS Articles & Publications | 1 Comment »

Hotelier’s 2010 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions

Monday, January 4th, 2010

By Max Starkov & Mariana Mechoso Safer

Looking back, HeBS believes that 2009 was a year not only of challenges, but also successes for the industry. While no hotelier is sad to see the end of 2009, HeBS believes that every hotelier has learned extremely important and insightful lessons that have benefitted their Internet marketing and distribution efforts. Undoubtedly the most important and relevant initiatives in 2009 included holding every spent dollar fully accountable with analytics, not experimenting with unproven advertising formats, enhancing and optimizing the hotel website, and very carefully targeting the right customer segments. These tactics were integral parts of HeBS article “Getting Back to the Basics: The Hotelier’s Action Plan for a Difficult Economy” and hoteliers who made these recommendations priorities in 2009 were the winners in this economic downturn.

Now, it’s time to look at the year ahead.

Industry reports show that in 2010, hotels will continue to experience declines in revenue and profits, and the recovery is expected to be slow and painful. According to PKF Hospitality Research, in 2010 hotel occupancy will increase by only 0.4%, while ADR and RevPAR will decline further by 1.5% and 1.1% respectively.

The Online Channel is the only growth channel in 2010. This was true last year and it is still the case this year. In Q3 2009, Internet CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands grew by 6.6% compared to the previous year, while both GDS bookings and voice bookings declined by 3.6%, and 3% respectively (eTRAK). Smart hoteliers will continue to shift marketing dollars to the online channel at the expense of traditional and declining channels, and implement ROI-centric Internet marketing and distribution strategies with new efforts such as social media and mobile marketing, which are quickly becoming the mainstream in the hospitality industry.

What should hoteliers do to improve bookings in this slowly recovering economy? How seriously should they take their social media strategy? Which Internet marketing initiatives should hoteliers budget for? What online initiatives will bring the highest ROIs? Most importantly, how can hoteliers keep up with emerging trends and provide the immediate, real time service that guests demand?

The 2010 Top Ten New Year’s Internet Marketing Strategy Resolutions, presented by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies (HeBS) for the tenth year in a row, provide some of these answers and action steps.

Here are the Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions your hotel company should consider adopting in 2010:

1. I know that “Less is More” in a difficult year like 2010 and I will focus my budget on the Internet marketing initiatives that bring the highest ROIs and generate the most bookings. I know it is essential that I use analytics to drill down my results and find the right marketing mix that converts for my hotel, and that I make use of every marketing dollar I have.

Situation: The Internet marketing basics—website re-design, SEO, paid search, and email to the hotel’s opt-in list—consistently bring in the most bookings and the highest ROIs in the industry. HeBS estimates that 75%-80% of hotel website bookings originate directly from these 4 initiatives alone.

Action Steps: Focus 90% of your budget and efforts on the 4 ROI-producing marketing initiatives as mentioned above—website re-design, SEO, paid search, and email to the hotel’s opt-in list. Then carefully study your analytics so that you can allocate more of your budget to those specific elements in each initiative that works (specific keywords over others, shorter newsletters, two newsletters every two weeks vs. four, etc.).

What about social media and mobile marketing? Where do you start and what do you focus on? To complement the 4 initiatives above, spend up to 10% of your Internet marketing budget on social media and mobile marketing initiatives this year. By enhancing your social media presence on Facebook and Twitter you can create buzz around the property and contribute to increased awareness and booking considerations. Also, make it a priority to build a mobile-ready website this year—67% of leisure travelers and 77% of business travelers have already used their mobile devices to find local services such as lodging. However, social media and mobile marketing should remain a small part of the budget in 2010. And remember that less is more. Use the basics more intelligently this year by carefully looking at your website analytics, which will enable you to do more with limited budgets and resources.

2. I will take advantage of the fact that multi-channel marketing is here and that I can reach my future and current guests through a variety of ways that complement each other.

Situation: The research process is now longer than it has ever been—people are searching an average of 22 travel websites before making a booking (Google), communicating with friends and family via Facebook, conducting mobile search, etc. This means that they are seeing your marketing messages across a variety of different channels. Now more than ever, there is a convergence of interactive and offline marketing channels—social media and print; hotel websites and social media initiatives, mobile and email, etc.

Action Steps: Multi-channel marketing campaigns should be the norm in 2010. Reach your future and current guests at multiple touch-points. For instance, if you launch an email campaign to the hotel’s own opt-in list, combine it with a tweet on Twitter, a posting on Facebook, a promotion on your website (this is a must), and paid search campaigns. Remember, no matter which channels you use make sure you are tracking results and conversions (e.g. Omniture, DART, etc). Phone tracking is now easier than ever (e.g. a unique 1-800 number to be used for calls resulting from your Google AdWords, another from Yahoo, etc.), and even with print you can send people to private landing pages or use promo codes.

3. I will remember that the Direct Online Channel must always be at the centerpiece of my Internet strategy. I know that travel consumers booking via my hotel website i.e. direct customers are more loyal, bring more revenue and tend to travel more often.

Situation: Across the industry, in 2010, Direct Online Channel sales will exceed 62% of total online hotel bookings. In 2009, even the top 30 major hotel brands t increased their dependence on the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)—from 25.4% a year ago to 30% of CRS bookings in Q3 2009 (eTRAK). Emboldened by hoteliers’ desperation, some OTAs engaged in controversial and unhealthy practices, as described in HeBS’ recent article “The Prisoner’s Dilemma, the Stockholm Syndrome, or a Case of Both?”

Action Steps: What should hoteliers do to improve their direct vs. indirect online channel ratio? Firmly establish the direct online channel as the centerpiece of your marketing strategy. This provides your hotel with immediate results in a very difficult economic environment as well as long-term competitive advantages. Maintain strict rate parity across all marketing channels and maintain a best rate guarantee. At the same time, create unique product offerings and providing unique value proposition via the hotel website. Engage your customers directly via social media and mobile initiatives, and Web 2.0 features and functionality on the hotel website.

4. I will plan my budget around ROI-Centric Internet marketing initiatives and furthermore, I will track every dollar spent using sophisticated website analytical and campaign tracking technology. In this economy, I will not spend even a single precious marketing dollar without tracking the results, bookings generated and Return-on-Investment (ROI). I know that my Internet marketing budget is never final – it is a “work-in-progress” which continuously needs to be reevaluated dependant on results and Return-on-Ad-Spend (ROAS).

Situation: Smart hotel marketers—from the major hotel brands and OTAs to independent hotels and resorts—use sophisticated website analytical and campaign tracking tools like Omniture, DART, etc. For example, Omniture’a SearchCenter (used by many major hotel brands and all of HeBS clients) allows automated bid management of paid search campaigns resulting in significant cost savings of 30%-40%, in addition to detailed ROI-analysis on the campaign and keyword level and keyword stacking reports. This process reveals which keywords actually lead to a booking. Here at HeBS we often see bookings that resulted from three or more keyword searches.

Action Steps: In 2010, hoteliers must track post-impression and post-click activity and track conversions (bookings, room nights, revenues) and ROAS from each campaign. Do not accept excuses from your interactive vendors on how difficult it is to track conversions and ROAS. Work only with an Internet marketing vendor that provides the hotel with 24/7 access to state-of-the-art website analytical and campaign tracking tools, utilizes industry’s best practices, and focuses on marketing spend that can be tracked. Go even more granular with analytics, and don’t just look at direct revenues from campaigns but look at the path website visitors took to make a booking. For instance, make sure that you review campaign stacking reports with your vendor and website user pathing behavior to get the full picture as to which marketing initiative led or contributed to each booking. Do not disregard an initiative because you aren’t drilling deep enough into your analysis. If your current vendor cannot accommodate your hotel with the above reporting and analysis, replace them in a heartbeat.

5. I will make sure my hotel website is Web 2.0-friendly to increase interaction with visitors. I understand that launching Web 2.0 features and functionality on the hotel website engages website visitors, generates interest and site stickiness, and ultimately increases bookings.

Situation: Most hotel websites read like a static online brochure. There is minimal interaction with the user; all he/she can do is sit back and read what is on the website as if in a county library. This is contrary to the mere nature of today’s hyperactive Internet user, who is tweeting, texting, emailing, communicating with friends via Facebook, and commenting, often in real-time, on restaurants and hotels via review sites.

Action Steps: Create opportunities for your website visitors to communicate with your hotel. Start a blog so that you can speak to them and allow them to leave their feedback (this will benefit the hotel’s SEO as well). Launch a sweepstakes that allows your visitors to enter to win a free night’s stay (and refer the contest to their friends, spreading it virally), and let them show off their vacation photos by creating a photo sharing contest (always have an approval process before photos go live). Post a fun scavenger hunt on the site and generate buzz, add new users to the opt-in email and text lists, and generate incremental bookings in the process. Everyone wants to be a celebrity – let them share their experiences!

Many of these Web 2.0 features such as interactive sweepstakes and contests, blogs, event/activity calendars, photo sharing contests, sharing the site with friends, following the hotel via Twitter and Facebook, customer surveys and testimonials, etc. can be implemented even now, in this economy, without re-designing the whole website.

6. I will take full advantage of Social Marketing and enhance the social media strategy for my hotel in 2010. I understand that social marketing and targeted social media initiatives, if done according to best practices, generate buzz around the hotel, engage customers, provide a receptive audience, and ultimately stimulate hotel website visits, interactions and bookings.

Situation: Internet users now spend 17% of their surfing time on social network and blogging sites, nearly triple the percentage of time spent on such sites a year ago, according to Nielsen. Over 44% of Internet users are active in social media. In addition, over one-third of social network users and 44% of Twitter users have engaged with a brand through discount promotions (Mashable).

No wonder that according to the recent Business.com’s 2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Study, 83% of U.S. companies use Facebook and 45% Twitter. All major hotel brands, airlines and other travel suppliers, as well as all OTAs are now present on the social networks like Facebook, Twitter, etc. At the same time, the social networks are cluttered with “dead” Facebook Fan Pages and Twitter accounts, abandoned by hoteliers and travel marketers who did not realize the amount of time, expertise and resources maintaining social media presence requires.

Action Steps: Do not get tempted to create a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter account if you are not ready to devote a significant amount of time and resources to managing your hotel’s social network presence and if you do not have access to best practices and expert advice on the subject. If you do not have the internal bandwidth or resources to manage social marketing, outsource to a hospitality social media expert company.

Launch interactive contests & promotions using social media and find unique ways for people to interact with your hotel outside of the hotel website. An example could be an interactive scavenger hunt using Facebook and Twitter, or a Twitter-only contest asking your followers what their dream hotel package would be (the prize would be the most imaginative-yet doable-package). Here at HeBS, we have found that these types of promotions drive significant traffic to the hotel website, are beneficial for SEO, are often referred to friends, and consistently result in multiple hotel bookings. And always measure ROI from your social marketing—number of engagements, referrals, leads, initiated bookings, conversions.

7. I will invest in Mobile Marketing this year, as I know that mobile users expect instant access to information as well as an Internet experience that rivals the one via traditional PCs and laptops. Mobile users have even shorter attention spans. They have less time to browse and are often on the go. I know the mobile Internet is not wireless access to the conventional Internet and adheres to different rules.

Situation: The number of mobile devices has already surpassed the number of personal computers worldwide. Seventy-eight percent of the U.S. population has a mobile device of some sort. Sixty-seven percent of travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with Web-enabled mobile devices have already used their devices to find local services (e.g. lodging) and attractions (PhoCusWright). In other words, hotel guests—past, current and potential—are increasingly becoming mobile-ready and hoteliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile services. This is the reason why all major hotel brands, travel suppliers and OTAs have mobile Internet initiatives in place, including mobile brand websites, mobile applications (including iPhone apps), m-CRM and mobile marketing.

Action Steps: The first step any hotelier should take is to build a mobile-ready website, designed specially to provide an excellent user experience in a mobile environment. The economy or budget constraints are no excuse—a 10-page mobile hotel website starts at $1250 and is definitely worth the investment. Also, launch Google mobile ads and start soliciting sign-ups to the text opt-in list (m-list) on the hotel website and via email marketing campaigns, etc. Include a mobile marketing component in your social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests.

8. I will invest in online videos for my hotel’s website and other online channels such as YouTube, Facebook, etc. I know that because of advances in bandwidth and technology, online videos are becoming an integral part of the Internet and Mobile Web users’ experience. I also know that an online video describes my hotel and its location better than any textual content on my site, and is an attractive conduit by which I will be able to showcase the hotel and the destination via the social networks.

Situation: According to Nielsen’s VideoCensus, YouTube serviced over 6.6 billion streams in October 2009 alone, followed by Hulu (632 million) and Facebook with over 217 million streams. YouTube is the second largest search engine–second only to Google. People watch an average of two hours a month online and referrals from YouTube to the online travel channel are up 84% this year (Google). Most importantly, 72% of US Internet users view video online on the same scale as network television and 89% of users surveyed said video influenced their booking decision (PhoCusWright). No wonder almost all major hotel brands, OTA’s, luxury hotel and resort brands have invested heavily in the creation of online videos about their product and services and created YouTube and Facebook video channels.

Action Steps: If you do not have an online video of your hotel in 2010, make this a priority. Video is a great way to bring your property to life and there is a huge audience out there. Upload your video on your website, create a YouTube user channel for your hotel and make your videos part of the hotel’s Facebook Fan Page. If you are not able to budget for a video, consider the much cheaper Flash Video (flash animation of images along with a voice-over recording), or ask your guests to upload and share their own videos.

9. I will take full advantage of today’s real-time marketing world we live in. I will focus on real-time communications with my past, current and future guests because I know that they expect me to be there for them via multiple channels and at all touch points. At the same time I know that with the advent of social media and mobile Web, real-time information is being generated, disseminated, and acted upon with lightning speed across the Web, and I will make sure not to miss this opportunity to showcase my property.

Situation: Today’s hyperactive travel consumer expects to have access to real-time information in a 24/7 fashion. “Consumer expectations are at a level never seen before. Immediacy is compelling, engaging, and highly addictive” (CNN Dec 09). At the same time consumers, for the first time in history, can create content in real time via social networks, mobile texts, email, etc., which automatically gets distributed across the traditional and mobile Web. Google already serves content in real time from across the blogosphere, Twitter, Facebook and other social networks in its search results. Via RSS, this content gets distributed to thousands of sites. This presents hospitality eMarketers with enormous new challenges, as well as opportunities.

Action Steps: Hoteliers need to be there right away for their customers and these customers won’t necessarily come to you directly with their questions and feedback. They may post a comment on Facebook, or tweet about your hotel. Many companies have been very successful at responding to these communications, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and ultimately in new incremental bookings. Make sure you are monitoring for comments about your hotel not only on the hotel review sites, but across the social networks, and responding as quickly as possible. Take advantage of this new staggering immediacy in information dissemination—new postings on the hotel’s website blog, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel, Flickr account, etc. and get picked by the search engines almost immediately to appear in the search engine results.

10. I will always keep in mind that experience matters when it comes to hotel Internet marketing. I know there are a lot of vendors out there that want my business, and I do not want to be a victim to self proclaimed Internet marketing experts or those that want to “learn the business on my dime.”

Situation: Now, 15 years after the first hotel online booking, best practices have been established in practically every aspect of hotel Internet marketing. There are many vendors, an increasing number not hospitality-focused, who proclaim themselves as internet marketing experts. At the same time there are proven hotel Internet marketing professionals who can help you and your hotel stay competitive, increase market share, and generate high website revenues and ROIs. It is becoming increasingly difficult for hoteliers to distinguish and choose the true experts in the field.

Action Steps: Consider partnering with a hotel internet marketing firm with a proven track record in the industry. Partner with hospitality experts in Internet marketing and direct online channel strategies who can help you acquire new core competencies and adopt best industry practices. Partner with those who can help you and your hotel stay competitive in these difficult times, preserve and increase market share, beat the industry averages and generate the highest website revenues and ROIs. Hire experts who will work with you in complete transparency and that are ROI-centric, yet innovative and will keep you in the know of the latest trends, including social media and mobile marketing.

Most importantly, this partner should make your website your hotel’s most productive and efficient revenue generating channel in 2010 and beyond.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications, Top 10 Internet Marketing Resolutions | 3 Comments »

The Good News: Growth Continues in the Online Distribution Channel in Hospitality

Monday, August 31st, 2009

by Max Starkov

Earlier this year, we published a blog article called “Yet Another Confirmation on Why the Internet is the Only Growth Channel in Hospitality 2009-2010″ where we argued that in these difficult times, when travel supply outweighed travel demand by far, the online channel was the only growth channel in hospitality. Indeed, in Q1 2009, Internet bookings for the top 30 hotel brands increased by 6.3% and reached 51.1% of the total brand CRS bookings, an industry first.

What was the situation in Q2 2009? Are there any changes in channel utilization, and the overall direction to which distribution is heading?

The latest eTRAK Q2 2009 report on hotel bookings by channel confirms yet again that today the online channel is the only growth channel in hospitality. Internet bookings for the top 30 hotel brands increased by a remarkable 7.2% in Q2 2009 vs. Q2 2008 (eTRAK), and now constitute over 54.8% of total brand CRS bookings.

The increase in Internet bookings comes at the expense of the GDS and Voice Channels, both of which have been in decline for many years now, and continued their downward slope in Q1 and Q2 of 2009.

Here are some of HeBS’ findings based on the latest eTRAK benchmark report, surveys and industry data from PhoCusWright, ARC and HeBS’ own research.

Hotel Bookings by Channel

GDS Channel Is in Steady Decline:

GDS hotel bookings via the CRS of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 4.6% in Q2 2009 vs. Q2 2008, and constituted 22.7% of the total brand CRS bookings.
- In Q1 2009, this decline was 4.5% Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008, which constituted 24.8% of total CRS booking in Q1 2009 (eTRAK).
In retrospect, back in 2006, GDS CRS reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands. GDS share has decreased to 22.7% in Q2 2009.

The Voice Channel Contribution Is Decreasing:

In Q2 2009, voice channel hotel bookings via the CRS of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 2.6% compared to Q2 2008, and amounted to 22.5% of total brand CRS bookings.
- In Q1 2009, voice channel bookings declined by 1.9% vs. Q1 2008, and constituted 24.1% of total CRS booking in Q1 2009 (eTRAK).
The Voice Channel is in decline for 6^th consecutive year (HeBS). Back in 2006, the voice reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands. Voice Reservation share has decreased to 24.1% in Q1 2009.

The Shift from Offline to Online Channel is Permanent:

54.8% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of 7.2% Q2 2009 vs. Q2 2008 (eTRAK).
- In Q1 2009, the online channel contributed to 51.1% of total brand CRS bookings
45% of hotel bookings in 2009 will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS).

Direct vs. Indirect Online Channel Dynamics Follow the Economy:

Typical of economic times when travel supply outweighs demand, travelers are shopping around and hoteliers are more susceptible to discounting and working with the OTAs. Therefore we are witnessing a shift from the direct online to the indirect online channel in Q2 2009:

In Q2 2009, 70.1% of the online bookings came from the direct online channel (i.e. the major hotel brands own websites), while 29.9% came from the indirect online channel (the Online Travel Agencies-OTAs) (eTRAK).
- In Q1 2009, 74% of the online bookings come from the direct online channel (i.e. the major hotel brands own websites), while 26% come from the indirect online channel (the Online Travel Agencies-OTAs) (eTRAK).
There is a significant increase of OTA contribution, compared to Q2 2008, when only 25.4% of the online bookings came from the indirect online channel (OTAs).

The Bottom Line for Hoteliers: Continue to Focus on the Direct Online Channel

The growth of the Internet channel for the top 30 hotel brands is not an isolated phenomenon. HeBS reports steady increases in direct online channel bookings across its hotel client portfolio.

Even in dire economic times like these, characterized by sharp declines in travel demand, a comprehensive ROI-centric Internet marketing strategy can help hoteliers continue to generate much needed incremental revenues and out-smart their competition.

HeBS believes that online travel, and especially the direct online channel, provides hoteliers with the only viable option for any growth during this recession.

About the Authors and HeBS:

Max Starkov is Chief eBusiness Strategist at Hospitality eBusiness Strategies (HeBS). HeBS is an award-winning, full-service Internet marketing and Direct Online Channel Strategy firm, strictly dedicated to the hospitality and travel verticals. Having pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel Internet marketing and direct online distribution, HeBS specializes in helping hoteliers profit from the direct online channel and transform their websites into the hotel’s chief and most-effective distribution channel, establish interactive relationships with their customers, and significantly increase direct online bookings and ROIs. Visit us online at www.hospitalityebusiness.com.

A diverse client portfolio of over 500 top tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees, independents, and CVBs has sought and successfully taken advantage of HeBS’ hospitality Internet marketing expertise. Contact HeBS consultants at (212)752-8186 or info@hospitalityebusiness.com.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) | No Comments »

Mobile Marketing & Distribution Strategy in Hospitality: The Future is Already Here

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

by Max Starkov

Back in September 2001, HeBS presented an article titled “Wireless in Travel and Hospitality: Hype or Necessity?” Today, just as in 2001, the media hype on anything mobile has not eased up. Hoteliers are rightfully confused about the real impact of the mobile Internet and about the importance of the mobile distribution channel in hospitality. Eight years later, we revisit the analysis and recommendations we made back in 2001, offer an update on industry best practices, and provide hoteliers an action plan on mobile marketing and mobile channel distribution.

Note: Max Starkov will present the session “Mobile Marketing in Travel & Hospitality: The Future is Already Here – An Action Plan for the M-Marketer” at the upcoming EyeForTravel’s Mobile Strategies for Travel USA Conference, September 16-17, 2009 in Chicago.

How Big is the Mobile Marketplace?

The mobile Internet is a reality: 3G (broadband wireless services) is the standard wireless technology, G4 (much faster than 3G) is already offered in the U.S., and smart phones like the iPhone, BlackBerry, Treo, LG, etc. are a part of everyday life.

Mobile devices are truly ubiquitous, and mobile users expect instant access to information-as well as an Internet experience that rivals the one via traditional PCs and laptops. A significant number of cell phone subscribers have access to the mobile Internet and use some kind of data service such as texting, email, Web browsing, etc.

Worldwide mobile communications usage has increased dramatically since 2001:

The number of cell phone subscribers has surged nearly 25% annually for the past eight years.
Mobile penetration stood at 12% in 2000, and has grown to reach over 60% in 2008.
There were 4 billion cell phone subscribers worldwide at the end of 2008, according to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union (ITU) – compare this to less than 1 billion in 2002.
Around the world more people use their mobile phones than PCs to access the Web because mobile phones are cheaper and easy to carry around (”constant presence”).

What is the situation in the U.S.?

The number of mobile phone lines has already surpassed the number of land lines in the U.S. More than 90 percent of the U.S. population has a mobile device of some sort.

US Mobile Phone Subscribers 2008-2013
Year	millions	Penetration %
2008	270.3	88.9%
2009	280.8	91.4%
2010	291.2	93.9%
2011	298.4	95.2%
2012	302.0	96.1%
2013	308.7	96.7%
eMarketer, May 2009

New research from EyeforTravel shows the average number of Americans who browsed the Internet via their mobile devices grew by 61% in 2008 vs. 2007. eMarketer estimates 26.3% of mobile phone subscribers will log on to the mobile Web at least once per month in 2009, for a total of 73.7 million mobile Internet users.

Why Should Hoteliers Care?

The promise of “immediate, anywhere and anytime” Internet access, instant information and transaction capabilities, location-based services and personalization are the key advantages of the mobile Internet.

A recent Nielsen Mobile poll found that in 2008 only 9.2 million U.S. mobile subscribers purchased goods or services with their handsets. Yet today, mobile customers are much more at ease with the idea of m-commerce.

How serious is the demand for mobile services in the travel space? A recent report by PhoCusWright projects mobile bookings to reach $160 million in 2010 alone. Sixty-seven percent of travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with Web-enabled mobile devices have already used their devices to find local services (e.g. lodging) and attractions.

Another poll by Harris Interactive, conducted April-May 2009, shows that 71% of U.S. adults felt that it was safe to make a purchase via a mobile phone. Forty-three percent of respondents are willing to purchase hotel rooms and 40% tickets for travel via their mobile devices.

In other words, hotel guests-past, current and potential-are increasingly becoming mobile-ready, and hoteliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile services. This is the reason why all major hotel brands, travel suppliers and OTAs have mobile Internet initiatives in place, including mobile brand websites, mobile applications, including iPhone apps, m-CRM and mobile marketing.

The Future is Already Here: Location-Based Mobile Services (LBS)

Location plus personalized services are not only the essence of the mobile Internet, but the very definition of what travel is all about.

Location-based services (LBS) are based on the unique ability of the mobile Internet device to determine its exact location by using GPS, and then to use that knowledge to perform functions, provide information, suggest activities, check out if friends are in the neighborhood, etc.

eMarketer estimates that there were 63 million location-based services (LBS) users worldwide in 2008, and expects this number to reach 486 million in 2012:

Year	LBS Users, millions	% Change
2007	18.9	-
2008	61.3	224.1%
2009	134.0	118.8%
2010	215.3	60.7%
2011	329.0	52.8%
2012	486.0	47.7%

Ultimately, the location-based services’ success is closely tied to addressing existing and significant privacy concerns. CTIA, the international mobile industry organization, has already issued guidelines addressing user notice and user consent.

Location-based services have already greatly improved the travel consumer experience. These mobile services are expanding in use and popularity among travelers who expect to receive services such as mapping, navigation services, city guides, etc. upon arriving at the destination.

For example, a traveler approaching New York City and using LBS can obtain information on the city’s main tourist attractions, Broadway show times and ticket availability, exciting events, hotel information and promotions. They may plan or adjust existing travel plans, as well as make reservations via the LBS-equipped mobile device. Furthermore, if they are browsing a neighborhood such as the West Village in Manhattan, they can easily search for the nearest Italian or sushi restaurant, read customer reviews, select a place, and make an instant reservation.

LBS also allows guests at large hotels and resorts to be notified of new and unscheduled performances, dining promotions, cancellation of events, and new special offers (i.e. 2-for-1 seafood buffet, 25% off day trips, $50 off spa treatments, etc). These services not only provide useful information to hotel guests, but allow good hotel marketers to sell auxiliary services and do ad-hoc promotions.

In addition to these “conventional” services, new types of LBS are already here: services like buddy beacons and friend-finders help travelers and pub hoppers alike hook up with friends who happen to be at the travel destination or in the neighborhood.

Location-based services are poised to become a great marketing tool in the hands of pro-active DMOs, resorts, hotel and restaurant chains, and tourist vendors.

What Should Hoteliers Do?

What are the “killer” applications for the hospitality space? What are the mobile services that will allow hoteliers to take full advantage of the exploding mobile channel? Over a third of travel companies will be investing in mobile this year (EyeForTravel).

Here at HeBS, we believe that the following mobile Internet services and applications will make the biggest impact in hospitality over the next few years.

Mobile Hotel Websites

A word of caution: the mobile Internet is not wireless access to the conventional Internet. The mobile Internet does not merely duplicate the traditional Web. Many retailers and travel companies who literally “translated” their conventional websites for the wireless world failed to achieve any significant usage and conversions. Why? The mobile Internet adheres to different rules than the conventional Internet. Mobile users have even shorter attention spans. They have less time to browse and are often on the go. Slower speeds, yet to be perfected mobile browsers, smaller displays, limited data-input capability (e.g. the number of keywords that may be typed in a search), multi-step booking and information retrieval processes are some of the limiting factors.

Imagine trying to squeeze your wide-screen hotel website, designed to fit screen resolutions at 1280×1024 pixels and above, onto the tiny screen of a mobile device. Our analysis shows that more than 90% of mobile users access the hotel website via mobile devices with screen sizes of 320 x 480 pixels. Accessing a “conventional” website via a mobile device, even the latest iPhone, often results in an undesirable user experience: the inability to find information needed, and a predictable outcome of abandoned websites and reservations.

To solve this issue, hoteliers should offer a mobile website specially designed to provide an excellent user experience in a mobile environment.

Mobile users demand mobile sites that download fast, provide short and concise textual content with no fluff, minimalistic visual content, and navigation that is straight to the point. Efficient and simple navigation is of particular importance so people can easily find short descriptions of hotel amenities and services, maps and directions to the hotel, a toll-free phone for information and reservations, and an easy-to-use, basic booking engine.

The economy and budget limitations are no longer an excuse for lacking an inexpensive mobile-ready hotel site. Designing and building a “starter” hotel mobile site can be fairly inexpensive: from $495 for a 4-page starter site to $1250 for a 10-page mini-site. Many of our clients have some type of m-commerce site: from mobile-ready starter sites and more comprehensive mini-sites, to full-blown m-commerce sites for multi-property hotel clients.

A recent Internet Retailer survey found that 7% of online retailers already had an m-commerce site in late 2008. Having a mobile hotel site, due to the nature of location-based and in many cases impulse-driven services the hospitality industry provides, has become a priority.

Here are the typical hotel mobile site features being implemented today:

Multi-property hotel companies and brands – automatic detection of mobile browser access, ability to search and book hotels by location, bookable special offers, interactive maps and directions to the property, area attractions information, reward program login for quick reservations and account information, Omniture or other enterprise analytical tools to track traffic and conversions, special 1-800 numbers to track mobile phone reservations, etc.
Single property hotels and resorts can start with a simple 4 to 10-page mobile mini-site, featuring code allowing the mobile device to automatically detect the mobile site. Information on this mobile site should include the hotel’s contact information (email and phone number), reservation information with a link to the mobile version of the booking engine or a simple reservation request form, a description of the hotel’s main services and amenities, information addressing the main customer segments, and an interactive map and directions to the property. HeBS tracks traffic and conversions on mobile sites via Omniture and uses a special 1-800 phone functionality to track mobile site calls and conversions.

Case Study:

Browsing on hotel mobile websites is becoming more and more popular among mobile customers.

Number of mobile site visits January-July 2009:
Regional midscale hotel brand	79,500
Multi-property resort company	22,279
Regional multi-property hotel company	14,379
Boutique hotel in San Diego, CA	4,286
Full-service hotel in Seattle	1,891
Luxury spa resort in Florida:	9,917

Mobile Booking Functionality

Enabling reservations via the hotel mobile site is another very important, though more complicated, issue. Today all major hotel brands’ mobile sites have booking capabilities. Independent hotels and resorts are usually at the mercy of their third-party PMS or booking engine vendors. Unfortunately, only a handful of these vendors have developed mobile booking capabilities, most recently SynXis and InnLink.

To facilitate mobile reservations due to the mobile devices’ limited functionality for data input, secure customer profiles need to be stored either via the hotel mobile site, the mobile booking engine vendor, or a subscription to specialized m-commerce digital wallet services. For example, for the major hotel brands, the reward program guest ID number should be sufficient to pull up all customer data and preferences needed for a hotel booking. The property selection, arrival date, number of room nights and number of rooms, all selected from easy to use drop-down lists and calendars, should be the only missing parameters.

Independent hotels and resorts can either use a mobile engine from their third-party booking engine vendor or, for the time being use a simple reservation request form. Today, either way is correct, since the majority of mobile reservations for independent hotels and resorts come from the mobile site’s toll-free telephone number. HeBS’ research shows that as much as 8 out of 10 mobile reservations come via the special 1-800 from the hotel mobile site, and only 2 are “true” mobile reservations.

Case study:

Multi-Property Hotel Company: Bookings via the mobile booking engine and the special toll-free reservations number, January-July 2009

	Mobile Booking Engine	Mobile Toll-Free Phone	Total:
Number of bookings	161	650	811
Room nights:	270	1080	1350
Revenue:	$32,100	128,400	$160,500

During the same period, the mobile site had a total of 78,953 mobile visitors. Therefore, the conversion rate was approximately 1%.

Naturally, as mobile reservations become more widespread and the comfort factor increases, hotel mobile sites will have to offer mobile booking functionality.

M-CRM and Customer Service

M-CRM or mobile CRM will rule the mobile Internet. Customer relationship management (CRM) and mobile services were meant for each other: mobile devices are constantly present, always on and usually used by only one person. Hence, using the mobile space to provide intelligent, unobtrusive and highly personalized services convinces customers that this is their service. Custom-tailored services and offerings, based on knowing your customers, matching customer preferences, and predicting behavioral techniques are only part of personalizing the customer service in this space.

Here are only some of the m-CRM and customer service initiatives possible, already in use by many of the major U.S. airlines, and some of the hotel brands:

Reservation confirmation text messaging
Pre-Arrival texts (up-selling opportunity; reservation reminder; value add – e.g. what will the weather be during your stay, events and happenings at the hotel or in the neighborhood, etc.)
Post-stay texts with short guest satisfaction surveys
Text Alerts: weather alerts, airport delay alerts, traffic alerts (construction on a main highway into town, etc)

When conceptualizing and delivering m-CRM, hoteliers have to tackle serious issues like data security, privacy concerns, how to make services and applications non-invasive, and solicit customer opt-in and consent.

M-Lists: Opt-in Customer Mobile Text List Creation

Text messaging is huge and growing. In 2008, over a trillion text messages were sent worldwide, and on average there were 357 texts vs. 204 phone calls/per month per cell phone subscriber.

Unlike email marketing, which is free, unregulated (except the toothless CAN SPAM Act of 2003) and susceptible to massive abuses in the form of unsolicited spam, mobile text marketing has to overcome two very serious obstacles:

Mobile users, all of them burned by the email spam experience, are vehemently guarding their privacy and protecting their cell phone/PDA numbers. People are willing to share their email with just about anybody, while entrusting their mobile number only to close friends and relatives.
Wireless carriers are taking the privacy of their subscribers very seriously and reacting fiercely to any attempts of cold calling or unsolicited text campaigns.

Therefore it is not an easy task for the hotel to create an opt-in list of existing guests and potential customers’ cell phone numbers (m-list). These guests would have to provide the hotel with explicit consent to receive special promotions or event announcements via their mobile devices-many people are wary of this.

How should you create and expand the hotel m-list? Here are some techniques and approaches to solicit opt-ins for the hotel’s m-list, all of which require a very carefully thought-out solicitation of the mobile user’s consent:

Guest check-in/check-out solicitations
Website sign-ups
Interactive sweepstakes, contests, games that require the input of a cell phone number or sending a text message to a shortcode
Mobile barcode coupons and initiatives
Social media initiatives
Quizzes and polls

Mobile Advertising

eMarketer projects that mobile advertising will rise from $648 million in 2008 to $3.3 billion in 2013. This year alone marketers will spend $760 million in mobile advertising (+17.3%) and almost a billion dollars in 2010 ($995 million or an increase of 30.9% vs. 2009). Forrester projects mobile marketing to grow from 2009 through 2014 with a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 27%, second only to the growth rates projected in social media.

Mobile advertisers should take into account several unwritten rules that differentiate the mobile space from general online advertising.

Mobile advertising should:

Deliver real value that goes beyond price
Provide real convenience for the mobile travel consumer
Be conceptualized in a way that puts the mobile travel consumer in charge

Many “ugly” advertising approaches from the e-commerce world, such as pushy, “in your face” advertising campaigns, cold calling in the form of unsolicited email marketing, “bait and switch” type of paid search campaigns, etc. should be discarded once and for all. These advertising formats will never work in the mobile space due to the existing overt hostility toward any intrusion in customer privacy by both consumers and mobile carriers.

What are the mobile marketing formats that are of particular interest for hoteliers? In our view there are 4 areas of interest for hoteliers:

1. “Traditional” Mobile Advertising

This includes proven advertising formats from the non-mobile Internet world: sponsored mobile search listings (e.g. Google mobile ads), mobile banners, and mobile barcode-type of advertising initiatives.

Due to space constraints, creating short but appealing marketing messages is a challenge with both the mobile search and display formats. Mobile barcodes, similar to Japan’s very popular QR code, are already becoming part of the marketing mix of retailers worldwide.

Case Study:

Google Mobile Ads

More and more people are browsing the mobile Internet via their mobile devices and are being exposed to Google mobile ads, which results in visits to the hotel mobile site or reservation calls via the 1-800 number. Here are the Google mobile ad views/impressions for sample hotels across the U.S. from January-July 2009, which constitutes a significant increase of 35%-50% vs. the same period of 2008:

Full-service hotel in San Francisco	2,878
Casino hotel in Nevada	24,977
Boutique hotel in Los Angeles	5,031
Golf resort in Arizona	2,064
Luxury spa resort in Florida	4,463

Hoteliers have to be prepared to work with conversion rates and campaign tracking technology that are different from the Internet world. Website analytical vendors like Omniture and ad delivery and tracking technology vendors like DoubleClick have already deployed mobile campaign and conversion tracking technology. For example, DoubleClick Mobile provides full compliance with Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) standards, reports on impressions, clicks, jump pages and third-party metrics, dynamically displayed ads, and handles custom executions for jump pages – coupons, media downloads and more.

2. Location-Based Services (LBS)

LBS-based advertising is a “hot” new area where m-marketers are already testing interesting initiatives to promote businesses to travelers based on their physical location. LBS-based advertising includes a wide range of marketing formats and options that have one thing in common: advertising is tailor-made to fit the concrete GPS location of the mobile user at any given time. Examples include offering discount coupons for the closest Starbucks, special pre-fixe dining at a nearby restaurant, and banners for businesses based in the vicinity.

Imagine the impact LBS-based advertising could have in hospitality, which is location-based itself: from “beaming” deals for hotels at the next exit to travelers on the interstate, to offering 2-for-1 drinks at the hotel bar to hotel guests or passers-by, to giving $50 off all massages for walk-in guests to come to the hotel spa within the next hour. For example, HotelPal, a new app for iPhone, takes your physical location via GPS and then shows you all the hotels in your vicinity including rates and special offers, and provides booking capability.

3. Mobile Text Marketing

There are two approaches for mobile text marketing: 1) to the hotel’s own opt-in m-list, or 2) to “rented” m-lists. Similar to email marketing to the hotel’s own email list, the preferred and recommended m-marketing approach is to target the hotel’s own opt-in m-list. Once the hotel addresses the privacy and customer consent issues as discussed above, and generates an m-list of opt-in cell phone subscribers, the next logical step is to conceptualize the text campaigns and decide on their frequency. Providing real value and building expectation should be the underlying considerations.

Text marketing to “rented” m-lists is not considered best practices, similar to renting email lists. With rented m-lists there is an additional aggravating factor, which is the extra sensitivity of mobile users about privacy issues.

Here are sample text message marketing campaigns:

M-Coupons – e.g. discount coupons for a free drink at the bar, 10% off a reservations, etc.
Sweepstakes – e.g. text “sweeps” to a shortcode and enter our Free Room Giveaway
Contests
Interactive games

4. Mobile Applications

Mobile applications or “apps” have exploded in popularity with the introduction of the first iPhone. Apple boasts over 50,000 applications (both free and paid) that people can download via the iPhone Apps Store. BlackBerry has a similar apps storefront with a growing number of apps.

From interactive maps, to Frommer’s and Lonely Planet travel guides, restaurant and hotel reviews, to flight status, personal tours and currency exchange calculators, there are apps for practically everything.

A number of hotel brands have launched their own apps. For example, Omni Hotels’ new free iPhone application enables iPhone or iPod touch users to book hotel rooms, search rates and reservations and receive special offers directly through the app. The app gives full access to Omni’s mobile site, and includes features like mobile check-in and loyalty account sign-in.

Here are just some of the intriguing downloadable apps currently available for hospitality and travel:

Interactive games themed around a travel brand, destination or type of travel: cruising, foreign travel, family travel, etc.
Interactive contests
Apps sponsored by travel/hotel brands
Personal tours of a city/destination (e.g. tour starts/ends at your hotel or resort)
Interactive games where the hotel/resort is at the center of the activity

Mobile apps are good branding tools, though not many hotel companies can afford the expense in this economic environment. Application development costs vary, but can start from $25,000 for an app that people would want to download.

Conclusion

When HeBS released the article “Wireless in Travel and Hospitality: Hype or Necessity?” in September 2001, no one could foresee how big the mobile channel would become. Luckily, many of our predictions materialized, some beyond our most optimistic expectations.

The mobile Internet is already here. Mobile marketing allows hoteliers to take advantage of a unique marketing and distribution medium where mobile services, marketing messages or applications are delivered via a very personal device (e.g. your cell phone or smart phone). This creates an additional responsibility for m-marketers to “thread carefully” and strictly adhere to best practices and standards due to the highly sensitive privacy concerns of mobile users and wireless carriers alike.

Travelers are already using their mobile devices to plan and book travel and hotels. Even mobile sites of small, single properties are being visited by thousands of mobile customers. Some travel and hotel companies are already taking advantage of the growing mobile traveler population and generating incremental revenues from their mobile sites, marketing and apps.

What can hoteliers do in the remaining months of 2009? An excellent first step is to create a mobile site, which by default is the “gravitational” center for all future marketing efforts: from text messaging and Google mobile ads, to mobile sweepstakes and applications. As discussed in this article, budget limitations are no longer an excuse for lacking an inexpensive mobile-ready hotel site.

Launching Google Mobile ads as part of a comprehensive search marketing strategy is another natural step. Also, start soliciting sign-ups to the mobile opt-in list (m-list) on the website via hotel email marketing campaigns, social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests.

What should hoteliers plan for 2010 and beyond? Location-based services, m-CRM and mobile apps are initiatives in need of careful planning, sophisticated technology, and a better economic environment. Even so, hoteliers should start thinking about how to incorporate these initiatives in the upcoming years.

Consider seeking advice from a mobile-ready, full-service hotel marketing and direct online channel strategy firm to actively help you take advantage of the mobile channel one step at a time. Learn which mobile marketing formats make the most sense for your hotel and how to implement latest trends and best practices in your mobile Internet marketing efforts so you can realize respectable ROI and incremental revenue growth.

About the Author and HeBS:

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications, Mobile Marketing | 1 Comment »

Yet Another Confirmation on Why the Internet is the Only Growth Channel in Hospitality 2009-2010

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

By Max Starkov

The latest eTRAK Q1 2009 report on hotel bookings by channel confirms yet again that today the online channel is the only growth channel in hospitality. In these difficult times, when travel supply outweighed travel demand by far, Internet bookings for the top 30 hotel brands increased by a remarkable 6.3% in Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008 (eTRAK).

The increase in Internet bookings comes at the expense of the GDS and Voice Channels, both of which have been in decline for many years now.

Here are some of HeBS’ findings based on the latest eTRAK benchmark report, surveys and industry data from PhoCusWright, ARC and HeBS’ own research.

GDS Channel Is in Steady Decline:

GDS hotel bookings via the CRS of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 4.5% Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008, and constitute 24.8% of total CRS booking in Q1 2009 (eTRAK).
GDS reservations for the top 30 hotel brands declined by 2.3% for the full 2008 vs. 2007 (eTRAK).
Back in 2006, GDS CRS reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands. GDS share has decreased to 24.8% in Q1 2009.
Travel Agency Share from Total Travel Market in the U.S. dropped from 41% in 2006 to 33% in 2009 (PhoCusWright).
U.S. Travel Agency Locations have been decreasing at an average rate of 4% every year and their number has declined from over 35,000 in 1995 to less than 17,500 in January 2009 (ARC, HeBS).

The Voice Channel Contribution Is Decreasing:

Voice channel hotel bookings via the CRS of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 1.9% in Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008, and constitute 24.1% of total CRS booking in Q1 2009 (eTRAK).
Voice reservations declined by 2.8% for the full 2008 vs. 2007 (eTRAK).
The Voice Channel is in decline for 6^th consecutive year (HeBS). Back in 2006, the voice reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands. Voice Reservation share has decreased to 24.1% in Q1 2009.

The Shift from Offline to Online Channel is Permanent:

51.1% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of 6.3% Q1 2009 vs. Q1 2008 (eTRAK).
60% of leisure and 40% of business travel will be booked online in the U.S. this year (PhoCusWright).
45% of hotel bookings in 2009 will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS).

Direct vs. Indirect Online Channel Dynamics Follow the Economy:

Typical of economic times such as the present, when everybody is shopping around and hoteliers are more susceptible to discounting and working with the OTAs, we are witnessing a slight shift from the direct online to the indirect online channel in Q1 2009:

In Q1 2009, 74% of the online bookings come from the direct online channel (i.e. the major hotel brands own websites), while 26% come from the indirect online channel (the Online Travel Agencies-OTAs) (eTRAK).
There is a slight increase of OTA contribution, compared to Q1 2008, when 76.8% of the online bookings come from the direct online channel, while 23.2% came from the OTAs.
In 2008, as a whole the direct channel contributed to 75.2% of CRS Internet bookings vs. 76% for 2007, mainly due to a disastrous for the travel industry Q4, 2008.

Here is a summary of the eTRAK most recent reports on hotel bookings by channel:

bloggraph

The Bottom Line: Focus on the Direct Online Channel

The growth of the Internet channel for the top 30 hotel brands is not an isolated phenomenon. HeBS reports steady increases in direct online channel bookings across its hotel client portfolio.

Market researchers provide various projections for the growth of the online travel channel in 2009 and 2010, from a small decline as reported by a travel research company, to growth rates as high as 10.5% in 2009 and 11% in 2010 as projected by eMarketer. These optimistic projections are supported by the leading e-Commerce research company, which declares that overall U.S. online sales will increase by 11% in 2009 and by another 9% in 2010. HeBS believes that online travel, having always been the most dynamic and fast-growing segment of the overall online marketplace, will experience similar growth rates. Whatever the case might be, the online travel channel, and especially the direct online channel, provides hoteliers with the only viable option for any growth during this recession.

About the Author and HeBS:

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in Direct Online Channel, HeBS Articles & Publications, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) | 1 Comment »

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs): Will They Survive the Removal of Airline Ticket Booking Fees?

Monday, July 6th, 2009

By Max Starkov

Background:

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have traditionally charged airline ticket booking fees ($5-$7 per ticket). Recently the top 3 U.S. OTAs (Expedia-43% market share, Orbitz-26%, Travelocity-22%) followed Priceline’s example and removed these booking fees permanently. When Priceline removed these fees back in 2008, they quickly gained market share: from 7% in 2007 to 9% in 2008 (PhoCusWright).

Over 54% of the OTAs’ U.S. domestic reservation volume (44% of the OTA total gross booking volume) comes from selling airline tickets. The airlines, by default, do not pay any commissions to the OTAs or the traditional travel agencies for that matter.

Expedia acknowledges in its latest 10-Q SEC filings that its revenue per air ticket decreased more than 10% in each of 2005, 2006 and 2007, and in 2008 air revenue constituted less than 15% of the company’s global revenue. In the first quarter of 2009, due to the “no booking fee” promotion, Expedia’s revenue per ticket declined 14%. Now that this no booking fee promotion has been made permanent, it would further reduce Expedia’s annual air revenue.

So how are the OTAs Making Money?

Here is a summary of the contributions of the main travel segments to the OTAs’ booking volume and revenues, listed in order of importance:

Hospitality:

The OTAs rely heavily on the hotel industry for the bulk of their revenues. Hotels contribute to 37% of all U.S. domestic bookings via the OTAs, which is a little over 30% of the OTA total gross booking volume. In the same time hospitality contributes to more than 60% of OTAs commissions/booking fees!

In its latest 10-Q SEC filing, Expedia acknowledges that in 2008, over 60% of its revenue came from transactions involving the booking of hotel reservations, with less than 15% of its worldwide revenue derived from the sale of airline tickets.

In other words, hotel reservations are financing the OTAs’ operations and allowing the OTAs to remove airline ticket booking fees.

Case Study:

Expedia’s Revenue from a New York City Luxury Boutique Hotel under net rate contract:

ADR: $275/night
Average Length of Stay: 2 nights
Total Booking Volume: $550
Net room revenue to hotel: $412.50
Expedia mark-up/commission: 25% = $137.50

This distribution cost is 2650% higher compared to the $3-$5 cost per booking on the hotel own website.

Online Packaging (Dynamic Packaging):

The OTAs love packaging as it helps them generate fees from airline tickets-as mentioned, if sold alone, an airline ticket provides zero commissions/fees for the OTAs.

No wonder all OTAs are heavily promoting their packaging services. Yet, this segment contributed to less than 16% of the OTAs total gross booking volume in 2008. This year, its share is expected to increase to 18% and remain flat at that level in 2010.

Car Rental:

Traditionally, the OTAs have charged similar booking fees for car rental reservations, since many car rental companies do not pay any commissions to the OTAs. So this segment still generates revenues for the OTAs, but unfortunately car rentals account for only 7% of U.S. domestic OTAs booking volume.

Cruise Segment:

The OTAs are generating hefty commissions from the cruise lines. Unfortunately this segment accounts to only 2% of the OTAs gross U.S. domestic bookings.

The question is: will the OTAs survive now that they have removed the airline booking fees?

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications, HeBS Blog Survey, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) | No Comments »

Pros and Cons for Purchasing Hotel Brand Terms in Paid Search

Thursday, June 25th, 2009

An article by Max Starkov and Evan Rosenblum

We at HeBS are often asked whether it is necessary to purchase the hotel branded keyword terms (property names, trademarks, hotel brand names) in paid search marketing on the main search engines Google, Yahoo.

This is a great question, indeed- do we really need to purchase our own brand terms? Even if the hotel site is coming up number 1 organically, do we have to launch a paid search campaign using the hotel brand name terms? Isn’t this a waste of advertising dollars? This question has actually been on SEM practitioners’ minds for quite some time.

Search Marketing (SEM) has become one of the most popular online advertising formats. Actually, 45% of every advertising online dollar is spent on paid search today. SEM is an essential component of a hotel’s direct online distribution strategy.

HeBS is one of the early adopters of Pay-per-click (PPC) Marketing. Our experts have been actively using and managing PPC campaigns for clients since 1997. Over the years HeBS has managed the PPC marketing campaigns of hundreds of hotel companies, from large hotel brands to small boutique properties. This expertise translates into saving precious marketing dollars for its clients.

There are several reasons why you need paid search campaigns (PPC) focused on the official property names/trademarks/brand names:

Branding

Paid search listings play a very important branding role. We should not forget that each paid search campaign generates thousands of “free” impressions i.e. how many times people see and potentially read your marketing message without clicking on the PPC listing. This costs nothing, as you only pay for each click. For example, a $1000 AdWords campaign on Google, at 2% CTR (click-through rate) would generate over 65,000 impressions at practically zero cost.

You can brand your hotel paid search listing as “This is the official website” of the property to differentiate it from various third-party paid and organic listings for your hotel, including TripAdvisor, all major OTAs (Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline), including thousands of OTA affiliates that use hotel brand names in their PPC on a consistent basis.

Online Travel Purchasing Habits

There is a natural progression of travel-related searches that are done on the main search engines, especially with long purchasing cycles, as with hospitality. Oftentimes, online travelers search for generic terms during their initial research phase (e.g. downtown Houston hotels). Once the research is complete, the user will remember the name of the hotel they liked above all else, but typically won’t remember the site’s URL. Therefore, they will go back to a search engine and search for the hotel brand name and make the booking. In other words, often generic terms are only used in the research stage, not when the user is ready to buy.

The above is witnessed by our experience with Omniture Search Center, the most sophisticated paid search management technology today. HeBS utilizes Omniture SearchCenter for all of its hotel clients, and we are tracking the so called “keyword stacking” i.e. conversion and assist keyword terms for any PPC campaign. Quite often conversions come from brand term clicks, while the generic keyword terms play an assist role.

Typical Conversion Path in Paid Search Marketing

This is one of the reasons why hotel brand terms will always have the highest revenues associated with them. Generic keywords act as conversion “assist” keywords and generally will not yield as much revenue or as high Return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) as the brand terms.

Search Engine User Behavior

Over the years, many surveys show that up to 50% of Internet users go to the second page of the search engine results. Even if your property organic listing is on the first page, it is not shown on the second page of the search engine results, while your PPC listing is. In other words, your PPC listing provides enhanced visibility.

The Competition is Waiting!

If the hotel does not purchase brand terms, someone else will. This is particularly valid for the OTAs and their thousands of affiliates (e.g. Travelocity has 50,000 affiliate sites, all bidding on hotel brand terms). We want to make it as easy as we can for the user to find our hotel directly and book on the hotel website, and not through Expedia.

Double your Visibility!

Even if the property’s natural listing is on the first page of the search engine results (e.g. when people search for the name of your hotel), the paid search listing enhances the hotel visibility on the search engine results page (SERP) — it doubles your presence on the page and is like having a 1/4 vs. 1/8 of a page advertising.

So even if your organic listing is on page one, this is still only 1 listing out of 10 organic listings, plus a minimum of 4-5 paid ads coming up. Simple logic and probability says that your site has less than 10% chance to be clicked on with those odds. However, if you also have a paid listing, now you are doubling your odds and have an approximate 20% chance to have one of your listings clicked on.

Control Your Marketing Message

In the PPC listing you have full control of your marketing message, which is not the case in your natural listing. You can use a phone number, sample rates, or promote a concrete special offer e.g. weekend special, or suite special, etc. You cannot do that with your natural listing.

Case Studies:

There have been several well-publicized case studies in this regard about well known travel brands (Marriott and Delta).

In February of 2008, Marriott (by far the most recognized hotel brand worldwide) experimented with stopping all brand-name related PPC campaigns, both at the brand level and property level (the properties’ own campaigns). After they saw a “significant drop in revenue,” Marriott quickly resumed the brand name PPC campaigns. All major hotel brands are spending heavily on the brand name related keyword terms.

When Delta Airlines (now the biggest airline in the world with one of the most recognizable brand names in the U.S. today) stopped purchasing their “brand” terms in early 2008, total revenue decreased, total visits to the brand site decreased and their test proved that utilizing both PAID and ORGANIC brand terms in your marketing plans yields the best results.

Conclusion:

Based on the findings outlined above, our own extensive experience in search marketing, plus industry’s best practices and benchmark tests by major industry players, it has been undoubtedly proven that the best strategy in search marketing is to use both organic and brand terms in your PPC campaigns.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications, Search Engine Marketing | No Comments »

The TripAdvisor Review Widget on the Hotel Website: a Good or Bad Move?

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

We at HeBS are often asked about the pros and cons of:

1. Creating a link on the hotel website to the customer reviews page of the hotel on TripAdvisor
2. Displaying TripAdvisor reviews directly on the hotel website via the TripAdvisor Review Widget

We have always recommended against both of these options. Here is why:

1. Creating a link on the hotel website to the customer reviews page of the hotel on TripAdvisor

This is a much simpler case. Have you looked at your property page and your customer reviews on TripAdvisor lately? Have you noticed that the page is full of advertisements by all the major online travel agencies (OTAs), all the major hotel brands, and many of your competitors?

By linking from your hotel website to TripAdvisor you are actively encouraging your potential customers to book with the OTAs or someone else. On the other hand, it is extremely expensive nowadays to bring visitors to your website (costs related to paid search, website development, SEO, hosting, email marketing, analytics, etc.), and you would not want to lose them that easily by sending them away.

2. Displaying TripAdvisor reviews directly on the hotel website via the TripAdvisor Review Widget

The TripAdvisor Review Widget is placed on the hotel website by uploading a special TripAdvisor code that “pushes” live customer reviews from TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor promotes this as a ‘friendlier’ option compared to Option 1 above because the hotel website visitors do not have to leave the site, and therefore will not be exposed to advertising by the OTAs and competitors.

Here are the cons as we see them:

Official vs. Unofficial Web Content

•    With social media becoming the “voice of the people” online travelers want to see both sides of the story:
o    The “Official Content”: this is the hotel website’s descriptions of the hotel product and services
o    The “Unofficial Content”: these are customer reviews and postings on social media sites, TripAdvisor, etc.

Mixing official and unofficial content by adding the TripAdvisor Widget on the hotel website goes against the very principle of separating official from unofficial content, convolutes the mere nature of social media content, creates confusion among online travelers and ultimately works against the hotel.

• Lack of Control over Customer Reviews

No hotel will ever publish a negative customer review on its website. Having TripAdvisor push live customer reviews to the hotel website creates the very real threat that negative reviews will appear on the hotel website as soon as they are posted on TripAdvisor. How do you control that? There is no way that you can filter out negative reviews with this TripAdvisor Review Widget.

• A Guest Satisfaction Survey should already exist on the hotel website
As per best practices, the hotel website should already feature a Guest Testimonials Page, as well as a Guest Satisfaction Survey, which aims to solicit customer opinions about hotel services, accommodations, etc. See a sample here: http://www.leparcsuites.com/hotel/guest-survey.php

• Don’t Tempt the Competition

We have noticed that when the competition discovers that you feature “live” customer reviews from TripAdvisor on your website, they are often tempted to write a fake negative review about your hotel themselves.

• Best Practices:

TripAdvisor created this functionality to link from the hotel website back in early 2008. As of today only a few hundred hotels have signed up (out of over 50,000 U.S. hotels). No major hotel brand has allowed its franchisees to link to TripAdvisor from their own websites, and no chain website links to TripAdvisor. Why? The reasons sited above, as well as a very practical one:
the industry in general should not contribute to the expansion of monopolistic customer review depositories like TripAdvisor. This site already has more than 30 million unique visitors every month. It already has a big chunk of the marketplace. Its closest competitor has only 5 million visitors a month.

Our clients agree with us:
Here is what one of our clients, a luxury boutique hotel in California, had to say:
“I agree that the TripAdvisor Review Widget works against the hotel, particularly since in this economy we’ve been forced to play in the opaque sites (Priceline, Hotwire), we’ve found those customers posting reviews that are either only partial truth, at best, and/or certainly embellished, showing the hotel in a very negative light”.

What do you think about displaying TripAdvisor reviews directly on the hotel website via the TripAdvisor Review Widget—is this a good idea or not?

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications, Social Media & Web 2.0 | 1 Comment »

Is eCRM in Hospitality a Database Management or a Business Strategy to Engage the Customer?

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009

The most common misconception in the industry is that CRM in hospitality and travel is synonymous to database management. Many hotel/travel companies, authors and conference speakers alike treat CRM as some kind of a technology application. The truth is that CRM in travel is much more than technology or database management. CRM and its online application, e-CRM are business strategies aiming to engage the customer in a mutually beneficial relationship.

Within this context, here is the best and most universal description of e-CRM for any hospitality company, travel supplier or online travel agency:

Electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM), in the context of Internet distribution and marketing in the travel vertical, is a business strategy supported by Web technologies. It allows travel companies (travel suppliers and online travel agencies – OTAs) to engage customers in strong, personalized and mutually beneficial interactive relationships, increase conversions and sell more efficiently.

Here are the main components of an e-CRM strategy in travel and hospitality:
•    Know Your Customer
•    Customer Service
•    Personalization
•    More Efficient Marketing
•    Build Customer Loyalty

Establishing mutually beneficial interactive relationships with your customers is the ultimate goal of any e-CRM initiative.

Please read Max Starkov’s recent article “Building Customer Loyalty via CRM Strategies on the Hotel
Website” in Hotel / Innovations & Technologies – SMARTreport – May/September 2009.

You can also access the article from the HeBS site.

Share and Enjoy:

Posted in HeBS Articles & Publications | No Comments »

Categories

Recent Posts

Calendar

Industry Pulse Poll

Archive for the ‘HeBS Articles & Publications’ Category

2009: Another Year That Confirmed the Internet as the Only Growth Channel in Hospitality

Innocent Ignorance or Crime and Punishment: The Perils of Duplicate Web Content

Hotelier’s 2010 Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions

The Good News: Growth Continues in the Online Distribution Channel in Hospitality

Mobile Marketing & Distribution Strategy in Hospitality: The Future is Already Here

Yet Another Confirmation on Why the Internet is the Only Growth Channel in Hospitality 2009-2010

Online Travel Agencies (OTAs): Will They Survive the Removal of Airline Ticket Booking Fees?

Pros and Cons for Purchasing Hotel Brand Terms in Paid Search

Is eCRM in Hospitality a Database Management or a Business Strategy to Engage the Customer?

Categories

Recent Posts

Tags

Calendar

Industry Pulse Poll

Archive for the ‘HeBS Articles & Publications’ Category