There's no question tourism businesses everywhere need to be online. Having a decent website is even more critical if your property is located in beautiful - but remote - locations.
A rapidly increasing 70% of Australians book and research their holiday accommodation online, closely followed by 66% of New Zealanders the largest group of tourists to Australia. These two groups of tourists bring the most guests to indigenous tourism products, so it's important to be available online to capture their attention. Even more important is to enable these potential visitors to book and pay for their activities and accommodation online, and all from the convenience of your own website.
It's very common for tourism operators in remote areas to ask their potential customers to phone or email them to make a reservation versus being able to look and book online; this can be inconvenient for the customer and time consuming for you. In some cases it's because the internet connection in remote areas may be weak or even non-existent; but this doesn't change the demands of potential guests who have great internet connection and really want to book and pay online.
Another common scenario is for properties to send potential guests away from their own website to third party booking engines which act like a supermarket of other activities or properties in your area allowing your potential customers to book somewhere else.
A smart website and integrated booking engine are the most effective way to truly engage and capture your guests online. When done well, you will increase your revenue and reduce your commission costs.
Booking engines make your life easier in 5 simple ways:
1. You are paid in advance - Generate bookings in real time and get the money deposited directly in your bank account
2. You don't need to wait by the phone - Enable clients to see rates and availability, without needing to call or email you
3. You can plan ahead - Direct bookings makes it easier for you to plan ahead, forecast your business needs and resources, and determine future income
4. You will save time - Clients, just like you, may not have the time to send and receive multiple emails and want the ease of just booking immediately online. Job done
5. You can measure performance - Having an online booking engine provides valuable information about when and where your bookings are coming from; including your most popular activities or rooms and your typical guest profile - making marketing and promotions decisions much easier
To find out how to drive more traffic to your website, reducing your commission fees or adding the evoSuite booking engine; contact our team on marketing@reservegroup.biz or phone +64 7 541 1111 today. We'd love to hear from you!
Statistics Source:
*Source Consumer Barometer.