Unlock the secrets to success in hotel booking sites with Golden Owl Asia's guide. Explore best practices and discover the four essential models for optimal online reservation systems.
Did you know around 148 million travel appointments are made each year and the deals made through booking sites are forecasted to hit a $817 billion? Still, in a survey in 2016, 60% of hoteliers said their greatest obstale was driving direct site conversions. By and large, just one fourth of room evenings for autonomous inns are made through their booking site. This leaves a lot of room for hotel e-commerce practices.
Actually, most hoteliers are preoccupied with the everyday tasks of running an inn. They have less time to pay attention to digital promotion, and consequently aren't getting results from their most significant sales and advertising channel – their booking site. On the clients' side, they all appreciate the solace of a lodging after a long and arduous workday. However, it can take a long time to book a room on the off chance that they aren't using a lodging booking application. That is the reason numerous new businesses have made it simpler and more convenient for clients to discover and book rooms. Let's look at the 4 models that run famous hotel booking brands so you will have some inspiration for yours.
Merchant model
- Famous site using this model: Expedia
- Definition:
An agreement is made between the hotel booking web and individual lodgings. At that point, the site will obtain the rights to offer the predefined rooms to end-clients. This model is used with success by Expedia and they are creating a huge income in over 200 nations. Thanks to its broad audience reach & effectiveness in managing resources, it can keep to the merchant model.
Here's the detailed process: Let's say that an inn offers 10 rooms to Expedia at a price of $100 per room rather than the Best Available Rate (BAR) of $120. At the point when one of these rooms is reserved through the Expedia, the hotelier gets $75 and Expedia keeps $25.
Aggregator model
Under this model, the lodging search engine will normally be incorporated into the database of different web-based booking sites. At the point when a client hits search, they will get a result page of alternatives from various brands and locales. The end-client themselves will at that point make their own considerations. And lastly, settle on which one to pick. They will afterward get redirected to the favored booking stage.
This is how Booking.com and other hotel comparison sites earned their income. They charge a 10% to 30% commission rate for each booking made, depending on the company’s size and how high it wants to appear on the search results. Check out our blog software development process - to estimate how long it takes to build websites for hotels.
Advertising model
Pretty similar to the aggregator model, the promoting model likewise incorporates a lodging online searcher that shows various hotels in indexed lists. However, it's distinctive on the grounds that the lodging booking destinations will make money on a CPC basis. They have a button that links to the provider's main page. On the booking website, they will have suggestions, reviews and blogs to assist clients with picking the best destinations. At the point when a hotelier gets a lead, the booking site will charge a small fee for converting a view into a lead. Each hotelier usually has around 5 to 10 hotel sites that include their names for more exposure.
TripAdvisor offers free listings but you can buy a package for higher ranking. With the free model, for each successful booking, they will charge hotel owners 3%. With an annual subscription, the hotel provider can choose to pay 3% per booking or require guests to book directly on their own websites.
Dedicated model
- Famous site using this model: Hilton
- Definition:
This model is for an established business that has a lot of recurrent customers. With the dedicated model, you build up an app that is committed to your own inn or hotel chains and resorts. Other than allowing customers to reserve rooms via a hotel search engine, your app can offer extra advantages such as concierge services and loyalty programs.You can consider a lot more thoughts, such as including vehicle rentals or booking tables at an eatery. At the end of the day, it's your own app so you’re allowed to install any features you like to assist your customers with getting the best help possible.
Marriott hotel chains such as the brand Sheraton allows users to book a room on their own sites. They feature offers, a collection of destinations and experience like club or restaurant recommendation.
That concludes our article about websites for hotels today, after you decide on your own model, read more on our case studies with other hotel booking sites: The Luxe Nomad and The Work Project. Don’t hesitate to contact us - Golden Owl Consulting - for the ultimate IT consulting you’ll ever need.
