Latest Resort Stats: Online Bookings on the Rise

Recent trends prove that having a good online marketing strategy may well have its advantages when it comes to acquiring resort bookings.

Even during a downturn, hoteliers who have been aggressive and proactively focusing on ROI-centric online marketing campaigns have done much better than their counterparts who have continued to focus on traditional forms of marketing.

The online channel for hotel bookings has once again been confirmed to be the only growth channel in the hospitality Industry.  In the 2nd quarter of 2010, Internet bookings for the top 30 hotel brands worldwide increased by 1.7% over the same period of 2009 and reached 52.4% of the total brand CRS bookings (eTRAK Report).  Also, GDS travel agent reservations decreased to one of its lowest points of only 21.8% of total brand CRS reservations. 

Clearly, guests prefer using the online channel more than the traditional, intermediary-dependent GDS channel.

Wise resort operators would see this as a sign that their strategies will never be the same as before.  Now, more than ever, they must find a way to focus their online marketing efforts on optimising the performance of their property website.  They must make sure their website is the centre of their online marketing strategy, thereby exploring strategies such as SEO and social media to increase online traffic and generate more direct online bookings.

So if your website is not generating the bookings that you need, you had better have it evaluated by Internet marketing experts with hospitality experience.  Take advantage of the online channel before it is too late.