The arrival of the Internet has increased the opportunities to boost the accommodation industry. Now, hoteliers are fully aware of the benefits that the Internet can bring to their business. Well-informed of the far reaching importance of the web, they are motivated to create more awareness of their industry, on top of getting more bookings online. This had driven website development for hotels and resorts, the online reservation booking system, the increased number of reviews and redesigning of accommodation websites, as well as other tourism related online enterprises. As a matter of fact, there is a steady, daily growth of the web strategies for hotel and hospitality.
The IT trends in the accommodation industry improve every day. Online marketing renewed the tourism industry. Social bookmarking, mobile marketing, Web 2.0, online communities and all others have all added up to the change in the impact of the hospitality industry. The traditional booking system of hotels and resorts has been changed by the Internet. As a result potential guests can easily compare several rooms and its rates offered by various hoteliers. Then there is the advancement of computer graphics and web photos that hoteliers had used to display their resorts’ pictures. In this way prospective guests can take a virtual tour to feel the interiors and exteriors of their hotels and resorts. It has also become simple for clients to acquire info on hotels’ Rooms and Rates, amenities, and promos.
But aside from that, hoteliers should ask themselves the following critical questions: how important is a hotel/resort website? Can your web presence actually reduce your operating cost as well as boost client loyalty and profits? Why is the web very significant? How can it affect the growth of Australia’s’ tourism industry? There had been large-scale studies that discovered that hoteliers have ranked the Internet as an accepted medium for prospective hotel guests to find information regarding their hotel and motivated guests to eventually reserve.
The Search Engines and Prospective guests
Since the birth of the Internet, web search engines arepractically used to find the best answer to
any question. Conversely, every traveler or tourist uses them to get information about the place he/she prefers to go. Hotel manager are crazy not to focus a large portion of their time and resources on this traffic source. Because of this, hoteliers have to proactively strategise how to enhance their presence on the search engines. The search engines are always changing the rules on how they rank web pages. It is also essential for accommodation managers to stay abreast with the trends of tour operators and other channels in search engine optimisation.
Increased Revenues and Decreased Expenses
When a hotel has an effective website that is optimised for search engines, there is a continual increase of their hotel bookings, customer loyalty and a good return of investment. Also, with web presence, staff time is saved with the help of website automated processes such as filling out basic information of guests, request for proposal forms, layouts of conference facilities and other information that can be obtained from the site. What's more is that its easier for the staff to capture guest's contact details which would encourage return guests through regular blogs, newsletters, online community memberships, promotions, and so on.
Communicating with clients
A hotels’ website or a web presence enables managers to easily reach and be in touch with potential and repeat guests on a personal basis. Nowadays, web technologies can be easily handled by every hotel managers. For instance they can simply update new information or upload photos to their websites. There are also improved content management system that enabled uploading and use of multilingual content. This way it is very easy and cost-effective for the hotelier to convert messages according to the individual languages of prospective guests.
Marketing in the Hospitality Industry
Through web presence, hotel managers find it fairly easy to employ the fundamental hospitality marketing principles that would cultivate the hotels’ online buzz as well as offline reputation. Efficiently managed websites can be the best medium for building client relationships, building hotel brand, retaining customers, and encouraging repeat visits.
So how can you achieve online success in the hospitality industry? Hoteliers can achieve marketing success by being in tuned with the content management system and innovative technologies applicable for the industry and planning for every aspect of electronic commerce. It may take a lot of effort to optimise your hotels’ website nevertheless getting web capabilities like Content Management System can help hotel managers enhance its website using user-friendly packages such as iLaunch.
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