Wednesday, 24 December 2008: Asia Pacific hoteliers are becoming more concerned with understanding Internet marketing as new research finds more that 30 percent of hotel bookings come directly from the web.
Consumers when making online hotel reservations were found to log onto at least three websites before making a decision meaning hotels will need to become more tech-savvy in order to outrun competition.
“Asian hotels are eager for the expertise and guidance that will help them seize the opportunities that the Internet provides for building brand, increasing revenue, and maximizing profitability” said Maverick Mak, TravelCLICK’s Director of E-Commerce, Asia.
With hotels facing falling occupancy in the region amongst other problems, TravelCLICK hosted a seminar series to help hotels and resorts understand online reservation strategies and best practices for Internet marketing.
The seminar focuses on issues such as maximizing hotel direct web revenue, optimizing the role of online travel agents and metasearch sites, creating effective websites, understanding search engine marketing, managing online customer relationships, and making the most of analytic software.
And it seems the seminar works, with TravelCLICK’s iHotelier Central Reservations System clients in the Asia Pacific region showing a growth in revenue of 33 percent and increased room nights of 24 percent.
“In a complex and challenging global marketplace, online consumers now have more choices than ever to book travel. As these choices expand, trends in consumer behavior are rapidly shifting—online consumers are shopping longer and investigating new alternative online channels”
