Having an effective hotel website where guests have everything they need to book hotel online reservations directly is the key to reclaiming margin lost to OTAs. This article identifies some top tips for hotel web design that can boost direct bookings. By Forest Key, CEO and founder, buuteeq.
The use of online travel agencies (OTAs) has risen 45% since 2008*. Given that it’s 10-15 times cheaper for hoteliers to secure reservations directly through their own websites, and the reality that guests use the same internet to find hotel websites as they do to find OTAs, why the upward trend toward OTAs?
The answer has less to do with guests and everything to do with hoteliers – or more accurately, hotel web design. Google your favorite inn or bed & breakfast and see if you can find their website. After sifting through pages of OTAs you may find it. Once there, can you see the actual rooms? Find promos and deals? Book directly? If you’re on your mobile phone (like 56% of business travelers booking rooms*) does the site ‘work’ on your device?
Read full story at: http://hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/hotel_web_design_tips_to_capture_direct_bookings