A recent report by Travel Industry Authority PhoCusWright Inc. says Hotel and Airline websites have lost ground to OTAs in travel and accommodation bookings.
In the second half of 2010, bookings from Hotel website dropped drastically from 67-72 % to 57-69% and thus OTAs (Online Travel Agents) have significantly gained market share (increase from 33-28% to 43-31%).
Add to this, the actual conversion on the Hotel website is typically lower compared to OTAs.
Corporate travel is picking up right from late 2010. And it appears that the Hotels have hiked their rates. But what is the travel trend looking like in 2011 ? Leisure travel is expected to pick up. But leisure travelers are not ready to pay what corporate travelers pay. Leisure travelers usually prefer to use OTA sites to look for cheap travel deals, and thus leisure travelers visiting the Hotel website doesn’t lead to expected conversions.
So, the above makes it clear that Hoteliers will have to segment (Corporate Vs Leisure) the market and come up with the right strategy to target them. One size fit all approach may not work well.
With OTAs gaining bigger share, Hoteliers should also focus on selling rooms directly to travelers, by taking advantage of the evolving Social Media.
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