Last week was a historical week @ www.etourismholidays.com.au as we reached a record high in online generated bookings! Our online booking engine was up more than 50% on any other time this year. We are excited about the next 6 months and are anticipating a huge finish to 2009!
We are finding it very difficult to fulfill our customers’ needs, mainly due to a lack of stock and price parity. We are being very aggressive in our online marketing, our traffic is increasing considerably, but but we need your help to secure these bookings at your resort.
3 things you MUST do, to ensure you are well placed to have a great spring!
1. Price Parity
Your guests shop around! It is a well known fact that users search for the best online deal before purchasing. If that deal is with a third party supplier then obviously they will win the booking. This will cost you commission and potentially a repeat guest. The supplier they just booked with will aggressively market to them for their repeat business, which might not be with you.
2. Availability
eTourism Holidays loses booking opportunities every day due to a lack of availability. This is costing YOU bookings. We have an ‘On Request’ Feature on our online reservations system providing users with the ability to request a room that isn’t available. Unfortunately, users want real time confirmation and therefore the conversion rate on these requests is very low.
3. Distribution
More exposure means more sales. You should be advertising your property on every possible website and with every possible supplier, travel agent etc. This is pay-for-performance advertising and will only incur fees if successful. The more exposure your resort receives, the more chance for direct business. Remember, your guests will hunt for the best deal; if they find your Resort or Hotel on a third party website such as Wotif.com, most of them will search for a better deal directly, or on other third party websites such as eTourism Holidays.
This is all easily achieved if you have the necessary technology in place. Channel Managers make managing Rate Parity, Availability and Distribution easy. If you aren’t using a Channel Manager, please contact us today so we can point you in the right direction.
Interesting Fact!
When comparing conversion rates between eTourism Holidays clients that have a direct PMS connection or Channel Manager connection, with clients that manually provide availability, the booking conversion rate difference is staggering. In some cases, conversion rates are more than 300% greater than those not using technology to manage Rate Parity, Availability and Distribution! This is technology which is widely available.
Please don’t hesitate to give us a call if you need help choosing a Channel Manager, or would like to know more about the different Property Management Systems or Channel Managers we have a direct connection with.
