A lot has been said and written about how technology changed our lives and preferences. The web and internet has changed the methods of business also. Now things are changing so fast that it becomes at times troublesome to keep your pace matched up. But if you are in hotel business then it is worthwhile to keep an eye on ever changing trends in hospitality industry. In this cut throat competition, it is imperative to know where your potential customer is and how he can be indulged. For this you need a marvelous mix of marketing strategy. According to a recent study on the trends in hospitality industry done by Merrill Lynch of all the bookings in 2010 a whopping 45% share is to come through internet bookings. According to a research, the share of internet booking for hotels is on rise since 2006. In the year 2006 an estimated 30% of bookings made were online. This percentage rose to 33% in the year 2007 and in the year 2008, 40% of total hotel workings were done online. This gives a fair idea that more and more people are now using online services when it comes to book a hotel. First because of its cost effective nature and second tourists do a lot of online research while choosing a hotel at their preferred holiday destination. So it is important for all the hoteliers to understand the psyche of your customer and follow the trend.
Internet is clearly exercising a growing influence on consumer’s decision making. And this presents a whole new range of opportunities and possibilities, where selling of your product and services is concerned. Understanding the target market and its internet or digital activities is crucial for developing an effective online marketing plan. The total number of internet users worldwide in the year 2008 was 1.57 billion which equals to the 23.5% of the total world population, according to the Internet World Statistic web directory. Thus internet is an efficient way for all the companies to gain customers across the world through the medium of online marketing. It specially gives the hotel business an edge as the customers are tourists coming from distant places. The number of customers using internet to book their stay at chosen hotels is also going to shoot up this year according to the expectations of the industry.
Apart from that there are other facts also which hoteliers should keep in mind while promoting their business online.
· Search engines continue to play a crucial role, as people like exploring new opportunities and ideas. The number of people who get travel information by searching on various engines is 85% as against the 69% people who access the travel site by typing in web address. The inference is simple that instead of going directly to known site visitors like to have a fair idea of what is happening and what is new? So as a travel website owner you cannot afford to stop wooing search engines.
· The other new trend in the offing is the ability of a video to capture the imagination of your visitor. In new Google algorithm a due share has been given to the video section. Websites linked to a video are able to enjoy a better rank in search results. So while working on your website, always pay attention to get some good videos to do the magic for visitors as well as search engines.
· Also thrust emphasis on customer engagement through the inclusion of blogs and social media. As these are also indexed by search engines and impact the search results favorably.
· There is a growing popularity and utilization of mobile and on the go marketing. In the era of blackberries and 3G services net surfing is not as static as it was before. So always keep this in your mind while planning online marketing strategy that your customer will be one on the go. If your site is not compatible for mobile apps then you can probably miss out a large number of potential clients.
Outsourcing the marketing
This is the newest and one of the fastest growing trends in hotel industry. With the technology changing at a breath taking fast pace that it is becoming difficult for the businessmen to keep running their business and looking after the marketing. If we talk about only online marketing then also there are n number of options, and when you face such a wide variety of choice it becomes all the more difficult to chose. According to a survey done on the hotel industry by Quill Advertising 54% of hoteliers say that marketing outsourcing, whether partial or complete, is on their future planning agenda. So it is a known fact that now with the change in needs and interest of the customers, the planning and strategy of business and advertising is also changing. So you also brace up for a better tomorrow by planning your strategy right.
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