There’s no doubt that the web booking engine is the most important component of a hotel’s website. But despite this, a number of properties still depend almost completely on OTAs! 2016 looks to be different though. Awareness of cloud computing and cloud-based management has grown and a number of properties are set to migrate to the platform this year.
But to truly maximize their hotel’s potential, property’s need to pay attention to the audience and the channels they book from. The largest of these will be mobile.
Mobile compatibility is a critical part of a hotel’s success today. But many hotels still have unresponsive or slow mobile sites. This is a very real problem that owners should take more seriously – the internet has made people impatient, and guests are no exception!
Here are a few of the best practices to follow to improve your property’s direct bookings:
- Showcase the booking console at the homepage of your website
- Use a creative call-to-action
- Distribute content optimally throughout a single webpage
- Ensure that it’s easy for visitors to navigate to different sections of your website
- Leverage geo-based information for better targeting in different countries
- Optimizing your site’s design is integral to maximizing bookings but having high quality content is also a crucial part of this process
(Source – http://www.hospitalitynet.org/column/154000392/4075723.html)