Hotels are seeing a year on year increase in bookings coming through their own website, by an average of 168%. This is revealed in a recent survey conducted by Sensible-Rez Ltd, suppliers of web booking engines to independent hotels.In the same survey, total online revenues were shown to have increased by 167%, showing that hotels were able to maintain their average rate when dealing direct with the online consumer.

“The hotels that performed best in this survey of our customers were those that actively manage their rate availability.” Said John Palmer, Director of Business Development at Sensible-Rez. “Those hotels that made sure that the rates on their website were offering the same or better deals than available elsewhere, often won the business. This supports our belief that customers would prefer to deal directly with the hotel when possible.”

“Approximately 50% of the independent hotels in the UK still have no web booking engine as part of their website. Using email request forms is often a self-defeating and complex process that deters customers rather than encouraging them.” According to Palmer “With more customers expecting to be able to make a confirmed booking immediately, a web booking engine is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity.”
——-