Debates regarding the importance of promoting a hotel through OTAs and the cost of paying commissions instead of having direct reservations through a hotel’s booking engine are endless. Both sides have strong arguments and for sure it is not easy to decide on who’s side one should be on.
Using online distribution channels is a great way to promote your hotel and improve visibility. It is a very effective advertising method, for which the hotel only pays any confirmed revenue! On the other hand, the commissions that are paid are high and it is essential for the hotel’s profitability to reduce reservations through OTAs and increase occupancy through direct reservations.
It is important to have the widest distribution possible by cooperating with various OTAs but it is also critical to achieve the highest possible percentage of direct reservations. And one of the most important ways to achieve that is by having a trustworthy booking engine in your own hotel website.
There are numerous examples of hotels that despite the fact that they offer lower rates in their websites, they still receive reservations through (more expensive) OTAs. There are a lot of factors that may cause such issues and we will analyze all of them in future posts. One of the most important parameters for “losing” reservations from your website is the trustworthiness of your booking engine and the confusing procedure that it may follow.
Most travelers have already booked hotel stays through OTAs in the past, so they know the procedure and they are confident that they can trust them. But they do not know neither your hotel’s website nor your booking engine. And you have to make them trust you.
Having a lot of information and tons of text in your hotel booking system is both unappealing and confusing. Online bookers need to receive clear information through a simple procedure. Presenting a lot of various texts makes visitors anxious about having to read every single text in order to be sure that there is no fine print that they will miss and that there will be no surprises during payment time.
Additionally, having a lot of visual disturbance may cause the same issue. Using images may be appealing but when it comes to the booking procedure you need a clear page where only the important things will be visible. This is the time that the potential guests need to compare rates, features and restrictions. Having a background or icons that disturbs them is not the wisest choice.
Choose a hotel booking engine that has paid attention to such important factors and you will definitely see an increase in your direct reservations.
The Bookwize Booking System is a trustworthy booking system for your hotel website that pays a lot of attention in the user experience and the factors that affect your website’s visitors’ decisions regarding booking a hotel room. Choose Bookwize for your hotel website and see your conversions on direct reservations skyrocket.