Case Study: Hotel Industry
The Hotel Industry Today
The hotel industry is a minefield of opportunities. In 2019 it was estimated that there were 201 thousand hotels in the EU alone and in the same year, the estimated value of the market industry was 206 billion dollars. Many hotels are looking to expand their horizons by reaching their future guests wherever they are on the globe.
The hotel industry has done a complete u-turn since the rise of Google and other major search engines. Hotels have been investing their resources into their online reputation as a way of ensuring their foothold in the online searches that lead to bookings. The industry giants such as La Quinta have already understood the need to improve their online reputation when they noticed their mobile traffic doubled in the past three years; today 33% of their online visitors come from mobile devices.
The Challenge for Hotels
Previously the hotel industry relied upon travel agencies to present and sell them to their future guests. Today guests turn to the internet to spend time comparing hotels in their desired destination. In 2018 Google found that 31% of accommodation searches started on search engines, up from 23% in 2017. They also found that travellers appeared to be often overwhelmed by the choice of hotels online and would spend several days comparing locations using search engines before finally making a booking. This is the challenge that the hotel industry currently faces: travellers are overwhelmed by the choice online.
The Solution
Listings have been solving this issue for our partners in the hotel industry from the get-go. 90% of searches happen online and then 76% of those result in action within 24 hours. For hotels to get chosen instead of their competitors they need to be at the top of the rankings and have their business information unified and up to date across all the platforms. Listings solve that time-consuming issue for hotels. It simply updates and publishes hotel business information in one go across all these platforms – such as Google, Uber, and Facebook. Google found that 70% of travellers with smartphones have done travel research on their smartphones. Listings make it easy for potential customers to find a hotel whether on their phone or other devices by being present on all different directories – search engines, social networks and direction apps (GPS systems), and many more integrated platforms. From changing opening hours, address, photos, delivery options and more, with Listings, the hotels we work with are the ones that are chosen.
The Results
The businesses that use Listings have found an increase in website clicks and traffic some navigations with up to 230% increase in website visits. They even found they were getting 35% more phone calls and 72% more direction requests. This increased traffic and interaction with their websites led to more direct bookings to their locations and a massive boost to their revenue.
Hotels using Listings to solve the challenge of guests overwhelmed by choice are the ones who are getting the bookings. Improving their online reputation by keeping their information up to date across multiple platforms giving them the reach they needed on search engines. Which in turn highlighted their business to guests who chose them over their competitors. You too can take advantage of Listings today by getting in touch with our SO Connect team who can help you with your own tailored plan for your hotel.
Download our case study on how Listings has helped hotels to get found and chosen online:
