Hotel Sites Go Back to Basics
What's the latest thing in online marketing for hotels? Site design.
MARCH 15, 2007. Hotels have awakened to the challenge from online travel agencies, and they are shifting money into online marketing to meet it, according to a new study by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies (HeBS).
The worldwide study of hospitality executives found that 68% of hoteliers plan to shift their budgets from offline to online marketing in 2007.
Emerging media will not be part of the mix for most hotels, based on respondent opinions about what produces the best return on investment (ROI). Web site optimization was listed most often (72%) by hotel execs, followed by search optimization and organic search (68%) and Web site redesign/design (62%).
Only 17% of respondents named consumer-generated media, blogs and their ilk as bringing high ROI. This is particularly relevant for online video, because individual hotel videos are a competitive advantage that many online travel agencies do not have.