Here’s this week’s top 5 articles from around the web on the importance of Communication. These articles address the growth of Independent hotels among business travellers, How to re-target guests who have abandoned a booking and the importance of knowing the older generation within the travel space.
Check them out:
1. More Business Travelers are Getting Into Bed with Independent Hotels
Good news for independent hoteliers! Figures from HRS show month on month growth of 38% in independent hotels booked in the UK from 2013 to 2014, and 59% growth from 2014 to 2015.
These jumps in booking rates for independent hotels suggest that more travel managers are now seriously considering independent hotels within their corporate travel programme when booking overnight accommodation for employees.
2. How to Win at Customer Service: Keep It Simple
There’s no real mystery as to what guests want from customer service: they’re looking for simplicity, directness and speed, according to a new research survey.
Hotels need to focus on optimising their customer service, and doing it through more channels than just the phone. Some of the top hotels today are offering service through web, social media and even texting.
3. Re-Targeting: How to Bring Back Guests Who Abandon
As hoteliers, we are constantly fighting the battle of driving more direct bookings. Unfortunately, last-minute abandonments happen for most hoteliers, with numbers in the range of 81% abandonment often quoted.
Here’s the fix: for those who abandon, use re-targeting to give yourself a second chance and bring them back.
4. The One Page Story: Design Strategies for Creating Compelling Landing Pages
Written by a Fulbright scholar of design, this piece is a short, sharp, incisive look at landing pages. Calling them ‘the one-page story’, the article analyses four design strategies to help you tell your own story and show your hotel at its best.
5. Understanding the Older Generation and Its Tech-Savvy Relationship with Travel
Millennials aren’t the only ones with something to offer. Older generations of travelers often have deeper pockets and more leisure time, and understanding how they interact with tech – hint: the answer is not “they don’t interact” – is key to capturing their part of the market.
