In case you didn't catch it, last week an historic announcement came across the wire, "Consumers now prefer booking hotels online over all offline options" (*) In my heart, I knew it had to come, but I never dreamed it would happen so soon.

BAM, the stakes for hotels on the Internet just went up a notch. All along, we have lived with the conjecture that online bookings were nice, but voice reservations and other means far out-weighed this relatively new electronic entity; the Internet. We were all so indoctrinated to the same ole, same ole; it was hard to imagine that the Internet would or could take over traditional reservations means in less than a decade.

It appears things are changing, big time. I'm sure that much of this turn-around is due to the fabulous job now being done by hotel franchises. They finally got serious about the Internet. Just three years ago, I wrote that third-party suppliers had taken the early lead in embracing the Internet; leaping ahead of hoteliers. Many bright franchise people are changing that all around.

I'm hoping that the next big step will be that the major franchises will change their position and allow, even encourage, their hotels to have their own web sites; with the provision that the hotel sites utilize the franchise booking engine.

For franchised hotels, there is no need to have a separate booking engine. Data collection was the primary benefit from using a separate booking engine but few hotels ever used it.

Franchisors think about it. There is really no need for your franchised properties to maintain a separate booking engine, and the extra reach and exposure would be fantastic. A true synergy will be born.

We all know that the franchises were extremely nervous about allowing their hotels to maintain individual web sites. The potential lack of control over rates was a scary proposition; separate booking engines have the potential to undermine franchise efforts. Allowing and encouraging separate hotel web sites, while using the franchise booking engine, is a progressive answer to making true progress on the Internet.

In this way, a hotel would have the opportunity to take advantage of the popularity of its franchise and also tap into the efficiency of today's search engines. The fact still remains that most hotel searches are still location driven. Franchisors would have everything to gain and nothing to lose. You have an opportunity to dominate hotel sales on the Internet.

The Internet, as a marketing tool, is the undisputed world champion of all marketing tools. Its cost to return ratio is the highest we have ever had at our disposal. For a few hundred dollars we can expose our product to millions of hotel travelers and count on a great return from that investment.

Don't forget the importance of third-party suppliers. I still believe that third-party suppliers are important reservation-generating tools for most hotels. From everything I read; it seems to be boiling down to the top three; Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz. This certainly makes partner selection easier for hoteliers.

Combined with the GDS and web site sales, this can be a formidable combination to produce sales. Franchisors are leveling the playing field with their hard work to promote their hotels online. There is room for both third-party suppliers and franchises to be successful and a true benefit to hotels, everywhere.

Now that we have physical proof that use of the Internet is substantial and growing, it just doesn't make any sense for any hotel, motel, or bed and breakfast not to become fully involved in it.

Independent properties, in particular, need to become fully involved in the electronic reservations process; GDS, third-party suppliers, and the Internet. Today, many of the companies which supply web site booking engines also provide GDS services. In this way, you only need to maintain one rate and availability data base for both; makes the task much easier.

If you don't have a web site, what are you waiting for? It's just not that costly and it will almost always provide an excellent return on your investment. If you have a web site and it's not producing to your satisfaction, get an analysis done to see why.

When choosing a booking engine to accept real-time reservations online, shop around. The most popular booking engines are not necessarily the best. Ease of controlling and updating availability and rates is foremost, but service is critical. Beware, also, of those booking engine providers who immediately want to re-design your site, when it may not need it.

In any event, we have reached a real milestone in the evolution of the Internet. Take advantage of its success. I still believe that it is only the beginning.

* (Source - Keynote Systems Inc.)


Contact:
Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA
Hotel Marketing Coach
Htlmgr5125@msn.com
www.hotelmarketingcoach.com