It’s a dismal and frustrating fact for all hoteliers â€" from luxury, to mid-market, to budget properties; 

After all the money spent in online hotel marketing just to bring people to our property websites, a tiny percentage actually end up booking a room. In fact, studies have shown that the actual conversion rate on hospitality websites is a measly two percent.

Yes, TWO percent.

Why such a low number? Because the rate of people abandoning your site before booking is extremely high.

Here’s what happens: A visitor will go far enough into your booking engine to see what your rates are. Afterwards, they are driven out by a number of reasons including an overcomplicated booking process, not enough incentive to continue with the purchase or an urge to head to TripAdvisor to read reviews.

While these figures are alarming, this now means there is a massive opportunity to regain those lost visitors and reservations. After all, it’s always easier to win business from a previous visitor who has made it halfway to purchase, rather than from a traveler who has never heard of you before. Hotels investing in recovery technology are transforming abandoned reservations into big revenue opportunities.

Reservation Recovery Strategies

The good news is that hotel reservation recovery systems are powerful and readily available to improve your conversions. With these technologies and smart marketing techniques, hoteliers can now re-engage the guests who abandoned their reservation and lead them back to the hotel booking engine by incentivizing and reminding them to finalize their transaction.

Four ways you can win back those abandoned bookings:

An Immediate Capture of Email Addresses.
Once an online visitor searches for their dates and chooses a room type, require their email address as the first field in the booking process. That way, you now have the data necessary to retarget them if they abandon.

Automated Emails Customized With Their Dates and Room Preferences.
After a visitor abandons your hotel’s booking engine, your booking engine should send out a specific email with a personalized greeting that thanks them for visiting your website and a reminder to book. This is where you can offer a limited-time incentive and sell them even more on the experience of staying with you and booking with you directly.

A Reservation Preservation System That Takes Visitors Back to Where They Left Off.
Most importantly, your automated email must have a link that will take guests exactly where they abandoned the booking process. This will alleviate any irritations with having to fill in their information again and makes it easier for the visitor to follow-thru with the room reservation.

Banner Ads That Follow Booking Engine Deserters on the Web for 24 â€" 72 Hours.
Remarketing ads give you a chance to keep your property top of mind and in front of the eyes of indecisive guests. Tailor your ad with stunning photography that sells your experience and with an offer that correlates with what they saw on your site originally. If they spent time on your spa page, use spa images to rekindle their interest.

Studies have proven that reservation recovery systems can recapture millions of dollars in lost revenue… in some cases, up to 30 percent of abandoned booking were reactivated!
What are you doing to recover abandoned bookings?

About Tambourine

Tambourine uses technology and creativity to increase revenue for hotels and destinations worldwide. The firm, now in its 30th year, is located in New York City and Fort Lauderdale. Please visit: www.Tambourine.com/blog