Industry

Direct bookings present the biggest challenge for hotels of all sizes

Managing a hotel is akin to a juggling act. Hoteliers are constantly switching between tasks, projects, and priorities – everything from revenue management to delivering a great guest experience.

New research from SiteMinder has revealed what keeps hoteliers, all around the world, awake at night.

The cloud platform asked hoteliers, both independents and groups, to rank the biggest challenges they believe their properties face – and the results were fascinating.

Chapter three inside the research report, ‘SiteMinder’s Global Hotel Business Index 2017: A visual look at financial plans, focus points, and future predictions’ asked hoteliers to choose from a matrix of issues:

  • Driving guests to your website to book direct
  • Predicting market trends for dynamic pricing and revenue management
  • Attracting quality team members and retaining them for longer
  • Maintaining guest relationships and loyalty
  • Balancing the demands of your property
  • Competing with the sharing economy i.e. Airbnb

Driving direct bookings ranked the biggest challenge for hoteliers of all sizes globally – with a ranking of 68%.

Surprisingly, hoteliers said they feel the least challenged by the sharing economy and the competition this industry disruptor presents.

What did hoteliers say about their biggest challenges?

Hoteliers were enthusiastic about offloading their thoughts in this part of the survey. They expanded on the rankings with comments covering wide ground.

More than 120 insights made the final cut and here’s what hoteliers had to say about the areas of their business that give them sleepless nights:

“Once you are in a certain place, you just can’t move out or take the hotel with you somewhere else. There is the challenge of helping your town or city become or maintain its status as an attractive tourist destination.”

“Creating a revenue stream through the winter months when tourist numbers drop off. Need to creatively capture more of the local tourists through winter town-wide events.”

“Getting more TripAdvisor reviews. Satisfied customers don’t always leave a review. Unsatisfied people love to complain online.”

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alice
alice
6 years ago

I work front office in the accommodation industry. I have notice that many people will stand on the street to book. People book by the pictures of the room or the cheaper rates. however rates need to be higher for online bookings to cover commissions.
I would like to promote BOOK DIRECT.
this will lead to cheaper rates.
the accommodation provider can ask question, the guest can ask question, ensuring all needs can be accommodated.
I could keep going but I’m sure you all know exactly the situation.

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