Do You Know How Many Potential Customers You Can Capture Online?

According to recent studies conducted by the Italian Ministry of Tourism:

• Online purchases of tourism products in Italy increase by over 40% each year

• Hotel bookings via the Internet grow by over 55% each year

• More than one-third of European travelers book their vacations online

• 45% of global users use the Internet to book a flight or a hotel

This is the world of Travel 2.0: a new generation of travelers is now entering the international tourism scene. This generation chooses and books hotels online, searches for information on hotels and destinations primarily via the Internet, and communicates with hoteliers through chat, email, or Skype.

Unfortunately, many of these new travelers are led to book their hotels through large travel portals (OTAs or intermediaries).

How many times have your guests booked your hotel through an OTA, forcing you to pay high commissions that can exceed 35%?

Being present on portals is important because it ensures hotel visibility, but it is essential to avoid dependency on intermediaries.

“As you surely know, to stop relying on portals, pay minimal commissions, and increase direct bookings, you need an official hotel website and a booking engine designed to sell, attract users, and strengthen your brand name across search engines and the web.”

Some hotels have managed to increase direct bookings by 60%, 70%, or even 80% in just a few months by creating a proper new official website…

Create a New Website for Your Hotel

According to a survey by eDigitalResearch for Frommer’s® Unlimited—and as we have also emphasized for years—for a hotel website to generate conversions and bookings, it must:

• Be built around the target user, anticipating their needs and potential requests

• Contain clear, accurate, and comprehensive information

• Include a complete, efficient, and easy-to-use booking engine

• Allow users to easily contact the hotel

Clearly, as confirmed by recent web marketing studies, the site should also:

• Strengthen the hotel’s brand name through widespread web presence

• Be optimized to appear among the top search engine results

• Contain persuasive and engaging texts that provide users with a real “travel experience”

• Be graphically simple and clear, following the best usability practices

• Include information not only about the hotel but also about the destination, events, and activities

• Offer special deals and packages to attract the widest variety of market segments

Naturally, all websites we create at WebPlan are designed according to these principles.

If you decide to create a new official website for your hotel, making it your best sales agent, trust us at WebPlan.