Triptease, the company dedicated to helping hotels increase direct bookings, has revealed a list of eight things that hotels could do to improve online reservations. Top of the list includes reviewing interface design, showing prices in the right currency and proving the cheapest rate. The research examines how people interact with a range of online booking systems and provides tips that will help hotels increase online transactions.
72% of people would book directly with the hotel if they were sure they could get the best deal, meaning there is a huge market for direct bookings, but the frustrations often outweigh the benefits. The research findings are summarised in a new eBook ‘Get A Room’ and are intended to aid hotels wishing to attract more people to book directly on their website.
Earlier this year Triptease introduced Price Check, a smart widget that sits on hotels’ websites showing live prices from across the web. 600 hotels have signed up to Price Check since January and on average they are seeing direct bookings increase by 35%. The company has surfaced the widget to 2 million people worldwide in in number of languages and currencies.
Charlie Osmond, Triptease’s Chief Tease comments, “Our research shows that people will book direct on hotel websites if is easy and intuitive. There are some great hotel websites that provide a fabulous experience for the guest. The future is here but it is just unevenly distributed. By surfacing what the guest wants we are helping to level the playing field for hoteliers”.
Lennertde Jong, Commercial Director at CitizenM hotels contributed to the e-book and said: “A hotel’s website is like a boutique. You may find the best products, but you also need to have the best deal available and that’s why “reassure me” is one of the findings I talk about in Triptease’s Get a Room e-book. Hotels have to do all they can to get guests to understand the brand and the concept and for me transparency and reassurance is critical to that.”
Triptease’s Get a Room eBook uncovered the following eight things people want when reserving a hotel room:
- Make it simple, short and clean
94% of people have abandoned a booking online recently, 29% because of factors related to the system being used. - Photos, Photos, Photos.
The best hotels, show, don’t tell. 70% of people rely on photos to learn about a hotel. - Show me lots of dates
71% of people agreed that being shown prices on dates either side of the ones they’ve selected is useful to them. - Put it in my currency
53% of people told us they are frustrated by being shown prices in currencies other than theirs. - Tell me I’ve made a good choice
We all love reassurance that we have paid the cheapest price, so show guests how much they have saved. - Tell me what else I could have
68% of people said it was useful when they are shown what add-ons they can pay for during the booking process. - Shorten the delay in gratification
Payment doesn’t spell the end. Content gets guests even more excited. - Let me use my Facebook Login
26% of people told us they would log in using Facebook on a hotel’s website if it were available.
The full e-book is available for download at http://www.triptease.com/getaroom.
Download an infographic of the points above here.
About Triptease
Triptease (www.triptease.com) is a SaaS company that builds digital tools that create better experiences and relationships between hotels and guests. In 2015 Triptease launched Price Check, a widget for booking engines that encourages travellers to book direct.
The company was co-founded by Charlie Osmond, UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year and member of The British Airways Business Advisory Board, Alasdair Snow, named in TTG’s Tomorrow’s Travel Leaders 30 under 30, and Alexandra Zubko, former Head of Strategy at Intercontinental Hotels Group and winner of IHIF Young Person Leader Award. Triptease won Phocuswright Europe’s Travel Innovator of the Year Award in 2015.
