To best cater to travellers, optimise marketing and increase bookings, hotels must first understand what travellers want and need when making their booking decisions. Easier said than done, right? So this week we went in search of some of these specific traveller needs.
Studies reveal that “what travellers say is important” towards certain attributes of a hotel often differ from the actual actions they take ie “what travellers do when booking”. Why is that, and what does it mean for hoteliers like you?
To be considered by most travellers, hotels must provide basics like cleanliness and comfort, which are critical. However, travellers often choose a hotel based on some additional factors relevant to the context of their travel.
- Business travellers are significantly more likely to book hotels with positive reviews about Wi-Fi
- Those travelling with friends are significantly more likely to book hotels with positive reviews about food
- Those booking a romantic vacation are significantly more likely to book hotels with positive reviews about rooms
- For a family vacation, travellers are most likely to book hotels with positive reviews about the room and its amenities
Business Traveller
When travelling for business, cleanliness, comfort and Wi-Fi are the most important attributes that frames their decision making process. When booking a budget hotel, travellers are likely to book hotels that are clean and comfortable. Wi-Fi also remains an important factor for budget business travel. For a luxury business hotel, they are likely to favour hotels with great rooms, impressive breakfast offerings and Wi-Fi.
Travelling with Friends
Food is significantly more important than with any other type of leisure travel while travelling with friends. Travellers are most likely to book a hotel with positive food reviews.
Romantic Getaways
For romantic vacations, the travel bookers are most likely to book a hotel based on its room. Booking based on room is significantly higher among this type of travel
Family Vacation
For family travel, travellers are most likely to book a hotel based on its room and amenities. This group of travellers are significantly more likely to book hotels with positive reviews for comfort, particularly when travelling to a large city. When booking a family vacation to the beach, hotel amenities are also important in deciding where to stay.
In Conclusion
So what is the best way to apply this and improve bookings for your hotel? The best place to start is by monitoring your online reputation to understand where there are gaps and opportunities for improvement. And then work on offerings that match the need of your core target audience.
While it is important for hotels to focus on basic attributes like cleanliness and comfort, having a long term strategy and action plan to increase bookings by understanding booking behaviour of your target guests will have a big impact.