reservation inntopia

Transcription

solutions
Options for Destination
Marketing Organizations
Overview
Ö
Online Booking for Destinations
Ö
Types of Online Booking Platforms
Ö
nalysis of Online Booking
A
Performance for DMOs
æ MilesPartnership.com
Online Booking Solutions for Destinations
online
booking
solutions for
destinations
Part 1: Introduction
to Online Booking
for Destinations
D
estination Marketing Organizations
(DMOs) market, motivate and
empower travel to their destination
by leisure, business and meetings
travelers. An estimated 300+ DMOs in North America and
the Caribbean offer online booking features and functionality.
This both facilitates the trip planning process and connects their
marketing to actual bookings and visitation. It can also generate
a booking-related revenue stream. However, with very rare
exceptions, online booking volumes and revenue for DMOs are
modest—this is especially true for regional or state DMOs. Hence
online booking platforms for DMOs are not primarily about driving
transactions and booking commission, but providing relevant
content and planning features to travelers.
© Miles 2014 æ MilesPartnership.com
2
This short introduction reviews the four booking platform providers
available to DMOs in North America and the Caribbean and briefly
outlines the pros and cons of each. We also describe typical online
booking performance metrics for DMO sites from an analysis of more
than 230 destination websites.
Part 2: Types of
Online Booking
Platforms
There are four types of online booking platforms
available for DMOs:
A.“Direct Connect,” Referral Leased Booking Solution:
BookDirect (JackRabbit)
B.Online Travel Agency Affiliate Solutions: Expedia, Orbitz, Booking.com
C.Hybrid OTA/CRS Solution: aRes
D.CRS Affiliate Booking Platforms: Regatta, Meridian, Inntopia
3
A. “DIRECT CONNECT” LEASED BOOKING
SOLUTION: BOOKDIRECT (JACKRABBIT)
»» 259 current DMO partners in North America/Caribbean
»» Retail Pricing: Annual license fee
BookDirect is dubbed a “Direct Connect” or “Referral Engine” solution, which pulls pricing and availability
and refers bookings direct to and from the hotel’s own booking platform. BookDirect connects with over 200
hotel booking platforms and has the largest number of DMO customers of any of the booking solutions.
BookDirect charges and collects no commission—maximizing the yield and benefit of the booking to the
DMO’s hotel partners. Hence BookDirect reduces properties’ reliance on high-commission, lower-yield OTA
bookings. However, this comes at a cost: The platform is leased based on an annual licensing agreement.
Costs vary widely based on the size and complexity of a DMO site and range from thousands to tens of
thousands of dollars per year. This cost can be seen as an investment in content—relevant, up-to-date
pricing and availability information, rather than just booking functionality.
BookDirect claims that, for many DMOs, this translates to less than a 5% commission—if the lease costs are
spread across the number of bookings. These costs, however, are born by the DMO—and not its members
or partners—and may need to be offset by increased member fees and/or advertising or coop revenue.
More information: http://www.jackrabbitsystems.com/products/lodging-search-engine/
4
Orbitz Affiliate Network (OTA)
»» 17 current DMO partners in
North America/Caribbean
»» Retail Pricing: 18-25%
commissions/fees per
reservation
Expedia Affiliate Network (OTA)
commissions/fees per reservation
Priceline/Booking.com
(Affiliate) Network (OTA)
North America
»» Retail Pricing: 15% commissions/
fees per reservation
B. ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCY AFFILIATE
SOLUTIONS: EXPEDIA, ORBITZ,
BOOKING.COM
Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) are major
players in the online travel environment
and for 10-plus years have offered their
booking platforms as white labelled
solutions to affiliates. This means that the
OTA customizes the booking interface to
mimic the partner DMO’s site, including
incorporating their branding and color
palette. The user then can view pricing
and availability and book as a relatively
seamless part of the DMO experience—
though this interaction takes place on
the OTA’s site. There is typically no or
only a low cost for this customization
and set up. However, the bookings are
commissionable and this commission
is at the OTA’s standard rates, ranging
from 13-25% of the value of the booking.
This commission is shared with the DMO,
providing a small revenue stream.
The positives are the no- or low-cost
of set up and operation, plus the small
revenue stream that can be re-invested
into marketing. The negatives for OTA
solutions are that the user’s interactions are
taking place on a third-party site (reducing
traffic and SEO benefits); there are no links
(or typically even phone numbers) for the
user to contact the property directly; and
the bookings to a DMO’s partner hotels
are higher cost and lower yield. Indeed
the customer and their information remains
the property of the OTA—the partner hotel
cannot readily contact or remarket to them
without getting this information on check in.
Such issues can increase the dependency
of properties on the OTA channel rather
than building a balanced mix of business,
both direct and agency.
More Information:
http://corp.orbitz.com/partnerships/affiliates
http://www.booking.com/content/affiliates.
en-us.html
https://access.expedia.com
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C. HYBRID OTA/CRS SOLUTION: ARES
Advanced Reservation
Systems (aRes)
»» 59 current DMO Partners in
North America
commissions/fees
per reservation
Outside of Book Direct (JackRabbit), aRes is the nextlargest provider of booking solutions to DMOs. aRes has
developed into a hybrid booking platform; originally pulling
availability and pricing from a Global Reservation System
alone (Amadeus), it now combines this with OTA booking
information on certain properties. This has increased the
range of properties and the information it features—but
has also increased its commission cost to properties. The
commission rate of 18-25% is now the same as OTAs such
as Expedia. As with OTA affiliate programs, this revenue
is shared with the DMO. aRes has significant experience
in DMO integrations and offers enhanced reporting and
improved site integrations above that of OTAs. Set up can
be completed on the DMO’s own site, which offers a more
seamless experience, SEO benefits and Google Analytics
tracking for users through the booking process.
More Information: http://www.arestravelinc.com
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Regatta Travel Solutions (CRS)
commissions/fees per
reservation
Meridian Reservation Systems
(CRS)
Canada
D. CRS AFFILIATE BOOKING
PLATFORMS: REGATTA, MERIDIAN,
INNTOPIA
Three separate providers provide access to their Central Reservation System (CRS)
platforms for DMOs. CRS platforms differ from “Direct Connect” and/or OTA booking
solutions in that properties can directly manage their pricing and availability in
the platform. This solution can be powerful for destinations with small and unique
accommodation providers (such as Bed and Breakfasts or Boutique Lodges) with
limited electronic distribution—i.e. they may not have their own booking engine and/
or are not willing to pay high commission rates (such as those charged by OTAs).
Such solutions can therefore provide pricing and availability (and booking capability)
for unique properties not accessible in other online booking channels such as OTAs.
CRS Affiliate solutions charge properties a lower commission level—typically 8-12%
for Regatta and Meridian, though Inntopia can charge up to 20%. This reduces the
booking cost to partners but also lowers the revenue stream to DMOs. CRS solutions
rely on the property’s maintaining their current pricing and availability information,
which in practice can often be haphazard.
More Information:
http://www.regattatravelsolutions.com
Inntopia (CRS)
North America/one in Caribbean
http://www.reservationsystems.com/index.html
http://corp.inntopia.com
7
Part 3: Analysis
of Online Booking
Performance for
DMOs
Most consumers choose to use DMO sites to research and plan travel—but
book elsewhere. The heavy investment in branding, advertising and loyalty
programs by hotels and OTAs mean that DMOs are not a top of mind or a
familiar channel for online booking. A further percentage of users choose
to research but book via phone or a travel agent or meeting planner. So
while a significant proportion of DMO site visitors may check out pricing
and availability via an online booking platform on a DMO site, only a small
percentage of site visitors actually book.
A table of estimated online booking metrics for DMO sites is provided below.
Online Booking Performance Estimates.
In conjunction with BookDirect we have reviewed the booking interactions and
performance for 230-plus DMO sites. Below are our estimates based on this
analysis for data from 2014 (to October 15):
Analysis of 233-plus DMOs who have
JackRabbit’s BookDirect Solution. Based on
discussions and available figures from DMOs
who use other booking providers, these
estimates also appear to broadly apply to
other booking engines such as aRes or OTA
Affiliate solutions. There is some indication
that for DMOs who have CRS solutions featuring
unique properties unavailable in other booking
platforms the booking conversions may
be higher.
*Applies to booking providers who provide links
to the hotel’s own site from within the booking
interface (eg: BookDirect).
BOOKING INTERACTIONS ON DMO SITES:
Overall Booking Conversion Ratio: % of Total Site Users who
complete Booking:
0.1% 1.5%
Pricing and Availability: % of DMO Site Users who view Pricing
and Availability:
2-20%
Of these users who view Pricing and Availability, the following
% go on and complete: Referrals*: % of Users who Click to Hotel’s
own site for more information:
2-24%
Look to Book Ratio: % of Users who Complete a Booking:
3-9%
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Conversion research for destinations conducted by Destination Analysts and
Strategic Marketing and Research Intl. (SMARI) highlights that while 20-40%
of users who view pricing and availability on a DMO site end up booking and
traveling to a destination, only a very small percentage (typically less than 5%)
book on the DMO site.
Hence for many destinations the actions of checking out pricing and availability
or clicking through to the hotel’s own website or booking link is a far more
significant metric to measure and report on than the actual booking numbers.
This is arguably the primary benefit of placing a booking engine on a DMO
site—a content investment to provide timely and relevant hotel information for
the traveler, rather than facilitate the final booking.
9
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Research: Chris Adams; Tel: 941-342-2323;
Email: [email protected]
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Angie Briggs; Tel: 941-342-2373;
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www. MilesPartnership.com | 800-683-0010 | Twitter.com/@meetmiles | Facebook.com/meetmiles

reservation inntopia

Transcription

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