Online reservations continue to increase in importance as more and more consumers demand real-time, instant reservations. This page will keep you up to date on industry trends and online reservation news; if you'd like us to address a particular topic, don’t hesitate to contact us.
 

Tip of the Month
Online Reservation Trends
News from BedandBreakfast.com

Tip of the Month

Did you know that you can update your inventory on the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations program any time, any day? If you aren't sold out for an upcoming weekend, add a room.  If you have a last-minute cancellation, add a room. If you have any rooms that you feel you may not sell, add them to the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations program.  With the incredible exposure that our partners Expedia and hotels.com are providing, now more than ever, we can help you sell the rooms that you need help selling.

To adjust your rates and inventory, simply log in to your Home Base and click the green Online Reservations Manager button. Click here to download a tutorial about adding rates and inventory. When prompted, select "Run" to load the movie.

Questions? Contact Online Reservations Support at 800-GO-B-AND-B (800-462-2632), 512-322-2710 or Support@BedandBreakfast.com.

Trends in the World of Online Reservations
Online reservations continues to grow: Through flight delays, higher ticket prices, and security issues, online travel consumers in the U.S. are poised to spend some $122 billion by 2009, according to a recent report from eMarketer.

The report, “Online Travel Worldwide: A Mosaic of Separate Markets,” says that “U.S. leisure and corporate travel consumers will spend $122.4 billion by 2009, up from $64.9 billion last year, while European travelers spent $35.5 billion online in 2005.”

“The report indicates that searching for flights and comparing fares is relatively easy on the Web, making online travel planning and buying a natural. Online leisure/unmanaged business travel sales in the U.S. will total $77.7 billion in 2006, according to eMarketer estimates. If online corporate travel sales of $36.5 billion, estimated by PhoCusWright, are factored in, then total U.S. online travel sales will equal $114.2 billion in 2006. PhoCusWright also estimates that total U.S. travel sales (online and offline) will be $235.2 billion this year. This means that in 2006 online sales will account for about 49% of total travel sales.”

Summer travelers still up for grabs: One-third of Internet travel researchers plan to travel more this summer than they did last summer, but they waited right up until the last minute to book their plans. A July study from Compete, Inc. revealed that more than $10 billion in summer travel bookings was still up for grabs. “Compete’s research reveals that with 40% of travelers expecting to spend more this year than last, there is opportunity for marketers to capture bookings from the increased budgets of last-minute travelers.”

Additional key findings included:

• “Two-thirds of consumers prefer researching travel options online. Among consumers with summer travel remaining to be purchased, nearly 75% will reserve most or all of their travel online.

• “Undecided travelers make up 48% of summer travelers who will wait to book largely due to indecision about when or where they will travel. Procrastinators, comprising 24% of travelers still in market, have simply not gotten around to booking their travel.

• Payday Hopefuls, 15% of the summer travelers, do not yet have the money to book their travel. They are more likely to travel locally due to high gas prices. Price-hold outs comprise 9% of summer travelers and will wait for prices to drop later in the summer. They are more likely to stay close to home due to high airline prices.”

How consumers use online for travel: eMarketer senior analyst Jeffrey Grau discusses online travel trends. He says the intangible nature of travel makes it well suited for online research. PhoCusWright claims three-fifths of online travel shoppers cite search engines as resources to research their vacations.

A comScore study of search behavior found that “some 73% of online travel buyers conducted relevant keyword searches in the weeks prior to an online travel purchase, and more than three-quarters of the searches performed by these consumers were based on generic terms as opposed to merchants’ brand names.

“Forrester Research found that a majority of online travelers use search engines to find information about different aspects of a destination. Another popular use of search engines is to find pricing information. Over half the online leisure (52%) and business travelers (53%) surveyed selected this as a reason.

“When online travel shoppers move from searching to travel planning, they usually begin at an online travel website (54%), according to Nielsen//NetRatings research, because these sites offer one-stop convenience. However, a visit to an online travel agency website is no guarantee of a subsequent sale. Four in 10 online travel shoppers who begin their research at an online travel agency ultimately purchase directly from a travel supplier’s website or call center, according to PhoCusWright.
The top online travel agencies are: Expedia, Travelocity and Orbitz. Click here to read Grau's entire report for lots more interesting information.
 

News from BedandBreakfast.com