Tuesday, 2nd March 2004

HOTELS MUST GET ONLINE OR LOSE OUT
IHF conference delegates told

The number of consumers booking accommodation via the internet will increase from 3% in 2001 to 11% by 2005 and Irish hotels and guesthouses must get online with strong website offerings or risk losing out, delegates at the Irish Hotels Federation’s (IHF) 66th Annual Conference heard today. Conference speakers, including Dr. Judy Siguaw of Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, USA and John Fitzpatrick of the Fitzpatrick Hotel Group, stated that by 2007 global online hotel bookings will be valued at some $14.8billion and that the internet will play an increasingly greater role in the generation of room bookings in the coming years.

Dr Judy Siguaw, Professor at Cornell University School of Hotel Administration warned that hotels that do not have an online presence are set to miss out on a major source of room bookings over the coming years. She advised delegates that at least 53% of online bookings should be coming from their own website.

“Worldwide tourist numbers are set to double over the next twenty years from 700 million international trips to 1.4 billion trips and the internet will play a critical role in hotel room distribution. Currently one in 12 hotel rooms are booked over the internet and this is expected to rise to one in five by 2005. Irish accommodation providers need to ensure that they get online with a well designed website to ensure that the hotel is easily found by prospective customers,” she said. “Current trends in the US show that 69% of people who book online use a branded hotel website, but 60% also use a travel intermediary, demonstrating that hotels must maintain consistent and competitive visibility via multiple channels. It’s also crucial that a hotel displays its best available offers on its own branded website in order to drive traffic to the site and to increase customer loyalty and repeat business.”

According to the IHF, in the past hotels have been attracted to online intermediaries as a convenient way of selling rooms, however these sites do not necessarily lead to an increase in customer loyalty to the actual property.

“Websites are fast becoming the first point of contact between a hotel and a customer and the importance of a well designed, maintained and up-to-date site cannot be overstated. They are an excellent way of enticing potential customers enabling all of the features and facilities available at the hotel to be displayed, and assisting the customer make an informed choice about the kind of place they want to stay at,” said Jim Murphy, outgoing President of the IHF.

“However, a poorly constructed and badly designed website can actually lose more customers than not having a site at all. So it is important that hotels and guesthouses create a website that is robust and reflects the property adequately. Throughout the world, online hotel and guesthouse reservations now account for a growing percentage of bookings. Ireland cannot afford to fall behind its European and global counterparts because of a fear or reticence to embrace new technologies,” Mr Murphy concluded.

Dr Siguaw acknowledged that while hotels need to use their own websites to attract potential customers, the cost of setting up and maintaining a website can be prohibitive for small independent hotels. She suggests that smaller hotels should consider joining together in a larger co-operative to share the investment and increase visibility collectively.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
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