Don’t forget the Online Marketing Awards Ceremony taking place in Rathmullan House on Wednesday November 19th at 11.30 am
World Travel Market - London November 11-13th. Will you be there? Meet us at the show E Mail info@accubook.net
Interesting Articles
Expedia got no reservations on hotel analytics
This article is interesting for the conclusions it comes to that consumers dont want technically correct but complex search mechanisms that allow them to search by hotel size, star rating and category etc, they simply look at the top 5 in the results. Conclusion; As a hotel you need to be at the top of Search Engines and Travel Portals!
Marriott's guest loyalty program says goodbye to blackout dates - An interesting change of direction for those hotels who are only now building their rewards program.
Analytics insights revealed by Google - Attached are some refreshingly clear examples of how you can use any statistics, in this case Google Analytics, to improve your website.
Sales of Online Gift Vouchers
We are fast approaching the time when everyone’s thoughts are turning to Christmas and the potential sales of Online Vouchers,
Statistics show that the redemption of Vouchers is frequently as low as 80% making them an attractive prospect for the sellers. Recently hotels have become more imaginative in the presentation of their vouchers, creating attractive sounding packages such as 'Stress Buster Weekends' 'Leave the Dishes at home' 'Pre-Natal Breaks' etc, etc
However it is flexible value vouchers (ie 100€, 200€ etc) that appear to make up the lions share of Voucher Sales, so we would propose that the Voucher section of the Booking Engine is made up of a combination of the two.
Some do's and don’ts for Online Gift Vouchers.
- Do state the validation period (ie valid for 12 months from the date of purchase)
- Do state if you are not prepared to exchange them for cash (you might want to check the 'local' legalities on those 2)
- Do be clear on how they will receive it (ie You will receive a voucher in the post)
- Do allow visitors to add in an alternative address if they wish the voucher to go direct to someone else.
- Note - Incidents of credit card fraud, although low, are slightly higher with Gift Vouchers than Room Bookings, possibility due to the ability for the buyer to 'barter' them for something else. Do keep a record of vouchers sold and redeemed
Ideas to promote the sales of your vouchers
- Add a Press Release to your website presenting your '2008 Gift Voucher Range'.
- Set up a Google Adwords Campaign specifically targeting ('Christmas Gifts/Vouchers')
- Create a link/gifts icon on the home page of your website pointing to vouchers.
- Promote the availability of your Gift Voucher Shop in your pre-christmas E Zine.
One Final Tip – The period between Christmas and New Year and into January are typically heavy booking periods (as people turn their thoughts to the New Year and their holiday/travel plans). Make sure your room rates and packages for 2009 are loaded BEFORE the Christmas period starts to avoid losing bookings.
Previous Bulletins
AccuBook Bulletin Nr 16 - Online Marketing Case Study
AccuBook Bulletin No 15 - Demand Management Made Easy
Accubook Bulletin No 14 - Back to Online Marketing
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