The importance of the website for the hotel

An interesting report by Sojern, in collaboration with Google, reveals new data on the path that today's travellers take to organise a trip and then make reservations.
According to Google's experts, more than half of all travellers - specifically 60% of tourists and 55% of business travellers - start the cycle of booking a trip via a search engine.

Here are some highlights from this report:

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1) Only 4% of surfers start by searching for a hotel brand.

This would mean two things: it is very difficult for a hotel to hope to get noticed the first time, but it is also true that hotels with irresistible offers have a great chance to grab more customers.
However, it should not be forgotten that the majority of bookers (around 28%) start their search from holiday homes;

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2) Who books via mobile?

According to Google data, mobile searches are significantly more prevalent at the low end than at the high end. In total, 73% of searches for a budget category hotel take place via mobile device, compared to 45% for higher-end and luxury hotels. The trend seems fairly linear, with 62% of searches coming from mobile for mid-range hotels, 56% for the mid-upper category and 53% for luxury;

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3) Where does the traveller go?

The report highlights the top five searched destinations both in the US and internationally in terms of search growth based on Google data from a comparison of 12-week periods between late October and mid-January.
US: Fort Washington, Maryland; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Washington DC; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Detroit.
Rest of the world: Havana; Sodankylä, Finland; Varadero, Cuba; Lisbon, Portugal; and Thera (Santorini), Greece.

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4) Better late than never

Overall, the data show a strong trend towards last-minute bookings, both in terms of flights and especially hotels. Only 15% of travellers, in fact, seem to start their search before 60 days from the planned departure date.

Ultimately, given the circumstances that are not always favourable to our sector, and given the strong competition from other platforms, the need to have a Booking Engine that is up to the task of today's market is becoming more and more evident, one that is both as streamlined as possible but also as attractive as possible, full of offers and packages suitable for every type of traveller!