Direct bookings are the lifeblood of any small hotel or B&B, especially considering they operate on tighter budgets and have less rooms with which to produce revenue.
The constant battle of trying to increase the amount of direct bookings while also needing to rely on online travel agents to capture attention and drive traffic is difficult to master. The commission fee paid to online travel agents (OTAs) is a bitter pill, but often necessary if properties want to operate at a satisfactory occupancy level. There’s also larger brands to contend with that can steal away potential customers.
However, there are some simple and effective ways to boost your chances of capturing direct bookings.
Here’s a foolproof plan you can quickly implement at your B&B business:
1. Set up an online booking engine
An online booking engine is strictly necessary to drive direct bookings. Most travellers today prefer to book their stays online rather than calling or walking in. This means you will lose a significant number of bookings without a competent online booking engine.
An online booking engine also allows you the opportunity to offer other incentives, extras, and promotions to guests at the time of reservation.
2 Optimise your website and go mobile
A user-friendly B&B website is a no-brainer. Slow loading pages, hard-to-read text, a lack of images etc. are a nightmare for travellers looking for information. If the impression of your website is poor, people will judge your property by association, no matter how beautiful it is in real life.
An important functionality for your website is its ability to respond to mobile devices. Travellers are increasingly using their smartphone to make purchases and bookings online. You don’t want to miss out on this traffic because your website is inoperable on mobile.
Mobile is becoming more popular and nowadays many people are using apps to purchase travel and communicate with their accommodation provider. It’s definitely something small hotels should consider.
