New research sheds light on the unique booking behaviors of Mexican travelers, who show greater propensity for planning last-minute travel. Hotels might benefit from many guests paying higher prices for waiting too long. But it’s still important to their Revenue Strategy to optimize hotel distribution and marketing for consumers researching their travel options further out in the booking window.
According to Expedia.mx, more than 20% of Mexican travelers reserve trips zero to six days in advance, for both business and leisure travel. Carolina Piber, executive director of Expedia in Latin America, said this makes Mexican consumers 15% more likely to book a last-minute trip than Brazilian consumers.
Expedia’s data revealed that the United States was the No. 2 destination for Mexican consumers’ last-minute travel. Their home country was the most popular market for visiting on short notice. The top cities for last-minute trips in 2016 were Mexico City, Guadalajara, Cancun and Monterrey.
However, there’s a bigger picture to keep in mind. Last-minute bookings are only a small part of hotel distribution, one that is usually dependent on online travel agency partners. Hotels need to optimize a booking experience and a distribution strategy for consumers searching for accommodations in the more typical window. The competition for attention and, ultimately, bookings comes not just from OTAs but also review sites or social media, new research has found.
Is Your Direct Channel Helping You or Hurting You?
Driving direct bookings is every hotel’s goal, particularly for revenue managers, who want to avoid third-party commissions and fees. Therefore, your hotel website is, perhaps, the most important factor in a successful hotel marketing campaign. If the website is ineffective, the entire marketing budget will be spent for nothing, and optimal rates will not be as visible as you need them to be.
