Each week, we give you a run down of the latest hostel industry insights and offer our take (we can also provide a variety of GIFs for your entertainment, too!).
1. ARE YOU MAKING YOUR POTENTIAL GUEST’S SHORTLIST?
“As travelers narrow down their options and plan their trips, it’s important that hotel marketers have a strong strategy for intercepting travelers – raising consideration in the dreaming stage to ensure they’re in the running at booking.” – Source.
By the time travellers are actively looking to book accommodation, they are considering an average of only 1.5 hotel brands within their online searches, Sojern’s Hotel Insights Report has found.
During the dreaming stage, travellers begin researching which destination they want to go to, what they want to do there and – most importantly for you – where they want to stay. Anticipating the needs of your potential guests as they are seeking inspiration for their next trip can help make sure that your hostel sticks in their memory and makes it onto their booking shortlist.
You can catch potential guests’ attention in the dreaming phase by sharing high quality posts on social media platforms, using tailored paid advertising to remind them of you once they’ve visited your website and, of course, having an easy to navigate, mobile-friendly site with all the practical information they need.
You should also add keywords to your SEO strategy that are more generic to mirror the sort of terms potential guests type into Google as they begin their research, such as ‘best place to travel solo’.
Finally, a regularly updated blog is a fantastic way to get your site seen – and remembered – by potential guests. Creating inspiring, informative content that helps potential guests in the dreaming and planning stages of their trip will ensure that your hostel is at the front of their mind when it’s time to book.
Check out our blog post on how to promote your activities at each stage of the booking journey for more tips (it’s one of our favourites!).
2. DO TRAVELLERS WANT CHATBOTS TO CHAT LESS?
“To date, many travel bots have been fairly rudimentary. They are either stateless (i.e., they respond only to questions as asked and do not keep track of the conversation) or semi-stateful (i.e., they have some ability to keep track of what has already been said, but their recall is limited to the current conversation only).” – Source.
The latest research report from Phocuswire has found that travellers don’t yet trust chatbots.
Chatbots are live chat services that allow messages to be automated on your website and through your social media inboxes.
While travellers would be comfortable completing various travel-related activities via text or chat, the report found that just four in ten respondents said they were happy to use chatbots to plan their trip.
The survey was released days before the Digital Travel Summit in Las Vegas last week where the topic of the day was the future of chatbots. Hotels, such as Marriot, spoke about their investment in artificial intelligence technology to improve the bot experience.
Many accommodation providers, including hostels, have started using chatbots on their website as part of their overall online experience. However, the lack of personalisation and inconvenient response times have led modern travellers – who expect a sleek, personal experience – to become generally un-enamoured with the tool.
As technologies develop and chatbots are able to deliver a fully personalised service for potential guests, the tool is predicted to grow in popularity – especially with Gen-Z travellers who are extremely comfortable with new technology like this.
3. GOOGLE’S BIG TRAVEL PLANS
“Google’s recent efforts to expand further into the online travel space could result in a pivotal change for the hospitality industry.” – Source.
Recent movements into the online travel world from Google HQ have fuelled industry whispers that the tech giant has plans to become a competitor for OTAs.
In August, Google announced that it had started offering exclusive hotel discounts to its Google One paid subscribers while also mentioning the development of a ‘hotel-plus-flight’ product. This subtle move has sparked many conversations about Google’s future plans. While some think Google are ready to take on the OTAs, many have suggested that they will enter the travel industry with caution to reduce the risk of losing significant revenue from OTA’s lucrative Google Ad spend.
Atmosphere Research Group president Henry Harteveldt has predicted that Google will continue to be discreet, stating that “while Google certainly has the reach to enter and compete aggressively…there’s certainly some belief that they won’t go all-in at least for the foreseeable future.”
When asked about their long-term plan, Harteveldt said: “What does Google want? I am only half joking when I say total world domination. Like Amazon, what Google really wants to be is the supermarket of services for almost everything, and that includes travel.”
While Google’s dabble into discounts could prove beneficial for accommodation providers looking to avoid high OTA commission rates, the best things you can do for your hostel is to invest in a high quality website and develop your own digital marketing so you are less dependent on Google or OTAs to secure your bookings.
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