European hospitality behind with Internet bookings
Today, two-thirds of all travel bookings are influenced by the Internet. Based on these market dynamics, Duesseldorf-based advisory company h2c consulting anticipates huge online growth potential for the hotel industry: „Hotels and hotel groups can profit from this trend in two ways: On the one hand, hotels can increase booking rates significantly by utilizing professional e-commerce distribution strategies, and on the other hand, the Internet offers great potential to reduce distribution costs.“ says Michaela Papenhoff, CEO of h2c consulting.
Compared with 2006, the volume of online bookings of both business and leisure travel has increased by about 70% in the European travel market. According to a recent PhoCusWright forecast, a U.S.-based research company (h2c consulting is PhoCusWright’s European research arm), one-third of all travel purchases will be booked online by 2010. “With online revenues averaging just above 10 percent, the European hospitality industry has hardly reaped the benefits from the rapid growth of Internet distribution.†says Papenhoff. Though, with an increasing focus on this distribution channel, the percentage could double within the next three years.
„Many hospitality IT-infrastructures have grown historically and are not up-to-date with the World Wide Web, which often leads to inefficiencies. Part of this problem is multiple managed content as well as inconsistent rate plans“, explains Papenhoff. h2c consulting analyses potential distribution channels, proposes channel optimization measures and checks that content and rates are consistent with the hotel’s distribution strategy.
Heiko Siebert, Vice President Distribution of Moevenpick Hotels & Resorts Management AG is convinced by the results: „h2c consulting advises us for all aspects concerning distribution and CRS since 2002. Thanks to their support we were able to change the CRS for our complete hotel portfolio in April 2008. We now have a broader distribution base showing a better overall performance.“
h2c consulting specializes in distribution strategies, channel performance optimization, Internet marketing as well as hospitality market research. As PhoCusWright’s partner, h2c consulting furthermore conducts European travel market research.
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