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Infographic: HospitalityUnited.Club releases Middle East Online Travel Trends at ATM

HospitalityUnited.Club, a consortium of travel technology companies, in partnership with RateTiger and LiveOS has published an infographic ebook titled ‘Middle East Travel Trends’ – highlighting key travel metrics and indicators in the region. Despite the ongoing turmoil, Middle East is on the course of recovery led by GCC countries, with Dubai retaining its lead position as the travel and business hub.

While three countries, namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Egypt still occupy the largest share of the travel pie, with 7 out of 10 travelers visiting them, the demography of the travelers are vastly different.
The ebook shows that even though online booking is growing fast, Middle Eastern travelers still largely refer booking through travel and tour operators. Interestingly, even for offline bookers, over 40% of them do their research and planning online. The online booking space is largely dominated by OTAs with over 75% market share. The region, with high mobile penetration is also adapting to mobile booking quicker than matured online markets like Europe and America.
The average Middle East traveler has a clear preference for luxury with Gulf countries’ nationals spending 4 times more than the global average. The demand for luxury also propelled hotel supply in the region. 26% of total hotel pipeline are for the luxury segment. While local luxury brands are making a mark, over 95% of luxury properties are operated by International Hotel Groups.
To know more about the trends, download the full infographic – https://goo.gl/YiyTgE
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eRevMax lists out Top 5 Channels in 5 Key European Markets


Hotel connectivity leader eRevMax has released an infographic on online channel penetration and performance in 5 key markets in Europe. Based on reservations processed by the company over the past one year, the infographic lists out top 5 online distribution channels in UK, France, Germany, Spain and Russia.
Data from eRevMax clearly shows the dominance of Booking.com in all key markets, including Russia. When it comes to technology adaption, UK leads with over 93% hoteliers having a property management system. Mobile has emerged as one of the fastest growing channels with as many as 29% of online travel bookings in Spain coming from it.
To see the full infographic, please click here – https://goo.gl/lVazNQ

 

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Top Online Travel Trends to Watch in United Kingdom this year

United Kingdom is the eighth popular country in the word in terms of international tourism destinations. The country has attracted 34.4 million travelers in 2015, a 5.6 percent growth compared to the last year.

eRevMax, the leading hotel technology provider, has released an infographic showcasing online travel trends in the United Kingdom. The infographic has projected a positive outlook for UK hoteliers, who can expect to see a lot of bookings coming their way not only from international travelers but from Britons too, as a good 64% of them will take at least one domestic holiday.

Hotels using eRevMax solutions generated an average of GBP 199 per booking with average length of stay being 1.4 across properties. As per eRevMax production statistics, just like rest of Europe, Booking.com has a clear dominance over online hotel bookings followed by Laterooms, Expedia, Agoda and hotelbeds.

UK Online Travel Trends 2016

Source: eRevMax


Further, this infographic focuses on traveler buying behavior to give hoteliers a deeper insight. It is interesting to note that travellers visit around 17 OTAs during their travel planning phase and over 59% travelers are influenced by online reviews, especially for hotel bookings. Over 65% travellers use metasearch to compare prices thereby making it vital for hotels to manage online reviews effectively and engage actively with metasearch channels.

See full story on eRevMax website here.

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eRevMax predicts hotel online distribution trends 2014

As technology advances and the world of social media expands, more and more travelers are turning towards smart phones and tablets to book hotel rooms. eRevMax, the leader in hotel online distribution and channel management solution has released an Infographic “Online Hotel Distribution” to provide hoteliers with upcoming trends backed by relevant data.


Travelers who book hotel rooms online are increasingly equipped with smart phones and tablets. The infographic shows 7% of all bookings were generated from mobile and tablet devices in 2013, and this trend will grow by another 20% this year. In 2014, hotel bookings through mobile will contribute over $26 billion.


The eRevMax study sheds light on how metasearch sites realized a 13% increase in 2013. Google Hotel Finder, TripConnect and Trivago are becoming a driving force in hotel online distribution as 60% of travellers shop by comparing rates on these sites. To shift market share from the OTAs to direct bookings, hoteliers should utilize metasearch sites as a part of their overall distrbution strategy as it offers better search experience and allows the traveller to find the lowest prices available online.

Bookings from OTAs surged ahead with a 12% rise in Q3 2013 and now stands at 13% of overall bookings in North America. It also shows that 33% of all bookings take place at the brand’s website, an increase of 5% in Q3 2013. eRevMax suggests hoteliers work with OTAs to increase revenues and implement reputation management solutions for quick responses to their guests.

Another important tip by the hotel solutions provider is to leverage the billboard effect, defined as the increase in offline bookings of a property when it is listed with an Online Travel Agency (OTA). An experiment conducted by Cornell University observed that one of the participant hotels experienced an impressive 14% increase in direct bookings when it contracted with an OTA. Besides, Average Daily Rate (ADR) increased by 1.5% during OTA listing of the same property. 

In this world of social media, SEO and analytics, failure to adopt digital platforms in their marketing strategy is suicidal for hotels. The data shows that 81% of tech-savvy travellers find user reviews important, while 49% travellers book hotel only after reading reviews. Nearly 21% used Facebook to search for hotel information at least once while 14% of travellers use the Facebook platform to book a hotel room. Hence, it is imperative that hotels take social-commerce seriously. 

To access the full infographic, click Infographic: Online Hotel Distribution 2014
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Top 5 Trends in Hotel Technology: Infographic

It’s no secret that the travel industry is changing and the majority of these changes are happening because of the evolution of guest preferences. Today, a comfy bed and clean bathroom simply aren’t enough and hotels are now expected to have the most up-to-date technologies if they want to keep ahead of the game. eRevMax recently released an infographic, showing what guests expect in terms of technology when they book a hotel today. A whopping 85 percent of travellers prefer free WiFi, while 38 percent cite WiFi is a priority factor before choosing a hotel.
 

Additionally, 40 percent of travellers travels with three or more electronic devices, so mobile optimised websites are one of the most important factor to the tech-savvy travellers these days. eRevMax suggests hoteliers to provide the service for free to guests who enroll for their select programs, for starters. Such services may be made exclusive for gold and platinum level members or accessible in lobbies of full-service properties.
To access the full infographic, click Top 5 Trends in Hotel Technology