Tech Talk

Recent posts

Definitely Doug 11/17/23: The Hotel TV Dilemma
Posted: 11/17/2023

In case you missed the memo, people no longer watch television the way that they did ten years ago. Not at home, and not at hotels. Nielsen reported that streaming services cornered 34.8% of TV screen time in July 2022, when they overtook cable for the first time.

Property management systems (PMSs) fundamentally have changed very little since the 1980s. And many hotels still use systems that were built in the eighties, nineties, or aughts. Since then, massive technology changes have occurred: the mobile revolution, cloud computing, distributed ledgers, AI-based large language models, Web 3.0, and other innovations have fundamentally changed both the technological capabilities of software, the way it is designed and built, and expectations for user experience.

Read More +

Definitely Doug 10/20/23: Gluing It All Together
Posted: 10/20/2023

Hardly a day goes by that hotels do not express frustration about the inability to tie together key data sources and technology systems. This is not a new problem; it has been around for decades. Progress has been made on many fronts to be sure, but digitalization has created new issues much faster than solutions.

Read More +

What’s the Buzz Among Today’s Hoteliers?
Posted: 10/17/2023

What’s on the minds of hoteliers? What’s keeping them up at night? And what makes travelers happy and eager to return? Some of the best places to have these candid discussions are at the industry’s conferences and events, and this year’s lineup has not disappointed. From AAHOACON and BITAC, to HITEC and The Hospitality Show, I’ve been traveling steadily, attending 13 events since January.

Technology has become an indispensable part of the guest experience. As travelers increasingly expect tech-enabled convenience, hospitality businesses must continue innovating to meet these demands. While WiFi was once the primary tech offering for hotels, today's guests want more. Integrated proptech solutions are becoming the new standard.

Read More +

comment on this article

Five Steps to More Bookings

03/27/2017

by Nimesh Dinubhai

Hotels need to be there when customers are looking for them, and they need to turn those searches into bookings. It is no longer enough to attract visitors to your website. Converting most visitors to customers must come not just from direct traffic but also on other platforms.

There are several ways to increase bookings to your hotel. These five are the easiest and most effective to implement.

1. Value proposition

Identify and elaborate clearly what it is that you are offering to your customers. Clearly define your target market. Then get a strong value proposition outlining the benefits that you provide, what makes you unique and why the potential customer should ditch the competition and pick you instead. It should be easy to understand and use descriptions how you provide your benefits. Do not be vague. Give specifics.

2. Good design

The design of your website provides an outlook at how your hotel delivers its services, how it looks like and the amount of care it takes to ensure the customer’s comfort. Some tips to consider when designing your website is having a great landing page, simple but aesthetically pleasing overall design that is easy to navigate and with little clutter. The online booking system should be simple and secure. Ensure the call to action copy and button are clear prominent and convincing even the color of the button.

3. Mobile optimization

You can significantly add to the number of your bookings with a website that it optimized for mobile devices. Many people access online services from searching to transactions from the comfort of their mobile phones. Do not just get the same concept from the existing site instead try and create a mobile device concept tailoring all the major aspects to be easily found and used on mobile phones. This avoids cluttering and a shrinking feel. Over 25 percent of all online travel market money comes from mobile phones.

4. Hotel photography

When people get to your hotel’s website, the HD photography is the first chance of showing them what they are getting. High-quality photos covering the best places and offerings in your hotel create a huge impression. They give meaning to your words and are persuasive. Great photography will lead to increased bookings.

5. Online Marketing

Online marketing should be the backbone of all your efforts to increase your bookings. It starts with research and a target market. From there all efforts are about giving your self-visibility and finding potential clients where they are and convincing them that you offer the best service. It is about creating awareness, nurturing leads and building relationships.

About The Author

Nimesh Dinubhai
President
Websrefresh

Nimesh Dinubhai completed his studies in 2003 and launched Websrefresh to help businesses grow their ROI. He also owns two Arizona hotels, one of which earned the Historical Hotel Award in 2014.