Let’s map out a simplistic, non-linear user journey.
A new visitor enters your hotel website. They spend 10 minutes browsing the different room and rate packages and even spend time looking at the additional facilities your property has to offer. Following this initial research, they drop off your site to compare your hotel against various other similarly priced properties. A few days later, after multiple comparisons, the returning visitor books a two-night stay at your hotel, settling on the classic bed-and-breakfast rate. Thereafter, your pre-stay guest is sent to a static booking confirmation page where they will likely exit the website browser.
For many hoteliers, this interaction would be considered a success: You’ve turned a ‘looker’ into a ‘booker’ thereby increasing your property’s direct revenue. But what if that wasn’t the end of the booking funnel? What if the guest journey didn’t end post-booking? At Avvio we believe that a hotel website’s job doesn’t stop at the point of booking confirmation. Data gathered from our AI-powered booking engine Allora shows that pre-stay returning visitors will typically amend their booking prior to arrival.
So, why are we waiting for guests to come back before promoting this step? Why aren’t we facilitating this requirement straight after check-out?
With this in mind, we have reinvented our booking confirmation page. We’re currently trialling a booking confirmation page which is an amended version of the website homepage promoting customised and personalised suggestions that can easily be added onto the booking.
As seen in the example below, Cara has received various suggestions based on her ‘romantic weekend’ booking. The booking engine suggests she upgrades to a suite, add some wine and flowers to the room upon arrival and even provides recommendations on what Cara can do based on the weather. These suggestions immediately provide hotels with an additional opportunity to maximise their total booking value.
Our co-founder and CEO, Frank Reeves, says: “We know that no other booking engine company is doing this. Allora wants to upsell, modify and deliver a better hospitality experience to pre-stay guests. We want to help hotels increase their average booking value and deter cancellation.”
If you’re looking for an intuitive booking engine which facilitates a seamless browsing experience and drives profitable direct revenue please speak with a member of the team.
