E-Commerce advantage for small hotel operators in Sri Lanka

E-Commerce advantage for small hotel operators in Sri Lanka

We often hear the news that Sri Lanka is on the way to become a "Hot Spot" in the global tourism arena. With this influx we do however face the problem of lack of hotel rooms to cater to the rising demand. This has resulted in a "gold rush" by local entrepreneurs to build and develop resorts and city hotels. This article will focus on smaller hotel operators of 100 rooms or less; and the role that eCommerce will play to enhance their sales and marketing plans.

eCommerce is a big factor in hotel bookings and reservations. For instance in the USA alone; US$125 Billion worth of travel related online bookings were made in 2010 with 56% of Hotel Reservations being generated online. This figure is said to increase, as more people come online and become internet savvy.

Smaller hotels with 100 rooms or less, have a lot to gain by leveraging on a good eCommerce strategy. A typical web presence for a hotel should be split into 4 components: a well branded website, a dynamic online reservations system, an adaptive internet marketing plan and listings on travel specific aggregator sites.

First expression

The website, which is the first engagement the visitor has with the hotel, should effectively convey the countenance of the hotel. Chic design, engaging photography, simple yet striking copy and clear local information must be presented. It is very important that significant resources are allocated into developing the best website one could afford; since a poorly completed website can do long term damage to the brand and client perception. A first time visitor to the website will typically look for the location of the hotel and its price/product offering; and then look for credibility and facts on the hotel. In this manner it is important to provide client testimonials, external reviews, affiliations and certifications so that this visitor can conclude on the validity of the information provided on the website. Maintaining a good active presence on review websites such as Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.comsor.com) will enhance the credibility of the hotel. Integrated to the website should be a reservations platform that permits the visitor to search rooms by price, size, features or other preferences. There should also be features such as Hot Deals or special offers since this will increase the client interaction and revisits to the websites. The reservations system must provide booking information of local activities (eg Elephant rides, Spa treatment, etc.) as this will add to the attractiveness of the destination. The most important aspect in this whole exercise is to build credibility since this client will be pre-paying for his entire hotel stay simply based on trust.

Long-term marketing plan

It is crucial to tie any eCommerce strategy with an effective long term internet marketing plan. A comprehensive SEO (Search Engine Optimization) blueprint together with a PPC (Pay Per Click) campaign will ensure steady internet traffic to the site. The final objective of the SEO program should be to get the website listed on the 1st page of Google, Bing or Yahoo for searches specific to the hotel or destination.

Another online sales mechanism is indirect room sales through travel specific websites.

These companies will market or sell your rooms through their own online channels and eCommerce platform for a fee of total sales. Websites such as i-escape (www.i-escape.com ), agoda (www.goda.com ) and Asiarooms (www.asiarooms .com ) amongst many others are good examples of such companies. Many local hotels already receive a significant volume of reservations through these websites.

I shall leave you with a few facts that add weight to the matters discussed above. Nearly 96% of Google clicks come from the first page of a search, up to 35% of travellers read reviews of a hotel before making a travel confirmation and more than 1 in 4 people decide to immediately "Click Away" simply because of the distrustful content on a website.

(Presantha Jayamaha is the Managing Director of Pyxle Ltd; a Web and Software applications development company based in Sri Lanka. He has been active member of the IT industry for over 10 years with a special interest in the internet and what it can do for people and business)

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