New York, NY | Hospitality eBusiness Strategies (HeBS) of New York, NY, today announced the launch of the 2009 Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing Strategies, Budget Planning and Best Practices. After the acclaimed 2007 and 2008 editions, for a third year in a row the benchmark survey will ask hoteliers what Internet formats and methods they are using to reach their customers, what Internet marketing practices they find most productive, why they choose to devote marketing dollars to certain mediums over others, and more.

Here are some of the main findings from the 2008 Benchmark Survey:

• The industry reported that online business is coming from their own website more than third parties or corporate brand sites.
• Similar to 2007, the highest percentage of survey respondents use search engine optimization and organic search in their search marketing campaigns. This was followed by paid search, then local search.
• When asked what Internet marketing objectives they did not achieve in 2007 and would like to focus on in 2008, the highest percentage of hoteliers said website optimization followed by search optimization (organic search).
• The more hoteliers learn about online direct distribution and Internet marketing, the more they realize their property website does not conform to industry’s best practices.
• Almost half of hoteliers surveyed were planning a blog on the hotel’s website. Other Web 2.0 formats planned for 2008 included photo sharing, surveys and comment cards on the website, and creating profiles on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.

The goal of the 2009 Benchmark survey is to assess hoteliers’ 2009 Internet marketing priorities, provide the industry with insights into how Internet marketing strategies for the hospitality industry are evolving, and enable hoteliers to build ROI-centric, cost-effective Internet marketing strategies to accomplish their goals.

Noted Max Starkov, Chief eBusiness Strategist at Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, “There is no doubt that the hotel’s overall competitiveness today is determined by how well it manages its Internet marketing and distribution efforts. By 2010 the Internet will contribute over 45% of all hotel bookings in North America. In difficult economic times like these, Internet marketing can help smart hoteliers generate incremental revenues, improve marketing ROIs, attract more affluent travelers, and out-smart the competition. For the past 13 years, our experience shows that Internet-savvy hoteliers with robust Direct Online Channel strategies in place are the winners in economic downturns like this one. We believe that a comprehensive, ROI-centric Internet marketing strategy is the perfect “survival tool” in the current economic environment.”

General managers, revenue managers, sales and marketing managers, e-commerce managers and professionals at hotels, resorts, hotel management companies and hotel chains are invited to participate in the 2009 Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing Strategies, Budget Planning and Best Practices. The results of the survey will be distributed to all survey respondents at no cost.