5 tips to make your OTA more successful

In the online travel world, competition is fierce. According to Allied Market Research's "Online Travel Market" report, the market is expected to garner $1,091 billion in sales by 2022. Currently 76% of online bookings are already being booked through OTA websites. Offering the best service and constantly being up-to-date with the newest technological changes is imperative for any online travel agency's (OTA) success. But how can this really be accomplished? What can be implemented that will increase an OTA's success and make it better than the competition? Which tools can actually help expand business opportunities?

The way customers book their travel has substantially evolved over the last decade. While in the past they relied on their nearest travel agent and had to book through them, the expansion of the digital world and massive growth of the number of travel companies has drastically changed this process. Customers have access to thousands of travel companies, and can switch from one to the other with just one click.

Because competition has grown and continues to grow dramatically at a global level, it's even more essential for travel companies to implement measures that attract new clients and retain them, especially since the danger of losing to others is common, costly, and ever-growing. It's not enough anymore to simply maintain the status quo. Now, more than ever, OTAs need to ensure competitive edge and stand out in the fast paced industry.

There are a few tangible ways travel companies can keep up or even outperform the competition.

1. Homepage optimization

When accessing an OTA's site, the first thing customers see is its homepage. It has to be accessible, prioritized properly and straight-forward to navigate. These factors determine whether a client stays on the page and continues with a booking, or moves on to another site.
To achieve a clear and easy design that encourages potential customers to move from browsing to purchasing, key information needs to be communicated using organized, descriptive, and professional content and supplemented with high-quality pictures. Yes, rates do capture a client's attention but in some markets, the homepage has just as large of an influence.

2. Good hotel mapping

Mapping is something every travel business has to do. Still, many don't realize the full scope of its business impacts, how it influences conversion rates, look-to-book (L2B) ratios and revenue. Previously, the only available way to map hotel inventory involved weeks of manual work, leaving room for major mapping mistakes caused by human error, and dependency on third party providers.

The recent development of automated hotel mapping solutions, such as Gimmonix's Mapping.Works, is a game changer. While mapping usually was a time intensive process, these new solutions can map millions of properties within hours, completely removing manual involvement, solving issues related to human error and reducing operational costs by over 75%.

In fact, one of the biggest factors that noticeably increases L2B ratios and negatively impacts customer experience is bad mapping; it can lead to failed bookings, wrong bookings or incorrect rates being shown, lowering the chance of a customer completing his reservation.With previous mapping services not mapping the entire inventory, and giving no insights into why some properties have remained unmapped, OTAs unknowingly miss out on business opportunities. The newer solutions take a more user-friendly approach: not only do they map 98% of an OTA's inventory, compared to an industry standard of 60 - 65%, they also give their customers information as to why properties haven't been mapped and the opportunity to fill in missing information. This enables businesses to sell inventory previously unseen.

3. Personalization

Personalization is part of a newer yet very popular dialogue in the world of travel, and the conversation about its importance is growing. Especially millennials, one of the fastest growing consumer groups, appreciate personalized offers that empower them to choose between various packages, tailored to their tastes. Personalized results lead to more bookings, increasing revenues tangibly.

These developments have introduced the idea and implementation of room mapping into the industry. It is seen as the key tool on the path to providing customers with personalized results, and while a rather new idea, there are fully automated options out there, that should be considered by every OTA. For more information on how room mapping technology is foundational for personalization, see this presentation.

4. Big Data analysis

Collected data, when analyzed and studied correctly, gives travel companies important information about customers' booking behavior. Where do most of the clients come from? When do they tend to book, and at which point in the process are most of them being lost? Which properties are most successful and during which seasons?

Collecting, and then analyzing the amount of data needed to form valid conclusions requires highly advanced technical capabilities that only the larger travel businesses can typically retain in-house. There are readily developed Big Data analysis tools available for travel businesses of all sizes, that can be implemented easily, providing OTAs with actionable insights for important business decisions.

5. Customer value

Customers are known to want value for money. They will compare between websites to ensure they are getting the best possible offer for their money. In fact, a recent Expedia study states that customers visit on average 38 sites before deciding on a booking. Clear information about a property, the homepage, and a straightforward cancellation policy are important factors for their decision-making process, therefore increasing conversion potential.

Another important aspect that speaks to the customer's needs and prioritizes value is good customer support. Customers want someone to turn to if problems arise. Since this can already happen during the booking process, implementing a chat box is highly recommended. When clients feels taken care of, it encourages them to return, and prevents them from leaving the site if they become frustrated. Keeping in mind that securing a new customer costs between 5 to 25 times more than retaining an existing client, retention is everything in today's market. Only a satisfied customer will use your OTA again.

Competing in the travel industry comes with a lot of challenges. Not only is the competition pool large, there's also a lack of resources to advise and educate online travel agencies on how to improve their performance.

The above mentioned information and the products recommended stem from over 7 years of collected, aggregated and analyzed data, along with industry research. When implemented, they are proven to boost conversions, decrease L2Bs, increase revenue and overall make your OTA more successful.

To learn more, feel free to get in touch, [email protected], or visit our website.

Gimmonix is a technology company that helps travel businesses increase their revenue and boost efficiency through automated mapping technology, API connectivity, and profit optimization tools. Gimmonix pushes the limits of technology to help travel businesses minimize waste and maximize performance with its cutting-edge, cloud-based products.