Insights into how people are booking right now is essential information to be able to plan, right?
Today I want to share a top tool with you that helps you to do just that.
The channel manager, Siteminder, has come up trumps again with their Global World Hotel Index.
With free access for all, the data it shows is sourced from Siteminder’s own guest acquisition platform that is used by 35.000 hotels and draws info in from 400 booking channels across the world.
The great thing about this tool is that you can look at data for your own country and gain some insights into the booking behaviour of the Covid-recovery-period traveller.
So, let’s take a closer look at what you can discover on the platform.
First head to https://www.siteminder.com/world-hotel-index/data/
Just underneath the blue bar you can see two tabs: Booking Momentum and Guest Horizon.
On the Booking Momentum tab you can choose your country from the dropdown menu.
The first graph on that page shows you how much momentum there is in your country compared with the global average. For example, here we can see that on Monday May 10, 2021, bookings for the United Kingdom - at 1089.32% - are way above the global average of 347.53%.
Naturally, during the month of May 2020, there was very little movement anywhere on the planet, so it makes sense that the global average right now is almost 3.5 times more than it was in 2020. The higher the %, the more interest is being shown.
In case you are wondering, this global average is compared to the daily booking volumes of the same date from the previous year.
You can also dive a bit deeper and take a look at various cities within the country. Now, not all cities are listed of course. Siteminder tell me that the ones they include are the cities that consistently receive the most bookings within that country.
In the example below, you can see that interest in Brighton (a seaside destination on the south coast of England) is far higher than interest in London. This can help you to gauge what type of destination (and therefore what type of holiday) Covid-recovery-travellers are most interested in.
So, onto the next graph. I have to admit that this one is not too inspiring. It shows the domestic versus international mix of booking interest over the last two years (first image below).
The initial first image shows the last 12 months, and if you click on the arrow in the bottom left corner, you can visualise the 12 months previous.
It will probably confirm what you already know. For example, that the UK has received very little interest in bookings from overseas over the last 18 months is nothing ground-breaking. However, if you look back to 2019 (second image below), you can gauge what the "normal" domestic versus international mix looked like. It might actually throw up some surprising insights!
Moving on, there is something awesome waiting for you in the Guest Horizon tab. It starts really quite great, but then it gets even more useful towards the end!
In this Guest Horizon tab you can see bookings made in the last two weeks for each month for reservations in any of the countries listed. In the image below, this example for the UK shows that bookings made in the last two weeks for the month of June are 30.75% of a possible 100%.
Why is this useful?
This is a great graph to keep your eye on because it helps you to analyse the length of booking window, or in other words, how far in advance people are booking their stays.
The next graph - Guest Horizon by weekly arrivals - corroborates what you discovered in the previous one.
Taking this example again for the UK, you can see that arrivals over the coming months are not too strong, confirming that the booking window has significantly shortened. Now that the UK is officially out of lockdown, this graph will alter as confidence grows, along with the increase in vaccinated citizens.
How can this help you?
Keep an eye on this graph. When it looks like the one above, make sure you are offering great last minute deals.
But, remember this does not mean you have to discount on price. Stand firm and add value that is attractive, surprises and excites.
Too many business owners looks to their competitors to gauge what they should be charging. While it is of course a good idea to know what is going on around you, it is even better to avoid price wars and simply really get to know your own value proposition.
What makes you stand out?
Why are you worth the price you charge?
How can you exceed the expectations of your guests at every turn?
Time to move onto the last graph now, and this one is golden!
Why?
Because it is super helpful for gauging when the international market is showing signs of picking up.
Take a look at the first graph for the United Kingdom (name of country is in the bottom left hand corner). Here you can see that overseas interest in vacationing in the UK is not too strong as yet. The first signs of a pick up in bookings from abroad is in December.
Interestingly, South Africa is showing a significant increase for the month of November from overseas.
And Spain is showing a more visible uptick in bookings from abroad from September onwards, though the percentages for July and August are not too bad considering the current state of travel in Europe.
It is well worth tracking this graph in particular on a regular basis. I can imagine that, for Spain, the results it presents will look significantly different over the coming days after news such as this is made public. Published just 3 hours ago as I write, the BBC World News website reports:
There is of course no magic wand to get heads into beds and bums on seats, but by tuning into resources such as this, you can better focus your marketing efforts.
If you see that domestic is reigning for the coming months, a targeted email marketing strategy is a great idea to nurture your audience; and if you perceive that international travellers are showing increasing interest, you can reach out to your traditional markets by testing just one well-crafted targeted paid Facebook ad to see how that works for you.
So, that's it from me for now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this blog! Scroll right down to the bottom and leave a comment.
Found inspiration here? If you would like to receive more helpful, relatable and actionable content relevant to your business, click here to sign up to my email list. No spam, no bombarding you. Just really useful stuff. Every week. I look forward to having you onboard :)
Still have questions?
You can reach out to me at any time at sarah@sarahhabsburg.com I (still) manage to answer every email that I receive.
My energy is with you as always!
Comments