Online hotel bookings for business trips are primarily driven by discount prices, while bookings for pleasure tend to be driven by comfort, location and availability, according to online accommodations agency, BusinessOnTour.com.
According to Business On Tour, while motivations for domestic and business hotel bookings have traditionally been closely tied, the company has noticed the gap between the two increasing, with holiday makers and domestic bookings still being driven by 'luxury factors', while business-related bookings seem to be increasingly price-sensitive.
This is supported by a recent announcement from US-based Priceline Hotel Bookings, which found that children's tourist attractions top the list of domestic holiday destinations, suggesting that many consumers place significantly more value on family entertainment than on price savings alone.
Booking trends
From recent sales figures, the company has noted some of the latest trends in hotel booking behaviour, for both domestic (private) and business-related customers:
- Private hotel stays are tending to be in less populated areas, away from cities and airports.
- Private bookings are often made after several return visits to the bookings web site, spending as long as one hour examining different hotels and venues.
- A comparison of hotel pricing near to those booked for pleasure shows that there are often much cheaper hotels than the one selected.
- Business bookings are tending to be close to airports, motorways and city centres.
- Business bookings are often made on the initial visit to the bookings web site, spending an average of four minutes from arrival to completed booking.
- A comparison of hotel pricing near to those booked for business trips reveals that there are seldom any cheaper hotels than the one selected.
The behaviour of the business-related hotel bookers suggests that many are simply looking for a cheap price in the right place. The domestic bookers, on the other hand, seem willing to invest far more time in their booking experience, viewing the details of around five different hotels before finally making their booking.
Building relationships
With this behaviour in mind, Business On Tour is encouraging its business-related visitors to invest more time in the their online relationship by offering a daily source of travel news, feature articles, and travel book reviews.
"We're trying to build business-to-business relationships by providing useful information that can help them take advantage of the latest frequent flyer offers and hotel deals," a spokesman for Business On Tour told The Wise Marketer. "We want to help them find better rooms, with better facilities, in better locations, and still get cheaper rooms than they might elsewhere."
For more information:
· Business travel news and articles: http://www.businessontour.com
· Online booking information: http://hotels.businessontour.com