In an article published on the Southern African Tourism Update, they discussed how travellers with mobile phones booked in a different way to those who booked through PCs and laptops.

Priceline.com did a study based on a sampling of mobile bookings made earlier this year after the Priceline app added the ability to book round-trip and one-way domestic and international airline tickets.

“Mobile-equipped consumers are what we call ‘untethered’ travellers,” said priceline.com’s Brian Ek. “They like to create their travel experiences on the fly, rather than stick to itineraries planned far in advance. Hotels are typically chosen closer to check-in day (even on the same day), and many bookings are made while on the road or after arrival in town.”

Mobile bookings could be a great way of filling up those last minute empty beds… Make sure you have a mobile friendly website and that the traveller can also book through it easily.

NightsBridge offers both of these solutions to you! Please read our article on the importance of mobile websites and get yours today!

Over the next 3 years the number of guest houses in South Africa will grow by around 4.2% to an estimated 11 200 rooms in 2016.
~ Price Waterhouse Coopers South African Hospitality Outlook

What can Hotels offer that Guest Houses Usually Don’t?

Hotels are classified as ‘formal service accommodation’ by the Tourism Grading Council. This means guests will most probably have 24-hour assistance with any problem they might have, early or late check-in/outs or food available when they order it at any time.

Security might be important to these guests with key cards and security guards making them feel more at ease (this could especially be important to females travelling on their own).

Why Travellers Might Still Prefer Guest Houses

It is often the extra little touches like flowers in a room that makes you feel like you are at home.

It seems travellers are starting to appreciate a homely experience where their surroundings are similar to those where they normally live. They like having snacks and drinks in the fridge, full DSTV and free WiFi, just like they would have when they are not travelling.

Guest Houses provide a more comfortable experience from the get-go. You are likely to deal with the owner himself, who would most often do the welcoming and act as concierge – advising you on dinner or activity options.

So go ahead – cook a home-cooked meal for your guests and make your establishment as homely as possible to take advantage of changing travelling preferences!  Your guests will surely return for more!

Our recent trip to Thailand provided some great insights from the other side of the industry. Instead of supplying the technology, we were using it.

This week we highlight some things we felt differentiated our stay at particular guest houses or hotels; something that made us want to reward that hotel with a good review.

Catering for all Nationalities

We were astonished at the range of catering options offered at almost all the places we stayed — large and small. People visit Thailand from all over the world: Europeans, South Americans, and Asians. At breakfast we saw everything from cornflakes, bacon and eggs, cold meats and pastries, to salads, noodles and dim sum.  We developed real respect for those chefs!

African establishments have started offering many more health options in line with guest preferences. However, if we want to appeal to other parts of the world, we’ll have to sharpen those kitchen knives.

The Importance of WiFi (again!)

International travelers can’t live without WiFi. It is becoming one of the major differentiators when guests decide where to stay. There are several reasons, but staying connected with office or family; exploring things to do in the area and updating social media are some of the main ones.

I needed to keep up with e-mail and resolve any issues back at the office. You are a lucky person if your boss or customers are happy to leave you alone for two weeks, but for the rest of us, remaining connected while away remains an important consideration.

Secondly, the WiFi enabled us to explore the area we were in and decide what to do each day. Although this might not seem of much benefit to the guest house, we actually stayed on longer in one location simply because there was more to do than we had first thought.

If your WiFi offer is still not free and very easy to connect, make the change. The hassle factor for guests is simply not worth the imagined risk of them using too much bandwidth.

Information & Maps

Information is so important to the traveller, especially where there may be large cultural differences. Many English tourists find South Africa a home-away-from-home, but what about an Asian guest?

Can you drink the water? (If you don’t provide bottled water, put a cold flask in the fridge – at least that indicates it’s safe.).Can I walk out at night? What about language difficulties for the notices in your room?

Maps! Your website is not just for enticing people to your place, but also to help your guest arrive. Please put maps in an obvious place on your website so you can show the taxi driver. Make the address clear and potentially put directions in a couple of languages (we often had our iPads out, with screen shots of the map/directions, which was very helpful to taxi drivers).

Some guest houses had cards printed up with address details in Thai script, which their guests could hand to Tuk-Tuk drivers when really stuck.

What Makes an Establishment Stand Out?

Finally, I should describe some of the nice touches we saw. One guest house left a note on our bed that gave us translations for different colours in Thai. We thought that was great! It was a way of exposing us to some aspect of Thai language and culture that we would not have picked up elsewhere (how about an old Zulu story or parable for your international guest?)

Towel shapes were also quite popular, with one turned into a lovely elephant. Interesting local artifacts were also used to decorate the room, which were offered for sale at reception; items such as soap dishes, carvings, and other ornaments. I felt they were a way of inviting the local community to share in some of the benefit of my visit.

So What Did We Learn?

Thailand is an experienced tourist destination. From 336,000 tourists in 1967 to 22 million in 2012, Thailand now rates 18th most visited country in the world (South Africa gets about 8 million). We found their offering sophisticated and catered to a wide-range of travelers (from backpacker to 5 star).

Our experience is that Southern Africa does very well in many regards, but the real lesson we took away is how well Thai guest houses anticipated our problems or needs. I suppose it comes down to the basics of customer service, but putting yourself in the shoes of your travelling customer is not easy. It takes research.

Read Part I here.

The Challenge

Recently, my wife and I took a trip to Thailand, which was quite splendid. However, with our Nightsbridge caps on we made it a rather different experience. The difference was we made absolutely no bookings in advance other than our flights (which we did one week before we left) and our first hotel. Everything else was organized from Thailand.

Now, we concede this is not the way most people book their holidays. My brother would be horrified, planning his holiday eighteen months in advance and laminating itinerary cards for his family. We had dinner with one English couple who booked the same hotel, for fourteen nights, full-board. Moving around much was not on their agenda.

However, we intended to explore a bit and ended up staying in seven different hotels in our sixteen night stay. In this article, and the one following, I want to give you an indication of our online booking process and what things you might consider in catering to travellers who book like us.

Free WiFi is Not Optional!

So, here we go: firstly, every single hotel we stayed at had free Wifi. In fact, every coffee-shop and restaurant had free WiFi. We saw backpackers on the beach with their laptops, catching the Wifi from the restaurant behind them.

If, as a business, you don’t have free WiFi, you’re simply not in the game. This is an absolute must for your guests.

The Research Process

Secondly, our booking process: this broke down into two aspects, research and the act of booking. We did not know the country very well (the whole trip was spur of the moment), so part of our process involved reading blogs about location, but also reading what the guest houses said on their websites, about what was on offer in the area.

Useful information about travel arrangements such as taxis from the airport are important tips for travellers. Be as helpful as you can, given your expectations about your customer’s likely experience before he gets to you.

TripAdvisor was invaluable and the main source of information, although we made use of the review system on Booking.com and Agoda. We took note of what kinds of people were attracted to a hotel and how old the reviewers were. A bad review from a 21 year old that said the place was too quiet and boring was exactly the place we were looking for!

The guest houses’ own websites were also an important source of information.

Our advice here: don’t be afraid of saying what your hotel is and what it is not.

If it is a popular beach resort, say so; similarly, if it’s family orientated. You will win customers and lose some, but don’t be frightened of identifying your niche. You cannot be all things to all people and you don’t want to be. Nobody wants false expectations finding their way on to the review sites.

Making the Booking

Finally, the booking process: many sites did have online booking processes. In this case we booked directly with the guest house.

However, if it didn’t look great, or was just an e-mail enquiry form then we either didn’t book, or we booked through one of the trusted brands (Booking.com, Agoda).

Interestingly, in the seven online bookings we made, we experienced only one double-booking. When we inquired as to how this happened, the manageress frowned and said: “I was on leave yesterday.” (Moral of the story: train your staff). She did make it up to us by letting us keep a suitcase there for a week.

Next week, I’ll talk about some of the ways the guest houses and hotels made a mark by doing something interesting or different to enhance our experience (and create a great review!)

Read part II here…

What Does My Website Look Like on a Mobile Phone?

Have you tried to access your stunning site from a mobile phone’s browser?  Yes, it will definitely show up.  But chances are it will:

* display pretty horribly on the screen
* possibly not load completely or very slow
* be missing some features that don’t translate well to mobile

The problem is the limited amount of screen space on a mobile device.  The phone or tablet will either shrink everything or display it in regular size which will mean you’ll have to scroll up and down and sideways to see any of the information.  All in all – not a very user-friendly experience!

The visitor who accesses your website from their mobile device most likely needs certain information fast.  You need to supply this to them in a quick and easy manner.  They only need the basics – information, contact details, booking link.  So how do you give it to them?  With a mobile site.

How Does The Mobile Site Work?

Once you have your mobile site set up (we now offer you this service through your Links Manager – see below), you receive a mobile link which your IT guy will add into the brain of your website.

What this little link does is recognize where the request is coming from.  If it is from a regular computer/laptop, it shows your regular site.  If it is from a mobile phone or tablet, it will show your user-friendly mobile site.  Much easier to navigate, isn’t it?

Are Many People Accessing My Site in This Way?

Some statistics:

• According to a study by Gartner - at some point in 2013, more people will use mobile phones than PCs to get online.
• Google predicts that by Q2 of 2013, travel related search queries will increase by 68% from smartphones and 180% from tablets.
• Compuware’s research showed that 40% of users have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience.
• 40% of leisure travellers book using mobile browsers (TravelDailyNews).
• 60% of smartphone bookings were for same night or next night stay.

So if you do the math you are potentially losing a lot of business if you don’t offer your clients a mobile-friendly experience.

The NightsBridge/Wetu Mobile Solution

Should you be interested in getting a mobile site for your company, please follow these 2 steps:

1. Update your property content with additional photographs and facilities (Web Info >> Wetu link.  Or see our previous blog post about it here).

2. Click on LINK ME next to Mobile Website (Wetu) in your Links Manager – pricing & all extra information are available here.

With printed content you work on it once and leave it at that.  Online content is more like a living, breathing sales person for your property.  It is your job to make sure your ‘sales person’ is updated, polished and creates a great impression.

Let’s discuss a few more tips on upgrading what you have online at the moment:

1. Feel Free to Brag a Bit

Did you get a great comment on TripAdvisor or in your guest book?  Share, share, share!  Potential guests might be swayed by positive experiences of other people who’ve been there and done that.  Post this on your website and on Facebook & Twitter.

2. Images & Video

This can’t be said too many times – a visitor to your site will immediately create an impression of your business from what they see.  Show people enjoying your facilities or add photographs of your staff to show the guest who will be assisting them.  All these little things matter.

DID YOU KNOW?
You can now add more photographs to your current NightsBridge content.  Add up to 6 property pictures and even pictures for each of your room types.  Simply log on to your Owner’s Login (top right on www.nightsbridge.com) and click on Web Info to be guided to the Wetu link.

3. Copy

• Write in first person: to connect with your readers use “I”, “we” and “you”.
• Keep content up to date: Change what you have regularly.
• Spelling & grammar: Make sure there are no errors – use spell check.
• Paragraphs: Brief (1-4 sentences). No long blocks of text!
• Lists: Bulleted & numbered so it is easy to read.
• Sentence length: Keep it short (10 words or less).
• Relevant text: The text contains key words related to your business, products and services so Google ranks your site well.  Remember search engines will reward you for offering updated information, and rank you higher.
• Professional but friendly: overly formal language can be tiring to read.

Hopefully you’re convinced to go dust off your online presence – let us know if you have any other tips!

“Content is not just king, it is the emperor of all things electronic”
~ Rupert Murdoch, 2010

It is becoming more and more important to have rich content (photographs, videos and text) available to a potential guest surfing the net.  The online world is changing so fast that one of these days a guest will choose between you and your competitor only based on what you have uploaded to the Web.  You only have a few seconds to capture attention, so make sure your content would capture yours if you were simply browsing.

Remember – travellers who are looking for accommodation online only have your photographs/video and text to use to make a decision.  They want to see what they will experience, what it looks like and what they can do when they visit you. Photographs are extremely important in showing off your property – show  your grounds, the area, the breakfast room, the room choices you offer.  Content sells!

NightsBridge Can Help

NightsBridge is now working with Wetu to upgrade the content we have for your establishment.

We will allow you to add up to 6 more property photographs, and also photographs per each of your room types.  You can also tick off all the facilities you offer on or around your establishment.

We will then use this improved content in a lot of innovative ways – starting off with a new corporate link and also giving you the option of a mobile site for your property.

Update Your Content Now

Simply log in to your Owner’s Login (top right on the NightsBridge website).

Under Web Info, click on the blue link next to the house.

Quality over Quantity

Studies show the 2013 traveller would rather save up for one special experience than go on more than one cheaper trip closer to home. Which could lead to more international visitors to South Africa – good news!

These travellers will then also spend more on each trip, so make sure you offer them a variety of optional extras. Cross-sell our ActivityBridge activities on your booking form to earn extra commission that would have been lost to you if they booked directly with the provider. See our blog post for more.

Mobile & Social Media

Mobile phones & tablets give social media wings to fly – you can post updates from your phone & tag friends or check in wherever you are. It is predicted that in 2013 more people will access the internet from mobile devices than from desktops or laptops.

Last-minute accommodation or activity bookings through mobile will also increase so you need to make sure you can be booked in this way! NightsBridge’s mobile booking form has recently been redone and is now super sleek and even more functional. By adding this booking option to your mobile site you are making click-to-sleep very easy for your last-minute mobile booker.

Amenity Must-Haves

Travellers want a home-from-home experience with all the creature comforts when they are away from theirs. A study by Hotels.com showed that 34% of travellers said that free Wi-Fi was their number 1 factor when choosing a place to stay. The second most popular amenity? Free food and beverages, with coffee being a must.

People want to be connected and comfortable. If you manage to get this balance just right you can be assured of a happy guest that will return again and again.

Say Cheese… or Action!

Photo-sharing will continue to be popular in the year ahead. If you haven’t played around with Pinterest or Instagram yet – now is the time! A lot of brands use Pinterest to create a visual pinboard showing off all of their facilities and their location. Create your story in pictures and tell the world about it.

Or grab that video camera – unrehearsed marketing videos can show off interesting and useful information about your property. Try different approaches – have interviews with staff, demonstrations from your kitchen or film a nearby attraction. Then put it on the web! More and more people are starting to view and share videos online.

Refresh Your Website

Your website should encourage direct bookings by making it easy for the visitor to see what is available and book there and then. Keep your site fresh with new content, have great media on it (video and photographs) and make sure your NightsBridge Book Now button is prominent on every page.

You don’t want to lose a booking because the visitor gives up on finding a way to make it.

Do you agree with the trends mentioned? Which other trends do you predict will surface in 2013? Let us know in the comments below.

It’s not too late to kick off the year right – consider working some of the above into your strategy going forward.

The best part of it – you EARN COMMISSION for providing your guests with these activity options – it is a win-win situation.

Where do the activities come from?

NightsBridge launched a sister company, ActivityBridge last year which provides exactly the same functionality to activity providers as NightsBridge does to accommodation providers.  These providers can upload all of their individual activities, including time slots, rates etc onto the system, and this can be checked and booked live at any time of the day or night.

We check where these activities are hosted, and if they are within 100km from your establishment, a teaser to this will pop up at the end of your confirmed booking form after you activated the channel.  If the guest goes on to make a booking through this teaser, we pay you 5% of the value of the activity as a referral commission.

We created a cross-selling activity platform called FunGuru which will control all funds and pay out commissions and activity payments to all parties involved with the booking. They will also provide support to both establishments and guests.

Connect Now – Why Wouldn’t You?

If you are dedicated to putting time and effort into requesting reviews and monitoring the feedback, it could possibly result in a lot more business for your establishment.

Unfortunately it takes up quite a bit of time to keep track of which guest left when, and establishments sometimes forget to ask the guest to review their property after they departed. Which is why NightsBridge’s new automated review request system was born.

Can review requests not happen automatically?

NightsBridge, along with TripAdvisor, now provides you with a service where an e-mail is automatically sent out to any guest that departed from your guest house 7 days ago. This e-mail will thank them for their visit, and request that they review the property and their experience by clicking on a link.

Because NightsBridge already has all of the guest information in the booking system, the guest will not need to first register on TripAdvisor. This makes reviewing quick and easy.

The e-mail will read as follows:

What is the cost for this service?

The service is provided free of charge to NightsBridge clients, and is not automatically activated.

Should you choose to opt-in to this service, you should request the link through your Links Manager in the Owner’s Login.

(If you need a reminder on where to do this, please click on the following tutorial link: How do I Access the Links Manager?   Scroll down to TripAdvisor and click the LINK ME box.)

What can I expect?

Once your link is activated on the NightsBridge side, we will send an e-mail requesting a review to any of your guests that departed 7 days ago.

This will include all bookings in the NightsBridge system – both the ones that came through channels you are linked on through NightsBridge as well as any manually entered bookings.

Every guest will only receive the review request once per property – even if they stay with you again in future.

From your side it is important to ensure that you have your guest’s e-mail address filled into the field provided for it so to ensure that the review request reaches them personally and not the tour operator / travel agent or anyone else who made the booking on their behalf.

How will I know if my guest reviewed my property?

You should be registered as a property owner on www.tripadvisor.com/owners to receive notifications of reviews.

Any reviews made in response to the NightsBridge e-mail will result in a notification sent out to you.

We hope this service will be beneficial to you as establishment in boosting your reviews and providing useful feedback on the product you deliver.

For full information on this integration see our tutorial page: http://bit.ly/TAreviewrequests