Splitting The Difference With Online And Voice Reservations For Hotels

According to a Deutsche Bank report, the percentage of online hotel bookings will increase from the current 19% to 28% by 2020. The report maintained that gross hotel bookings that were around $7.2 billion in 2016 are expected to grow up to $10.9 billion by 2020. While online booking continues to expand its foothold in the hotel industry, a fairly large number of hotel marketers have little focus towards voice operations and other channels that draw offline reservations.

Voice Reservations / Hotel Bookings through Calls

Setting up a voice handling system may not be feasible for small hoteliers. However, understanding the crucial importance of voice reservations can help the hoteliers create a balance in their online and offline sales channels. An online hotel booker or hotel guest may not necessarily be satisfied with the information available on an OTA's room reservation system, social media or hotel website. In such a scenario the guest seeks a direct interaction for better understanding of the offer and also for exquisite details of the pricing to develop trust and confidence in the purchase.

Factors that determine the guest's need for a voice reservation

• Sometimes too much online information can be wearisome and the guest would want to talk directly with the service provider.
• Many a times, guests call for exploring their chance of bagging a reasonable deal through persistent bargaining.
• After reading confusing reviews about the hotel's inventory, the guests become more perplexed and feel the need to directly interact with the service provider in order to clear doubts.
• Customers also feel at times that the information available on the website may not be updated and to double check the price and other details they intend to go for a voice reservation.
• At times online bookers may also be confused with certain booking options and policies for which they need further clarification.
• Voice reservation seems to some customers as a practical approach for making a hotel booking
• A smart hotelier can realize the importance of a voice reservation system by simply listening to the calls that are received at the hotel's front desk for bookings. After keen monitoring and analysis of voice bookings, the hotel management can accept the idea of having a strong voice reservation system through personal experience.

Some benefits to the hotelier by having a Voice Reservation system in place

Personalized attention and direct communication creates a positive impact on the customer.