Extremely useful tips for accommodation hosts as we enter the high tourist season emerged from Booking Holdings’ conference call on the first quarter results.
The key findings are: ** The fact that the year started well, with healthy growth in the first quarter, is encouraging for the current high season.
** There is steady growth in repeat bookings, thanks to progress with Integrated Travel and the Genius loyalty program.
** Bookings through mobile apps were 51% (up 5 percentage points year-over-year), which helps to strengthen traveler loyalty to our brand.
** Bookings for flights made on our platforms increased by 33% year-on-year, mainly due to an increase in flight offers from Booking.com.
** The platform had 7.4 million alternative accommodations worldwide, an increase of approximately 11% year-over-year.
So here are Booking’s tips for partner properties to make the most of these trends and increase bookings this summer.
Healthy growth indicates that we will have a promising high season
The year started strong.
Glenn Fogel, Chief Executive of Booking Holdings, reported that the first quarter saw a 9% increase in room nights, a 17% increase in revenue and a 76% increase in operating income year-over-year.
All of this exceeded our previous expectations.
The steady increase in demand for leisure travel indicates an upward trend that will continue into the high season.
Tip: Make sure you do your best to make your vacation home or accommodation attractive to travelers so you can take advantage of any opportunity for more bookings during the summer.
The fact that there are a large number of customers who re-book gives you the opportunity to reward their loyalty
Our vision for Integrated Travel enables a better booking experience by providing customers with the ability to book all aspects of their trip, including accommodation, flights, routes and attractions, on a single platform.
This means more travellers will choose to book directly with us, resulting in increased loyalty and gradually boosting bookings for partners like you.
We are already seeing encouraging signs of this, with transactions involving bookings for many of our platform products up by just over 50% year-on-year and representing a high single-digit percentage of total transactions in the first quarter.
There is also an increasing proportion of overnight stays booked directly through our platform.
Genius is a powerful marketing program that can help you capitalize on this increased loyalty.
This program also plays an important role in Integrated Travel, as bookings for all products offered on the platform are now counted towards Genius levels.
More and more travelers are moving up to Genius Levels 2 and 3, which require 5 and 15 bookings, respectively, over a two-year period.
Tip: If you’re not already in the program, it’s time to discover how to leverage the Genius program to increase bookings at your property.
Flight bookings are increasing
According to Booking Holdings’ Q1 2024 earnings conference call, flights are the most booked product, after accommodation, and are now an important part of many of the trips our customers book.
Flight tickets were up 33% year-over-year and we continue to see a significant number of new customers on Booking.com through the flights product.
This represents an excellent opportunity for you to attract more guests to your accommodation.
When travellers book a flight on the Booking.com platform, they will also be shown accommodation options for their destination.
Tip: Update your listing page with the latest photos and amenities to make your hotel stand out from the crowd and increase your chances of getting more bookings.
Bookings via mobile apps continue to grow
Another encouraging statistic from the Q1 earnings conference call is the share of bookings from our mobile apps.
As 51% of bookings are made through our apps (an increase of 5 percentage points year-on-year), this helps to further strengthen brand loyalty and, at the same time, attract more travellers to your accommodation.
You can take advantage of this continued growth by offering an exclusive discount to guests booking through our mobile app.
According to Travelport Digital and Booking.com data, this could help increase your mobile bookings by 30%. Tip: Offer a mobile discount of 10% or more to have a special badge appear next to your property in search results and on your property page.
This will make your accommodation stand out to travellers who prefer to book through the app.
Alternative accommodation outperforms hotels in terms of growth
Another element that may boost partner confidence is that at the end of the first quarter, global alternative accommodation listings were around 7.4 million, up around 11% on the same period last year.
The first quarter saw 13% growth, which outpaced the growth in our core business, which is hotels.
We strive to be a trusted and valued partner for all types of accommodation on our platform, and we believe that improving the competitiveness and profitability of our smaller partners will contribute to the long-term financial well-being of the industry.
We continue to add more and more small, independent operators to our platform, providing more choice for travellers. Tip: To take full advantage of this increased demand for alternative accommodation, check out the data from our 2024 travel forecasts and discover how to attract high season demand.
You can also learn how other vacation home owners are creating memorable experiences that keep guests coming back to the property.
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