Avijit Arya, founder and chief executive of Internet Moguls, pointed out that as much as 85 per cent of hotel business can be lost due to poor reviews.
“Most reviews are a function of what is being done offline, at the property,” he said while speaking at the conference on travel technology.
GOING VIRAL
Travellers tend to get influenced by people they haven’t even met. These days they are always connected, so they have an opportunity to share their experiences instantly and it goes viral.
Reviews are the next level of word-of-mouth and bad reviews can be very damaging, Arya said.
Hoteliers should see reviews as a constructive platform for feedback; respond in a timely manner; use professional language and search engine-friendly content on the internet.
Jaydip Parikh, founder and chief executive of digital marketing company Tej SolPro, gave tour operators tips on how to create a niche in the crowded online space.
REVENUE MANAGEMENT
Tarun Lakhanpal, general manager, Lemon Tree Company, spoke about revenue management strategies for hotels and maximising revenues through value-added ancillary services.
The UK-based social networking entrepreneur Philip Calvert said people were in the ‘do it yourself’ mode and social media was the best platform to creatively engage with them.
Siddharth Dabhade, industry manager-travel, Google India, said the new revenue slogan was SoLoMo (social, local, mobile). He stressed the convergence of social, local and mobile mediums.
BETTER ONLINE
“Cost, reach and trust get better online and therefore distribution is getting more and more online”, said Namrita Sehgal, director of internet marketing at Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, India.
Bicky Calra, founder and president, TraVision Inc, centred his presentation on the need to sell on value additions and not discounts.
“Customise your products by ‘tiering’ them. Offload last minute inventory for much less”, he said.
He stressed on the importance of price parity and rate integrity and how to effectively use tools such as early bird discounts and friend rates.