In the current recession it’s true that the Hotel industry has suffered – perhaps not all hotels but a great many, especially those reliant on Conference business. This also includes some well known hotel chains as they can be affected too, perhaps even more so, if many of the hotels have traditionally focused on this market.
The problems have arisen as many UK businesses seek to cut down on their costs, therefore having a nice venue for their conferences have become second fiddle to the practicalities of achieving the conferencing objective. So, they do it themselves, or they book locally to save accommodation fees.
If a business is however seeking a conference facility, price will be a key factor. So where do they begin? Most hotels offer advice on their own websites. Some also pay third party websites to manage their conference bookings. Google is obviously a big, big factor in this, as well as lesser search engines.
Indeed, the first port of call for a secretary or delegate tasked with booking a venue will be the internet. They’ll tap in ‘Conference Hotels in X’ probably, or something similar. What they do next can be a big factor for hotels, if they’re on page one, or on the sponsored links then they may get a visit. If not, they probably won’t!
If a hotel is lucky enough to get the visit, their website must then be right, it must provide the right information and incentives to buy – make it easy for the potential customer to make contact.
By: Chris Kell
© 2010 Business Opportunity
