HBI Staff | Hyderabad 
Seamless digital transactions available at all hours, paired with the desire for memorable in-person interactions and experiences, has seen hotels boost the value of their online bookings, according to Journey.
Providing guests with an all-in-one digital retail booking experience has led to Journey’s hotel clients increasing their average order value by 10.33% in Q1 2024, compared to the same time last year.
By facilitating easy purchasing, Journey’s revolutionary ecommerce platform – recently shortlisted in the 2024 Information Technology Awards’ ‘Innovative Software Development’ category – drove an overall 118.9% increase in revenue for their clients in the first quarter of 2024. Hotels using Journey’s ecommerce platform also experienced improved conversion on their direct booking websites, with an average conversion rate of 4.14% in Q1 2024 – significantly higher than the industry average of 3%.
Simon Bullingham, CEO and Founder of Journey, said: “Half of our hotel clients’ bookings are made outside the traditional business hours of 9am to 5pm. People crave convenience so using a holistic ecommerce platform to ensure potential guests can access a hotel’s full range of facilities and services when booking is without doubt the best way to secure bookings and capture incremental revenue.
“Cross-selling at check-out is long-established in physical stores with items placed near the queues and tills, while online retailers promote personalised ‘recommended’ extras, but the hospitality industry has been slow to adopt retail practices. For hoteliers, Journey’s ecommerce platform is the best-in-class way of showcasing everything a hotel has to offer and making it instantly bookable, transforming a hotel booking into an online retail experience.”
Furthering their commitment to help hoteliers maximise commercial performance, Journey has combined their strategists, analysts and client account teams into a new Performance Hub, led by Performance Director Susanne Williams.
The Hub’s digital marketing experts drove a Return On Advertising Spend (ROAS) of 13 to 1 across the quarter, well above the hotel and travel industry benchmark range of 5-10, completing a circle of support to the UK’s leading luxury independent hotels and resorts.
Said Williams: “The digital landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. For a hotel to not only be competitive but to succeed requires expertise and an army of support – something independent and boutique hotels can’t afford to hire in-house. By pooling Journey’s expertise together under our new Performance Hub, we’re able to enhance our already exceptional results for our clients and help them continue to grow their direct business and increase profitability.”
Data from Journey’s 750 clients also highlighted Mondays as the peak day to make luxury hotel bookings, and 8pm to 9pm as the busiest hour.
Further social behavioural changes were reflected in devices used to book: mobile remains the primary device (54.81% of traffic) but experienced a 6.9% fall, offset by a 9.95% increase in desktop and a 6.45% increase in tablet bookings.
Based in Cheltenham, the company has grown from 59 staff in Q1 2023 to 147 in Q1 2024, reflecting the increased demand for their ecommerce and experience technology platforms, alongside their performance services.
