IPerceptions Releases Hospitality & Tourism Industry Report Q1 2010
New 'Voice of Customer' Data Shows Usability, Innovation and Creativity are Key Components to Success as Economy Improves
iPerceptions Inc. (TSX-V: IPE), a leading provider of web-focused Voice of Customer analytics, released its Hospitality & Tourism Industry Report for Q1 2010. The report analyzes real-time feedback from more than 180,000 people visiting nearly 300 hospitality and tourism sites to identify the most important issues and trends facing this unique industry.
As the first quarter of 2010 shows early signs of economic recovery, the hospitality and tourism industry is in a position to benefit from a renewed determination to travel. However, as a new economic landscape unfolds, brands need to evaluate potential changes in the consumer mindset when it comes to travel priorities, and adjust their online (and offline) strategies accordingly.
Historically, Q1 is a low travel period. Fewer visitors come to make a reservation and more come to research and compare rates. Moreover, those who do come to make a reservation are less likely to actually do so. A mere 63% of bookers (those who come to make a reservation) completed a booking in Q1 2010, which is down from 71% in Q4 2009.
High price perception is the leading cause of reservation abandonment, with about a third of bookers citing “price” as a barrier to task completion. Unfortunately, as marketers, price is often a broader issue to tackle. A more manageable issue is that of site usability and functionality, which causes 19% of bookers to abandon their reservation.
“A convenient, hassle-free way to book a reservation can have a tremendous impact on booking conversion” said Claude Guay, president and CEO of iPerceptions. “Not only do we see a large share of visitors abandon their reservation because of functionality and technical problems, but our studies indicate that site responsiveness (which refers to featues such as speed, page errors, page flow, etc.) plays the strongest role in visitors overall level of site satisfaction.”
Other important opportunities for marketers include:
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Data contained in the Hospitality & Tourism Industry Report for Q1 2010 represents aggregated information obtained from iPerceptions’ enterprise solution webValidator™ and free 4Q surveys deployed on the websites of many leading hospitality brands. The full report can be found on the iPerceptions website at: www.iperceptions.com/resource-center/
