ARTICLE: Pathway to Tech Paradise: Part II

The results are in! Thank you to all who participated in our survey. We surveyed over 5,000 innkeepers. Included in this article is a summary of the results, and some educated guesses on the future of technology.

Next month in Part II, I'll review a survey of current innkeeper's use of these technologies, and make some suggestions as to how improvements could be made in the future!

B&B Directories

In 1994 and 1995, there were only a small handful of companies offering nationwide Internet listings for B&Bs. The number of B&B directories that offer Internet marketing services has certainly increased over the years. Almost half of the survey respondents report paying for up to 10 directory listings. Another 15% pay for more than 20 separate B&B directory listings on the Internet! More players are still appearing on the scene (the most recent perhaps is DiscoverOurTown.com). This year's emerging trend of course is the "pay per click" method of search engine advertising. For popular keywords such as "bed and breakfast," B&B directories are now competing dollar for dollar for a top ranking. This may mean that B&B directories will be looking for more ways to differentiate their services and develop "niche markets" within the industry. Another possible outcome, is that those directories which succeed in being the most profitable will continue paying for the NUMBER 1 listings! Nevertheless, B&B directories are still a main venue of Internet marketing for the industry, with a mere 9% reporting they don't subscribe to any paid B&B directory listings.

Internet Marketing

The era of FREE search engine listings is coming to a close. Only a couple search engines, AltaVista and dmoz.org continue to provide this service. B&Bs had seven years to use their brains to compete against the "brawns" of the hotel industry. Now we're coming back to traditional advertising. You get the "clicks" or distribution you pay for! Currently, about one third of those surveyed report using a vendor to handle their internet marketing. As advertising rules and rates continue to change, more innkeepers may consider hiring someone else to handle their Internet marketing.

Don't lose heart! Internet marketing is still cost effective compared to print advertising. And continues to offer more advantages:
1. "Copy" is easy to update. Whether its your web site or a B&B listing that you're marketing - the content is easy to keep up to date. Unlike brochures which require high volume printing.
2. Return on Investment! This is so easy to accurately track if innkeepers make use of web statistics tools. One step farther, is to encourage web site visitors to fill out a form with their contact information. Even if they don't make a reservation now, you can send them reminders about next time!
3. B&Bs have the edge! B&Bs still reap more benefits from Internet marketing than the generic hotel. Consistent investment in Internet marketing demonstrates its effectiveness for B&Bs. The Membership Director from the Texas Hotel & Motel Association reports that for every hotel listing which receives 600 hits on www.texaslodging.com, a B&B in the same city often receives double the hits!

Property Web Sites

While not every industry uses the Internet daily, online shopping and travel is on the Internet to stay! You won't be surprised to learn that 90% of our respondents have their own domain name and web site. The B&B industry has certainly passed the learning curve on the need for a web site. It will be important for innkeepers to keep up to date with the best way to market their site, and gather information from those who choose to pay an "online visit!"

Email

Guests are certainly using email these days! Yet innkeepers seem to be a little slow on the uptake. Only 50% report using email on a daily basis. Which means some guests are waiting more than a day to receive responses to their email inquiries. At the HAT conference last weekend, of course many innkeepers express their frustration at finding time to email and their preference for phone calls. But the question remains "How many unanswered emails or delayed responses result in lost bookings?" If email links are offered on a web site, auto-responders or availability forms are HIGHLY recommended to provide trimly responses to the inquiring guest. The DDM research group, in their latest study, found that a whopping 96% of email inquiries ask a question about room availability!

Reservation Software

Usage of reservation software programs is on the rise! The last 15 years of development resulted in several solid programs that provide features specific to the unique, historic and small property. These types of programs have become almost as popular as accounting software. From our survey, 60% use reservation software to manage their guest list, reservations, reports and property management. The systems being used range anywhere from $150 product to $2000 reservation program. It appears that those innkeepers who make use of software, invest in both reservation and accounting programs. We can only assume the other innkeepers continue to operate with "paper" accounting and reservation systems.

Accounting Software

Intuit products (Quicken and QuickBooks) reign supreme in the innkeeping industry, with 55% of innkeepers making these products their choice for accounting needs. Intuit continues to enhance their software with add-ons such as Point of Sale (for gift shop sales) and credit card interfaces. Many innkeepers are taking advantage of the fuller range of features available in QuickBooks. No doubt that QuickBooks will continue to be popular with innkeepers!

Online Availability & Reservation Services

Innkeepers have a variety of online services to choose from! The survey reported a total of eleven different services being used by innkeepers. At least one quarter of the respondents choose not to use online availability or reservations at all. Only 20% are using a real time reservation system, with the rest offering online availability in some form or another.

PDA

Between 15 and 20% of respondents use some kind of personal digital assistant (popularly known as "handheld" or "Palm" devices). These are certainly helpful for storing guest and vendor phone numbers, as well as checking email. Several interfaces are being released to make these devices compatible with reservation software! Won't that be fun? Reservations on the run!

In summary, software and PDA usage is on the rise. Innkeepers are comfortable with letting the professionals handle their Internet marketing and web site design. The future probably includes increased integration between software programs and devices; more dependence on professionals for web site marketing and steady rise in online availability services.

I've enjoyed this review of technology trends - if you have more technology questions, you can post them online at www.easywebboard.com/innkeeper.