Online Travel Spending To Reach $128 Billion in 2011

One cannot but agree with the estimated growth with ONLINE Travel bookings. It is amazing however that travelers still blindly accept what they see on the internet as being gospel. The smoke and mirrors of many booking sites gives little reality to the accommodation one is choosing. Call Centre Hotels Chains in part do themselves a disservice with people who have no clue what the 'heart' of a hotel represents. You can hear it in their voices. Is that a good thing? Should hotels claim their 'hospitality roots' back? Have things just become functional? The advent of GREEN CODE travel suggest leading edge travelers want experiences and cultural participation in their travel pursuits. How to create functionality and service jointly is the challenge. Simply booking an unknown on the internet leaves far too much to chance. Hotels need to insure they are properly portrayed and sold to the vision of the traveler. In the old days an 'ocean view' was to stand on a toilet looking out the small window on your tip toes with a peek-a-boo glimpse of water. The internet can be great but it can also tarnish a great brand where third party sites do more harm than good. Hotels need to not only list their sites on directory's but maintain control of what is said and shown. Clydesdale House recently contacted many Hotel Sales Directors and asked them if they knew about X and X and X and X who were selling their property online and how did they procure rooms and rates? Almost to the group they did not even know they were on certain sites and had made no arrangements or contracts for rooms or rates. What kind of control is that? Seems Hotel Sales Directors need to take control instead of simply having third party's boost their sales as if they had anything to do with it. Yield management is becoming more automated but let's not leave out the 'human' element. There is a feeling hotels, especially the box hotels are simply becoming institutions and real estate ventures. What ever happened to customer care with heart? One reason small boutique hotels, pensions, and one on one traveler interaction is gaining speed.

2006-11-20 Robert George