Remember the “good old days” of travel, when you stopped in at your local AAA or travel agent’s physical location to get ideas about your next trip? You couldn’t do much planning until you knew where you wanted to go, so you’d skim brochures until something stood out.
Maybe you bought a huge paperback travel guide and flipped through each city’s listing, looking at the ratings of top restaurants, activities and hotels. You’d pull out your atlas to see how close everything was and start plotting the trip.
The travel planner’s journey used to be somewhat simple and straightforward. Decide on destination, look up places to stay, call for rates to check dates, book.
Sure, you could call 50 hotels to see who had the best price. Few people would, as it was time consuming and costly to make that many long-distance phone calls.
Once landing on a decision the details-such as activities and potential meal sites- would be gathered from guidebooks, front desk staff and driving around town.
New Travel Planning Journey
The new traveler’s journey is as likely to start with a destination as not. Travelers turn to social media, TripAdvisor forums and Google searches to get inspiration.
Well before they’re ready to book a trip, someone is consulting and dreaming about a trip. Among Millennials, 87% state they’re looking to Facebook for travel inspiration.
Travelers don’t often look to find accommodation first. They know a simple search on Kayak or other OTA can return dozens or hundreds of results exactly on their dates-once they have them.
The new travel planning journey is a maze.
No Typical Journey
There are travelers who still follow the exact pattern outlined above: go to AAA, get a guidebook, call hotel. There are others who will see a picture on Facebook, look up locations nearby and book a trip for that weekend.
Other travelers will go to dozens of sites, spend hours searching until they make their choice and book.
While there isn’t a “typical travel planning journey” you can increase your chance of providing the right message, at the right time to the right traveler with a little preparation. Almost half of travelers book their trip 1-3 months in advance. Travelers are visiting fewer sites while they plan, about 4.4.
Travel is expensive after everything is said and done-just like buying a new car or laptop isn’t a one and done decision. Neither is travel.
If you want to show up as an option-especially as a boutique or independent hotel-you need to be able to connect with people before they’ve made their final destination or activity choice.
Travel as an Experience
Increasingly, surveys show travelers, not just Millennials, view the experience as most important when planning a trip. Many vacations are based around a specific idea such as visiting a museum or going to the beach. Other trips are planned around a destination.
Many leisure travelers consider price an important factor in their decision-but in terms of getting the best value for their decision. This doesn’t mean looking for the absolute cheapest option. A survey by Capgemini showed 81% of consumers are willing to pay more if they can get better service.
Post on a regular, consistent basis.
Appear Early, Appear Often
The earlier you appear in the booking stage, the earlier you show up as a real option for accommodation. When you provide recommendations and value before you try to sell, when it’s time to book they’re more likely to return to you.
Hotels don’t need to invest in a daily update; it’s not worth the return. Few, if any people, will check back each day.
However a regular publishing schedule that allows for new content and to build on long-tail key phrases means more traffic to your site. More awareness of your property and a growing list of people who might want to stay with you in the future.
Hotels as Inspiration: Concierge Blog
When you stay at a nice hotel, you go to the concierge and ask for local recommendations on things to do that evening. Maybe you have an idea already and just want them to make the arrangements.
The concierge has in-depth knowledge of what’s around and even in the Internet age, especially among Millennials, a local recommendation outstrips a random Top 10 list.
To gain more direct bookings, hoteliers can invest in content marketing that emulates a great concierge. Give local recommendations, with plenty of time to act on them.
This means creating buzz for upcoming events and giving people time to book a trip. For example, an outdoor concert series might be a popular choice for music lovers. If you only write about the experience the week of the concert, it won’t bring you business.
Write about the event two months before the concert and you can inspire a trip. As you are the one who introduced the idea for a trip, you’re seen as a trusted partner for
- Buying tickets
- Getting advice on other things to do in town
- Providing a place to stay
When you connect with travelers early in the planning process, you build trust and gain top of mind when they're ready to book. A solid content marketing plan with a wide variety of information helps you reach these travelers.