Why Hotels in Thailand Need to Upgrade Their Websites

The problem with most independent hotels is that their websites are no more useful than printed brochures. They don’t indicate room rates and many of them are unable to record and store reservations that would have been made online.

Some hoteliers assume that having a great website that caters to the millennial generation means paying a fortune that only tech giants can afford. However, this kind of thinking will only make the hotel industry lag behind the times. Every hotel needs to improve and update their websites and booking systems to remain competitive and relevant to the needs of the digital natives.

What makes up the hotel website of the future?

If you want your hotel business to ride on the wave of advantages and convenience that the internet of things offers, your website should be incorporated with your booking engine or central reservation system (CRS). This will enable visitors to see how many rooms are still available on the dates they want to book with you, in real time! Your website should also allow hotel patrons to have personal accounts where they can log in, see their hotel stay history, and book reservations, just as they would on e-commerce sites. By providing a more useful browsing experience through your website, you cultivate a following among the younger and digitally-savvy members of the population who will pay you back in terms of revenue.

Aside from the convenience that hotel guests will get to enjoy from hotels that adopt e-commerce principles and techniques on their sites, there is another advantage. Hotels will get the opportunity to collect data that they can use to improve their marketing campaigns. For example, they can offer discounts, perks, or freebies to repeat patrons based on their stay histories. They can deliver more personalized email marketing messages to keep in touch with their most loyal patrons. It is far cheaper and more profitable to maintain your current guests than to get new customers.

You have to make your hotel website mobile-friendly

Travel research firm Phocuswright estimates that 40% of hotel guests will make their reservations through their smartphones by the year 2022. While you might have a website that works perfectly well when browsed through a laptop or desktop, having one that works just as well on a smartphone is a completely different matter. For one, the screen sizes of the computers and smartphones are not the same, and the website loading time for smartphones is not the same as the website loading time when the site is browsed through a computer. Therefore, you have to design a mobile-friendly hotel website that loads quickly and allows guests to check out when they are about to leave your hotel. Imagine how many people would be attracted to stay in your hotel if they could access the site, book reservations, and check out from their mobile devices! Having a website attuned to millennial expectations can prove to be your most significant source of ROI.

There are people who can help you level up your website

You don’t have to hire your own team of tech specialists just to create a website that is useful for millennial travelers. You can outsource the job to a company that has the personnel who can make your next-generation website possible. Aside from tech specialists, Web Connection Asia has a team of digital marketing experts who can work with your CRS manager or web teams if you have any. If you are a hotel owner in Thailand who wants to embrace change, we are a web development company that you can work with. You can entrust your web design and CRS integration with us as you pursue more important tasks to bring your hotel to success!

If you’re looking for a website design agency that specializes in creating secure, modern websites for hotels, we’re here to help – get in touch today for a free consultation.