The Impact of Online Travel Agencies : Is it still relevant for hotels to have their own booking system?
Van De Logt, Jetske (2017)
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2017
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201704275586
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201704275586
Tiivistelmä
The aim of this thesis is to research the impact of Online Travel Agencies(OTAs). Is it still relevant for hotels to have their own booking system? There are different opinions regarding the impact of OTAs. Some believe it is a great marketing tool that brings in a lot of money while others believe that it costs the hotel industry a lot of money. Hotels want to increase their direct bookings to be-come less dependent on OTAs. This thesis researches the relevancy of direct booking systems now OTAs are becoming increasingly popular and will provide the reader with a suggestion how to make the direct bookings more appealing to guests.
The research method used in this thesis is the qualitative research method. During this research, four interviews have been conducted with several managers from the hospitality industry in Hel-sinki. All interviewees have fairly different positions which is important to gain opinions from differ-ent perspectives. The research is done in the Helsinki region which is representative for the gen-eral opinion of the hospitality industry globally.
The thesis is structured in such a way that the reader first receives background information on OTAs in order to precisely understand the research. Researching OTAs is very relevant nowadays as there is almost no hotel not working together with an OTA. The thesis continues with the inter-views that form the foundation for the discussion, where the relevancy of the hotels’ own booking website is discussed and what could be done to increase the awareness of a hotels own website.
At the moment, it is still profitable to have an own booking website since there are still a lot of di-rect bookings made. Having an own booking system should not cost a lot of money and does not have to be time consuming. On the other hand, completely stopping the cooperation with OTAs would not be feasible, as most of the bookings are made through it. At the end of the thesis, a suggestion is given how hotels can increase direct bookings to make their own booking system more appealing. The suggestion includes offering benefits, introducing a mobile website and study what the total marketing costs would with respect to the total commission that is paid towards the OTAs. The main goal is to attract more direct bookings in regards to indirect bookings.
The research method used in this thesis is the qualitative research method. During this research, four interviews have been conducted with several managers from the hospitality industry in Hel-sinki. All interviewees have fairly different positions which is important to gain opinions from differ-ent perspectives. The research is done in the Helsinki region which is representative for the gen-eral opinion of the hospitality industry globally.
The thesis is structured in such a way that the reader first receives background information on OTAs in order to precisely understand the research. Researching OTAs is very relevant nowadays as there is almost no hotel not working together with an OTA. The thesis continues with the inter-views that form the foundation for the discussion, where the relevancy of the hotels’ own booking website is discussed and what could be done to increase the awareness of a hotels own website.
At the moment, it is still profitable to have an own booking website since there are still a lot of di-rect bookings made. Having an own booking system should not cost a lot of money and does not have to be time consuming. On the other hand, completely stopping the cooperation with OTAs would not be feasible, as most of the bookings are made through it. At the end of the thesis, a suggestion is given how hotels can increase direct bookings to make their own booking system more appealing. The suggestion includes offering benefits, introducing a mobile website and study what the total marketing costs would with respect to the total commission that is paid towards the OTAs. The main goal is to attract more direct bookings in regards to indirect bookings.