It is hard to believe, but more than half of 2009 is behind us. It is time to start thinking about 2010. We are already seeing many travelers searching for available rooms and booking them for dates in 2010. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to capture these potential customers!

If you have not done so yet, please remember to load your rates and availability for 2010 into the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations Manager. If you are connected to our system through RezOvation GT or Webervations, you will never need to load rates or inventory with us, as your system does so automatically. If you have any questions, need any help loading rates and availability, or you would like more information on our connectivity options, please contact us at OnlineReservations@BedandBreakfast.com or 1-800-462-2632, option 4.

We look forward to helping you make 2010 a great year!

Do you need more business this summer and beyond?  Properties participating in BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations are able to run promotional offers specific to Expedia.com and hotels.com.  This is a great way to get extra exposure because inns that run promotions often receive higher placement on these sites.

In this challenging economy, more than ever, hotels, motels, resorts, and even B&Bs are competing with each other for business. Because of the increased competition, special promotions help encourage demand at properties. Here are some examples of some of the promotional offers that some of our participating properties are offering:

·         Stay two nights, get 20% off your stay.

·         Stay three nights, get 30% off your stay.

·         Stay three nights, get the third night free.

·         Stay four nights, get the fourth night free.

Running one of these offers gives your property additional emphasis on Expedia.com and hotels.com. Below is an example of one property’s additional exposure on Expedia.com.  Notice the property’s normal price with the strike through it, along with the promotional price.  Something this simple can make a big difference in a traveler’s perception and can increase bookings!

It really does work! The following example is from a property running a promotion for 30% off.  During a period of nearly four months from February 21, 2009 through June 10, 2009 – which is an historically busy time for this property – “Property A” received five reservations. 

On June 9, realizing that their summer (slow season) bookings were looking soft, the property decided to run a 30% off promotion on stays of two to six nights; on stays of seven nights, they’re offering the seventh night free.  We got this promotional offer loaded onto Expedia.com, and almost overnight, the bookings began to increase dramatically: from June 11 through July 21, the property received 13 bookings.  Every single reservation has been for June and July dates, historically very slow times of the year for this property; not surprisingly, Property A is very pleased to be getting all the extra business!

To run your own promotional offer on Expedia, contact your regional manager – Tim, Tom, Sara or Andrew. We’ll forward you a form to fill out and will be pleased to answer any additional questions you might have.

Cheers to a busy and prosperous summer!

The Online Reservations Team at BedandBreakfast.com

Did you know that all of your reservation notification emails for BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations bookings are also sent to your Innkeeper Inbox on your Home Base?  We send those emails directly to you, but we also copy them to your Inbox on BedandBreakfast.com.

When you log in to BedandBreakfast.com, your Home Base is the central repository of your membership information. In the Member Benefits grid, check out the first column – Free Member Benefits. Near the bottom – Innkeeper’s Inbox. That houses membership and Online Reservations emails you receive from BedandBreakfast.com, including reservation notifications from the Online Reservations program. So, if you ever need to double check and can’t find the email in your own inbox, you can simply check on your Home Base Innkeeper’s Inbox.

Many properties using the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations program have requested that they be able to receive text messages to their cell phone when reservations are booked and/or cancelled as a result of this program. 

We’re delighted to report that we have just added this functionality for the United States, and are pleased to provide participating innkeepers with more flexibility as they’re out and about doing the things they have to do to run their inns. If you would like to sign up for this additional FREE notification for BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations reservations/cancellations, simply follow these steps:

1. Log in to your BedandBreakfast.com Home Base using your property ID and password.
2. Once logged into your Home Base, hover your mouse over Listing in the top left corner and select Address/Phone.

1. Under Phone Numbers, select Text Alerts from the dropdown menu.
2. Enter your cellular phone number into the spaces provided.
3. Last, click Submit at the bottom of the page.

Once you have entered and saved this information, going forward, any time you get a reservation or a cancellation as a result of the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations program, you will be sent a text message with the details. Although BedandBreakfast.com does not charge for this service, your cellular provider may charge a fee. Please be aware of any charges that your cellular provider might apply to your bill before setting this up to avoid any unexpected charges.

BedandBreakfast.com will not use, distribute or display your cellular number on our website if it has been entered for the purposes of text alerts.  If you have chosen to enter your cellular number in your Home Base under the Cellular option, then your cellular number will indeed be displayed.

Please free to contact us if you have any questions about this new service, and to share any comments by clicking the comments link below.

While we have been emphasizing the increasing importance of offering online reservations both on your website as well as through distribution channels such as Expedia, hotels.com, Kayak, Travelocity, etc., this new study from the well-known Ypartnership makes it clear how important online reservations are to running a successful inn. (CEO Peter Yesawich is recently spoke at the PAII conference in Atlanta, and is well known to many innkeepers).

As reported in Hotel Marketing.com:

"While the percentage of leisure travelers who report making reservations online has grown more than thirty-seven percent (37%) since the year 2000, “Consumers’ search behavior has changed in recent years as people have become more familiar with search technology and the number of travel planning/purchasing sites has grown exponentially,” said Peter C. Yesawich, chairman and CEO of Ypartnership.

"According to the just-released National Travel MONITOR(SM), fully sixty-six percent (66%) of leisure travelers now use the Internet to plan some aspect of their travel (versus 35% in 2000), while fifty-six percent (56%) now report making reservations online. The nationally representative survey of 1,590 active travelers was conducted during the months of February and March, 2009, and is co-authored annually by Ypartnership and Yankelovich, Inc.

"Travelers visit search engines such as Google, Yahoo or MSN first (34%) when considering vacation destination alternatives. The Web sites of specific countries or destination boards are visited next (23%), followed by online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity (22%). Only one percent (1%) of travelers commence their search for a vacation destination by visiting a blog.

"Search patterns for selecting an airline or lodging accommodation are understandably different. Consumers who are searching for these travel services first visit the Web sites of online travel agencies (42% and 31%, respectively). Brand-specific sites (41%) follow closely when leisure travelers are selecting an airline, yet significantly less so when they select lodging (21%). Meta search engines that compare fares are visited first by over one-out-of-ten travelers (13%) when selecting an airline."

If the only way prospective guests can book a room at your property is by telephoning or emailing you, there is absolutely no question that you are losing reservations every single day. Adding the RezOvation Booking Engine or Webervations to your website will increase your occupancy immediately, and at no risk, so please contact Sales@RezOvation.com or call (866) 565-1800 for details. Participating in BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations is now easier than ever, thanks to seamless links for both RezOvation and Webervations customers, and gets you in front of those 22% of travelers who head to the big online travel agencies mentioned above.