We are excited to announce that we are officially live with Travelocity as our newest distribution partner for the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations Program.  Participating properties will automatically be included on Travelocity.com and their affiliate sites including Yahoo Travel, AOL Travel, American Express Travel, Lastminute.com (Europe), and Zuji (Asia-Pacific).

We have begun the process of getting properties live on Travelocity and will continually add properties each week until we have loaded all of our participating properties.  Please be certain that you have rates and availability loaded for our Online Reservations Program as this is a requirement for your property to be loaded.  The more availability you have loaded, the faster you may appear on Travelocity.  If your property does not have rates and inventory loaded, or if you have very limited rates and inventory loaded, you will not be loaded onto Travelocity until we have that information updated in our system.  To ensure your property has the necessary inventory loaded to be activated on Travelocity, and to ensure you’re maximizing your potential for reservations through this program, please call us at 1-800-462-2632 ext 4.  We’ll be happy to assist you with this.

We’re excited about the additional exposure and reservations this relationship is sure to bring to all our members.  Please note - If you are already participating with Travelocity through a direct relationship, you will continue to work with them directly rather than through BedandBreakfast.com.

Thank you for your continued partnership. 

Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research recently conducted an experiment with JHM Hotels and Expedia.com to study what, if any, effect being visible on large online travel agent sites (OTAs) have on hotel bookings. The study was conducted by Chris Anderson Ph.D., an assistant professor at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration who used four hotels (chain and independent) and listed each for a period of time on Expedia.com, then removed them completely from the site. The properties reported they experienced excess bookings through other distribution channels when they were on Expedia vs. when they were not.

Often referred to as the “billboard effect,” the experiment determined that visibility on large sites like Expedia and hotels.com leads to a boost in reservations through the property’s own distribution systems, e.g. property website or contact directly with the property. “The study found that when the hotels were listed on Expedia, they saw an increase in reservations from their own distribution channels (that is, not through Expedia).”

Anderson concludes that “the theory behind this phenomenon is that the would-be guest gains information about the hotel from its OTA listing, but then books the room through a channel controlled by the hotel or its chain family.” The study went on to estimate that being seen on the site generated up to a 26% increase in total bookings.

The study summarized that “the benefits of being displayed on an online travel website like Expedia.com should not only be measured by the revenues gained by the specific distribution channel, but also the marketing and direct sales benefits the hotel receives through the billboard effect.”

Click here to view the entire report.

The reservations you receive via the BedandBreakfast.com Online program are generated by many different websites, receiving a total of over 100 million guests each month.

If the reservation is made on BedandBreakfast.com, SideStep.com, and Kayak.com, we can give you the guest’s email address because the transaction for these reservations takes place on the BedandBreakfast.com website.

When a guest books through Expedia, hotels.com, or one of their sister companies, the email address cannot be shared with us because of strict guidelines and laws that govern the sharing of a personal email information with a third party. When guests book through Expedia, they complete their entire booking transaction on the Expedia website, unaware that BedandBreakfast.com has supplied Expedia with the B&B information. For Expedia to pass their customers’ email addresses would violate anti-spam laws, and would also raise privacy concerns among their customers.

Originally, when Expedia and hotels.com began listing B&Bs on their websites, they did not even share guests’ phone numbers with innkeepers. When we partnered with Expedia, we successfully negotiated to get them to share this information. In addition, the direct phone number for your property is on each guest confirmation email, along with a request that each guest contact you 48 hours prior to check-in.

We do understand that phone numbers supplied by travelers are not always useful and that it can be difficult to reach people once they have booked. If you are unable to get in touch with a guest who has booked your property through this program, please do not hesitate to let us know. We can submit a request to Expedia and ask them to send the guest an email asking them to contact you.
 
Although we realize that’s not a perfect solution, we are convinced that the benefits of this program far outweigh any drawbacks, and we hope you agree.

Thank you again for being a member of BedandBreakfast.com and for your participation in the BedandBreakfast.com Online Reservations program! We sincerely value your business!

With each online reservation you receive, remember that guests have already accepted the terms of your cancellation policy. Nevertheless, sometimes guests cancel inside of your policy and seek to avoid cancellation fees. Here are some ways to alleviate headaches, avoid a negative review and encourage a positive experience for the manager and guest when this happens.

There is a time and place for an exception to your cancellation policy for the online traveler. What you lose in revenue can come back to you in a future reservation and a happy guest who's a fan of your property.

There are going to be guests who have plans change or personal emergencies that cause them to change the dates of their stay. In some cases there are external factors (flu outbreak, hurricane, wildfire or death in the family) outside of their control. Providing an exception to policy can leave a good taste in their mouths and encourage a future stay.

If you are thinking about giving a guest a waiver, you may want to take these factors into consideration:

• Are all rooms reserved and guests have been turned away?
• Can you rebook the room?
• How long has the reservation been booked?
• Do the guests plan to reserve a future date/are they regular guests who have stayed with you before?
• Will granting an exception keep a guest happy enough to come again?

Many properties offer different options such as rain checks or gift certificates, or allowing another guest to stay on the reservation.

Cancellation policies are in place to protect your interests with respect to the online reservations program. Always remain courteous to guests to ensure a positive experience. In a case where you are not granting an exception to your cancellation policy, please be sure to explain the reasons for your position and inability to offer an exception. Many guests will feel less negative about the fees they owe to your property when they have a better understanding of how it affects you.

Online reservations can provide more guests reservations. They can also provide more inquiries about cancellation policies. Treating each guest inquiry as an opportunity and providing some exceptions can go a long way toward promoting your business in a positive fashion.

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