Half of hoteliers integrate booking engines into social channels

Almost half of hotels now integrate booking engines into their social media channels, according to a survey by TravelClick, and half have an app that enables hotel booking from mobile devices.

by Helen Leggatt

Revenue generating solutions provider, TravelClick, has released the findings of its survey of 400 hotels around the globe regarding their use of social and mobile booking features.

Almost half (48%) have already integrated a booking engine with Facebook or another social channel. Of the 52% who have not made this feature available on social, 22.5% plan to integrate one in 2013.

"With so many users relying on Facebook for research and information, it is critical that hotels make it easy for consumers to use Facebook to initiate a booking," said Jason Ewell, Executive Vice President of Media, Web Solutions and Business Intelligence.

Mobile-optimized websites and apps are also becoming popular among hoteliers. Over half (56%) already have an app that allows hotel room booking from a mobile device and of the remaining 44%, 23% plan to add this feature to their mobile website in 2013.

When asked which channel they thought would see the most growth in bookings this year, 53% thought it would be via their own website. Search engines and social media were second with approximately 20% apiece.

Tags: booking engine, hotel booking, mobile booking, mobile marketing, mobile-optimization, social media, travel industry, travel trends