17 years
This one was made for the Flying Pig Hostels: https://www.go2hostels.com/
I´m curious if anyone else uses it (and what their expieience is with it).
Software for taking online bookings
Front Desk Operations
What kinds of software or services do people use to take bookings through your own Web sites?
Here are some that I know about:
- hostelworld
- powerhostels (hostelbookers)
- ASSD
- worldhostelguide.com
Are there others that people have used and would recommend?
I'm especially interested in services that run on hostels' own Web sites and that can handle taking bookings at multiple locations.
- Comments
17 years
Interesting... It looks like it's hosted on a different server than the hostels' Web sites -- I wonder if it allows integration of PPC tracking code. I think that PPC tracking code integration is something that many hostels could benefit from.
17 years
Yes of course it´s on a different server. I think that´s one of the main points about it as you don´t want to have tricky software and databanks full of credit card details on your own one.
As far as I can tell from the look of it, it seems magnificent - it´s very cheap and all the "deposits" are yours. During high season, you can easily fill up your place with bookings from your own website, so you can reduce availability on sites like Hostelworld.
I think PPC tracking makes no sense there because you know exactly where ALL bookings come from - from your own website.
The only pain in the ass is you have to manage yet another booking engine.
17 years
Yes of course it´s on a different server. I think that´s one of the main points about it as you don´t want to have tricky software and databanks full of credit card details on your own one.
There are some (like Roommaster's online booking engine) that you can run on your own Web server. If there is an external booking engine that allows people to add PPC tracking code, that would be ideal. I think that if there were a demand for it, maybe some of the booking engines would integrate that feature. It should be relatively simple for them to implement.
I think PPC tracking makes no sense there because you know exactly where ALL bookings come from - from your own website.
The reason to track PPC conversions is to determine how much each keyword costs. For example, if you bid $2 per click in Google AdWords on the keyword "hostels in paradise", you can use conversion tracking to tell whether it costs $10 to acquire a booking with that keyword -- or whether it costs $50 per booking. You can then adjust your bidding and/or change your keywords. If you aren't tracking PPC conversions then there is no precise way of measuring their effectiveness. I'm sure that many hostels are wasting a lot of money on ineffective PPC ads...
(sorry, I didn't mean "PPC tracking"... I meant "PPC conversion tracking")
17 years
I admit I wouldn´d even think about paying for clicks anywhere.
I think most hostels have a terribly inefficient marketing because they don´t live up to the promises their marketing makes. Most hostels should spend their entire marketing budget on a few buckets of paint, new furniture, a maintenance man and good staff to man the front desk and clean their rooms. Word of mouth will do the rest, better than any marketing.
We have a full-time web designer (he also keeps our intranet running, designs the flyers and takes care of our computer network, so he isn´t really doing the website full-time) - his salary is the only marketing budget I will ever approve as long as I´m the financial controller here! :cool:
17 years
Adwords can be useful, especially for new hostels. Google doesn't rank new Web sites right away. For example, if a new hostel opened up in Sydney, it would have virtually no chance of ranking its Web site for "sydney hostels" for quite a while (maybe years unless they had pro help). Adwords can help new hostels get some initial traffic until Google responds and word of mouth gets out.
Also, there are only 10 spots on Google's front page, and hostels are competing with hostelworld and hostelbookers which both have professional search engine marketing efforts. For example, 7 out of the 10 listings on Google's home page for "sydney hostels" are hostel booking engines or their affiliates. It's difficult for hostels to get visibility for their own Web sites. As more backpackers use search engines to find accommodation it's beneficial to be on that front page one way or another...
Word of mouth is important, but there is still a large percentage of backpackers that are making their bookings based on a Google or Yahoo search. If a hostel has an average of 50 dorm beds vacant every night at multiple properties at $25/bed that is $450,000 per year worth of empty beds. Using PPC ads can help fill some of those vacant beds...
It's not the right solution for all hostels, but it can definitely help in many cases.
(By the way, your Web guy does great work... the video testimonials are great)
17 years
Well, this is the internet age and word of mouth spreads fairly swift nowadays - the word of mouse, as we Germans pronounce it! :D
If I would open shop in a popular destination like Sydney my strategy would be this:
Offer very cheap beds on all the two relevant booking sites (Hostelworld and Hostelbookers) to attract as many bookings as possible in the beginning. Make sure it´s a very good hostel - with the "Wake up!" being top-rated on Hostelworld with only 84% the competition seems not too frightening to me. There are more than enough people who book all their hostels on Hostelworld just because it´s convenient and many of these book the top-rated hostel by default. As soon as you are on top of the list you can charge the same rates as everyone else and still fill up.
Palmer´s Lodge in London did exactly that in 2006. They opened in May and the first time they had a relevant number of empty beds was in October.
q.e.d.
I would only throw money at internet marketing if I had a hostel in a destination where many people wouldn´t go without knowing a good place to stay there. Say, off-the-beaten-track Greek Islands or small towns in central Europe.
17 years
Offer very cheap beds on all the two relevant booking sites (Hostelworld and Hostelbookers) to attract as many bookings as possible in the beginning.
Good idea... I once did this for a struggling hostel in the USA, offering some $11.50 dorm beds (instead of $18+), though I also ran Adwords with "$11.50" in the title. The hostel went from 40% occupancy to over 130% in 6 weeks and people stopped saying "I've never heard of this place before, but just accidentally walked by it." Adwords expense was just $150/month and usually gave the #1 spot at the top of the page in Google above the booking engines.
As long as there are any empty beds in a hostel, Adwords can help fill them up. If you use conversion tracking you can know exactly what the return on investment is.
I think Adwords works best with big city hostels because many people are searching for "hostels in [city]". For hostels in small towns, fewer people are using search engines to find the hostels. In those cases things like rack flyers and word of mouth might send more bookings. It probably varies a lot depending on the city and hostel...
Another disadvantage of the booking engines in some cases is that when you have a smaller hostel, a few bad reviews can distort your ratings. There is one hostel here in Okinawa that has low ratings because there is only one online review that was made while the hostel was under renovation. It's a great hostel though... just had some bad luck with its one review. They would probably have better success getting online bookings if people don't find them through the booking engine Web sites.
17 years
130%!?
Do you really overbook that much!?
I´m still sceptical about spending money on marketing of that sort, although you have a very valid point: at least, there is some way to see your "return on investment". I have talked with so many people who spend big amounts on money on all sorts of stuff without ever knowing whether it´s worth it or a total waste.
Maybe I´m spoiled because the occupancy rate in all our hostels is over 80% (year-round average), in one it´s even over 95% this year. So, we never really felt the urgent need to do any marketing.
You might be right it works best in big cities but I also think that´s where you least need it. We are often thinking about opening a small hostel in an Austrian ski resort - the problem is: there are so many to chose from, but most are completely unknown outside Austria and in those which aren´t (i.e. Kitzbühel) the price of real estate is beyond a hostel´s funds. So: how do you attract backpackers to a unheard-of small town?
17 years
130%!?
Do you really overbook that much!?
We weren't overbooking -- just converting extra lounges and privates into dorm rooms to meet the demand. The place was big enough to add a lot of beds.
Maybe I´m spoiled because the occupancy rate in all our hostels is over 80% (year-round average), in one it´s even over 95% this year. So, we never really felt the urgent need to do any marketing.
Your numbers are great. You guys are definitely doing things right :)
I don't know if many hostels can get those numbers.
You might be right it works best in big cities but I also think that´s where you least need it. We are often thinking about opening a small hostel in an Austrian ski resort - the problem is: there are so many to chose from, but most are completely unknown outside Austria and in those which aren´t (i.e. Kitzbühel) the price of real estate is beyond a hostel´s funds. So: how do you attract backpackers to a unheard-of small town?
I usually find the small hostels through word of mouth from larger hostels in the area. Someone at the hostel says "hey I just got back from [remote town] and there is a great hostel there". Or rack flyers at other hostels. If people have never heard of the village they probably aren't searching online for hostels in [small village].
You could probably send people to the smaller hostel from the big hostels... Where is uktrail? His site is about small hostels :D
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