Backpackers are increasingly turning to the Internet for their travel information. The Internet can be the main source of bookings for a hostel in a popular location.
What are some effective ways to use the Internet to market a hostel?
A few ideas to start:
Other ideas? Comments? Post below.
17 years
For the low number of guests, 20 - 30 a year, that I get from the % sites it is not a problem for me. And I post a rate on those sites a couple $ more than my walk-in rate so it comes close anyway. But I guess it is paying for non-productive space that bugs me ..
Most of my online bookings come from Hostels.com thru the booking system of hostelworld ... travellers can search hostels in the area they are travelling easier on hostels.com
17 years
I agree about Hostelsz it is very useful from the other side aswell i use it as a reference site for contact details and website addresses aswell as Bug, thou i know this is not their purpose.
Instant Booking Engines
What’s your opinion on the booking engines available for hostels to put on there own websites?
I have noticed that alot of hostels still prefer there reservations request way of booking I presume they feel more in control or are not that computer literate. As was rightly mentioned Hostelworld have most of the market without necessarily having the best product. So to get a foot in the door in the instant booking engines market you would have to look at converting hostel owners or treading on Hostelworld toe's.
Any suggestions on how to promote to hostel managers that are not quite there with the available technology?
Sometimes I think companies blind people with technical jargon do you think the key is to keep it simple?
What do you think these available booking engines are lacking in?
Is email advertising the best way to promote software to hostels or are there better venues?
Thanks
17 years
What’s your opinion on the booking engines available for hostels to put on there own websites?
Any suggestions on how to promote to hostel managers that are not quite there with the available technology?
Sometimes I think companies blind people with technical jargon do you think the key is to keep it simple?
What do you think these available booking engines are lacking in?
Is email advertising the best way to promote software to hostels or are there better venues?
There are free alternatives -- I believe that HostelBookers (powerhostels) offers a free booking engine for hostels' own Web sites. They probably offer it for free in order to get people to switch over from the WRI system. The one problem with PowerHostels is that it uses JavaScript forms, so if the visitor has JavaScript disabled all they will see is a blank screen.
Hostelworld (WRI) charges a lower commission on bookings that come through your own hostel Web site if you use their booking system on your hostel Web site. It can still add up to a significant amount of money though.
I haven't used ASSD beyond the demo version, but have heard good things about it. I believe that it can integrate with other booking systems.
If using property management software like RoomMaster, you can pay a fixed rate per year to use their system to take bookings from your Web site and import them into the front desk software in real time. RoomMaster has its own quirks though.
17 years
I have been using Hostelbookers PowerHostels for my website reservations for about 1.5 years and have had no problems at all. The commision they take is 5%. I noticed that Instant World Bookings also offers a booking engine for your website and the commision is the lowest I have seen. Has anyone had any experience using them?
17 years
I have been using Hostelbookers PowerHostels for my website reservations for about 1.5 years and have had no problems at all. The commision they take is 5%.
I believe WRI (Hostelworld) charges 2.5% on bookings that come through your own Web site... though 10% on bookings that go through their Web sites.
17 years
I believe WRI (Hostelworld) charges 2.5% on bookings that come through your own Web site... though 10% on bookings that go through their Web sites.
They charge 2.5% on "own bookings", except for the first booking every day - that is still 10%. No big deal for big city hostels (we get atound 1000 bookings per month, around 400 of them "own bookings".), but hardly attractive for small hostels.
There is a lot talk about Hostelworld here...
They are as big as they are because they were the first ones - they deserve credit for this. Hostelworld is now just "THE marketplace" where all sellers bring their products, so all the buyers are there as well, so the sellers have no reason to offer their product on other marketplaces, so even less buyers go there and so on. It is like Ebay: there are competitors, maybe they even have better technologies, but they have no chance because nobody fills their shelves, which then turns away buyers.
What made BUG and Hostelz.com important were uncensored rewiews. Savvy travellers knew that so they used these sites for research, but many still made their bookings on Hostelworld. The user comments on Hostelworld are now uncensored as well, and on top of that they are authentic - only guests who have booked can submit comments. I noticed Tim of BUG posts here as well - I guess he can tell a few stories about hostel owners posting up good reviews about their own hostels or bad ones about competitors.
Hostelworld is trying to saturate their quasi-monopoly with Web 2.0 stuff like Boo.com and the user "network" on the Hostelworld.com site itself.
I can only see one way anyone could challenge them, that´s a meta-booking-system: a site which searches all hostel bookings sites (Hostelworld, Hostelbookers, Hostelsclub, ...) compares prices and then links you to the cheapest possible booking for any desired hostel. To attract large amounts of users to a site like that it would also need a lot of useful content and a large Forum. I wonder why Lonely Planet doesn´t do it. :confused:
17 years
I can only see one way anyone could challenge them, that´s a meta-booking-system: a site which searches all hostel bookings sites (Hostelworld, Hostelbookers, Hostelsclub, ...) compares prices and then links you to the cheapest possible booking for any desired hostel. To attract large amounts of users to a site like that it would also need a lot of useful content and a large Forum. I wonder why Lonely Planet doesn´t do it.
That's an interesting idea. I know that Hostelworld has an XML feed that might make this possible, but I'm not sure if the other booking engines do.
Hostelworld is dominating because they control the top search engine results for every major hostel query -- often 30% of Google's front page.
For example, type in 'sydney hostels' into Google.
#1 hostels.com
#2 hostelsydney.com (thin cover for hostelworld's database)
#4 hostelworld.com
(all owned by WRI/hostelworld)
Here is an example for 'berlin hostels'
#1 hostelberlin.com (thin cover for hostelworld's database)
#2 hostels.com
#9 hostelworld.com
Here is 'rome hostels'
#2 hostels.com
#3 hostelworld.com
#7 youthhostelrome.com (thin cover for hostelworld's database)
The situation is similar in most cities. Once boo.com hits the top #10 for search engine queries (probably within a year if they do it right) their monopoly will be even stronger.
Hostelbookers is making some inroads in Google.
If none of the other booking engines can compete in Google, they probably won't get as many bed allocations as WRI. Hostels prefer to only sign up with booking engines that send bookings... it's a hard market to break into...
17 years
I´m a semi-illiterate in computer stuff. No idea what a "XML feed" is, but if you set up a powerful meta-booking site I´m damn sure all the hostel booking sites will make sure they´re compatible with it - they want to generate bookings, after all.
Sure, Hostelworld is pretty strong on Google, but I´m not sure if that´s the single most important reason why they dominate the market. There are others:
- They were the first ones. Many hostels are always full anyway (eg: we :cool: ) so they don´t bother with tons of different allocations. It´s just a shitload of work.
- The big city hostels which put their "booking engine" on their own website (eg: we) have made them big. There are a lot of people who don´t google for "vienna hostels" but for "wombats", because that´s where they want to stay (sorry that may sound arrogant). The only way to make a booking here is through Hostelworld, which is on our website. Many guests who book here have never before heard of Hostelworld. Anyway, with that booking, Hostelworld has their email address where they send their newsletters and maybe next time that guest will go to Hostelworld in the first place.
- like you said, being big already is the best way to get bigger, as the market gets harder to break into.
Imagine Lonely Planet would really start something new like I suggested. That alone would be a serious threat to Hostelworld. It would be even worse for them if Google came into their boat. I think I have read something like they plan some sort of co-operation already.
Anyway:
I can´t quite understand all the talk about Hostelworld being something like "evil one" or a big danger for the hostels. We have worked with them for some years and I never had the impression they abuse the power they have in the market. I find Google a lot more scary.
17 years
XML is a type of data that they export from their system that you can incorporate into your Web site programs. It can make it look like you have your own booking engine on your Web site (at your own URL), even though you are going through Hostelworld's system. That is probably what all the booking engines would need to do to be able to make a meta engine possible.
I wouldn't be surprised if Google builds a travel Web site...
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060417-091220
There was some talk about partnership between Google, LP, and Travelocity:
http://www.hostelmanagement.com/sections/hostel-news/lonely-planet-google-and-travelocity-to-partner
I don't think Hostelworld is a bad thing. They send a lot of bookings to the hostels. If it weren't Hostelworld, it would be someone else. They have definitely dominated the industry though and made it difficult for others to break in. They are better than some of the hotel booking engines which take an incredible booking commission -- I can't remember the exact number that I heard recently. It might have been something like $25 (USD) minimum commission on a room, even if your rooms are only selling for $60 per night.
17 years
Interesting stuff. I wish I could spend more time on the web to find gossip like that.
It is just our luck that Hostels are a niche market. Besides, the guys with the big money still think about it as a rather uninteresting one where no (or very little) money can be made.
When big hotel chains like Accor decide to move into that market we´ll be fucked.
When Google and LP decide to team up to attack Hostelworld they´re fucked, too.
If you look at it from the travellers´ end Hostelworld is a great tool. It makes the market 100% transparent. Nearly all hostels allocate beds to it, you can compare prices (and what you get for your money) in a matter of minutes. I use it all the time when I travel. They have uncensored reviews now (at last!) and probably more than all other booking sites combined.
We had a big debate here before we decided to put Hostelworld behind our own website instead of our own email inquiry form. I thought giving away 10% of our revenues is a big waste, but the owners, who worked in Hotels before, thought 10% is a bargain compared to hotel booking sites, where 20% are common. We have now three full-time employees doing nothing else than email and phone reservations. Without sites like hostelworld, which save a tremendous amount of stupid work, there would be at least six of them.
Still - Hostelworld needs more serious competition. I think they could do very well with only 5% (and no booking fees) as well.
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