SINGAPORE – Same-day hotel room bookings, are on average 23-percent cheaper than overnight stays booked in advance, but do not always provide the best value, according to data and analysis by the world’s leading end-to-end corporate hotel solutions provider, HRS. The proprietary data also shows that majority of the bookings are made using a mobile device, highlighting the changing consumption and purchase patterns in the corporate travel business.
Analysis shows further that only 10-percent of business travelers make same-day hotel bookings, significantly less than the 58-percent who book within two weeks of intended travel.
About 32-percent book over two weeks in advance. These insights are based on the analysis of average hotel prices over the past five years compared against a range of advanced booking periods, by HRS to better understand corporate travelers and their requirements.
“While room rates are an element in determining which accommodation solution a corporation opts for, price alone is usually not a key element to the decision-making process in hotel reservations,” said Tobias Ragge, CEO, HRS. “Booking in advance ensures the blocking of accommodation options that fit organisational travel policies, as well as business and personal needs of the traveler. This is critical to ensuring travel satisfaction at all levels.”
The insights also found that mobile devices account for majority of hotel bookings done on the HRS portal. Clients leverage its GPS positioning feature to locate convenient hotel options based on geography. The HRS mobile application has been installed on over 20 million devices to date.
"A look into HRS data reveals that booking on mobile has been rising steadily, and we expect this trend to define the future of the travel industry. Today, 40 percent of all search queries we receive on our portal are made through smartphones and tablets," continued Tobias. "This is why we constantly enhance our mobile applications and introduce additional services so that we can continually offer guests new, innovative experiences."
In the last quarter of 2015, HRS incorporated beacon technology supported by start-up Conichi into its mobile application, which now allows business travellers to check-in to participating hotels via their mobile phone. They can store preferences or requirements for their stay in their profile and automatically share this information with the hotel staff.
Currently, hotels that offer HRS’ ‘Smart Hotel’ services are indicated accordingly in the mobile application. There are also plans to offer mobile payment services during check-out
