Online Travel Agencies (OTA) have become an integral part of many travelers’ “search and book” routine.
Before the internet, booking travel involved a phone call or a visit to the local agency. But now, travelers have a myriad of options to choose destinations, compare prices, and make bookings easily. They are also investing a significant amount of time planning travel in the weeks leading up to a purchase.
The competition in the online travel industry is high, and margins are low. Online travel agencies cannot succeed in their business in the way they used to. And with the cost of travel continuously being driven down by low-cost carriers, discounting, and disruptive competitors, OTAs need to be adaptable and agile to stay ahead of the competition.
So how can you gain an edge over others and become successful in the travel business? What can you do to increase your OTA revenue? Here, we have compiled six sure-fire ways to increase your OTA revenue.
• Aesthetically pleasing homepage and booking engine
Using a visually appealing homepage and booking engine will provide an optimal booking experience to your customers and consequently drive revenue growth. Ensure that customers can instantly find what they want, compare & book cost-effective travel plans within minutes, and pay smoothly and securely.
• Unlock revenue opportunities with ancillary services
Booking patterns have changed drastically as travelers want “experiences” rather than a simple trip. They also highly value safety and hygiene.
In this scenario, incorporating ancillary services, such as travel insurance, car rentals, food and beverage, hotel transfers, and visa services is the best way to increase profits and enhance the customer experience.
Ancillary services make the entire travel experience very comfortable and enjoyable while increasing revenue for online travel agencies.
• Improve booking conversions with a travel chatbot
Imagine you have a huge number of potential customers bombarding you day and night with requests. Your job is to assist them, but it wouldn’t be easy to send them a response every time.
So, you can incorporate a chatbot into your website to ensure that all your leads are handled intelligently even without human intervention. The chatbot will provide you with 24/7 customer service at an affordable price and help customers with various concerns, such as booking their flights, making hotel reservations, FAQs, etc.
Chatbots are a simple way to save money and human power. By integrating the chatbots, you can create better user experiences, boost visitors’ engagement, and eventually increase your booking conversions.
• The right price for the right moment
Adopting the right pricing strategy is crucial to increasing sales and profits. Analyze the past data, industry trends, and current bookings to implement the pricing strategy. You can charge more at times of higher demand (e.g., during the festive events), and when demand is low, you can reduce the prices.
• Establish strategic partnerships with the suppliers
The main asset of a travel agency is the strategic partnership with the service providers, like airlines, hotels, tour operators, etc. You can negotiate the rate and deals with the suppliers to provide more attractive offers to the customers.
With a booking engine, you can integrate with different service providers’ APIs. Combining different suppliers’ offers can provide a unique travel experience for your customers.
• Mobile-friendly website
Nowadays, people prefer to search and book their trips from devices like mobile, tablets, etc. Thus, ensuring that your travel website is adequately responsive to multiple mobile devices is essential.
A mobile-friendly travel website and mobile app are beneficial for creating a better online experience for your customers. It allows visitors to read text, navigate it, and fill out the forms quickly from just about anywhere.
Conclusion
Getting more customers for your travel business is not rocket science. Implementing the above tips is a great start. If you need help increasing your booking profits, don’t hesitate to contact our team. Our cutting-edge technology can help you unlock a whole new world of revenue opportunities.
Ready to increase your business revenue? Schedule a demo today.
