Meta-Searching in Hospitality

Stephanie Clark Kaitlyn Hafeman Sumit Kapali

Overview

•History•Scope and Reach•Reported Impacts•Industry Examples•Other Industries Using Meta-Search•Professional’s Perspective•Business Landscape Impacts•Competitive Advantage

Meta-Searching

•A search engine that pulls results from multiple search engines

•Allows consumer to access the results from multiple search engines at once, rather than searching them all.

•Meta-searching is similar to TripAdvisor, Expedia, Orbitz and Priceline

Historical Review

•Traditional Internet Searches•First Meta-Searches•Hospitality Enters the Scene with

Airlines!•Newest Meta-Searches

Reach and Scope

•No more searching through multiple sites•Narrowed Search – More to the point

options•Higher Number of “Impulse Buys”•Internet is all over the world Vast

majority of consumers on the planet will have access to destinations across the globe

Potential Problems?

•Systems aren’t advanced enough to handle large influx in traffic flow

Reported Impacts

•Growth of Meta-Searches in Hospitality•Lack of Meta-Searches in Most Industries•Information Retrieval and Internet

Services – Only ones with Meta-Searches•Google is working on a new meta-search

option for other products▫Very Secretive!

TripAdvisor

•It is a leading online travel agencies that is using the meta-search engine.

Industry Example – Room 77

•Dramatic Rise in Room 77 reservations and revenue.•Helping travelers to expose the best hotel deals.•Total capital raised to $143.8 million.

Perceptions

Outside Industry Example - Dogpile

•Images, Information, News, Videos, Yellow and White Pages

•Compiles results from Yahoo!, Google, Ask, etc.

Outside Industry Example - Yometa

•Information Gathering•Searches Bing, Yahoo! and Google Only•Venn Diagram to Show Results

•Not Very Successful

Professional Insight – Interview with Amy Anderson

Assistant Manager at Quality Inn & Suites, Menomonie, WI

Quality Inn & Suites• Vast majority of reservations are booked online

or through ChoiceHotels.com

• http://www.choicehotels.com/?source=goch&cid=go000010971

• Do not track results from websites such as Expedia or Orbitz, but when contacted by these websites they update their pictures and information.

Quality Inn & SuitesOnline Reviews

• Because of the importance that they place on these sites as well as TripAdvisor, guests are encouraged to write online reviews.

• Positive Reviews are very important especially with social media and all the outlets for potential customers to gain insight into a place they have never stayed before.

Quality Inn & SuitesMarketing Strategies

• Through their ChoiceHotels.com site, various marketing techniques are used to attract guests to the hotel.▫ Points towards free ChoiceHotel nights▫ Gift cards at retailers and restaurants▫ Airline miles▫ “Best Internet Rate Guarantee”

Quality Inn & SuitesMarketing Strategies

• Menomonie Wedding Fair▫ Enchanted Barn

• Involvement in the community (Winter Parade)

• Highway signs and offering discount coupons offered at area events

• As important as these are, the Internet still offers the best exposure for their business.

Business Landscape Impacts

•Rapid Transformation into Meta-Searches•Growth in Online Bookings – Predictions•Impact on Hotel Properties

▫Customer Reviews▫Pricing Strategies▫Fees Associated with Search Results

Course Content Relations

•Market Segmentation•Stages of Customer Interaction•Characteristics of a Service•Analytics •Quality Search Experience

Competitive Advantage