One of the industries that has benefited the most from the web is the hotel and leisure industry. Thousands of travel, hotel, and leisure websites take advantage of hotel web design technologies to allow customers the ability to research specific destinations and availability.  From all-in-one sites like Expedia, Travelocity, and Hotels.com to individual hotel chains like Hilton, Regency, and W Hotels, the web has given savvy researchers the opportunity to find great values and a perfect matches for their particular needs.

Today, hotel websites need to have three major enhanced capabilities in order to provide effective hotel internet marketing.

1) Location Maps

• Where is it located?
• Where and what are the nearby attractions and what’s the easiest way to get there?
• If it’s in a metropolis, where are the restaurants, public transportation, amenities, commercial districts, shopping malls, etc.?

These maps should be interactive and dynamically linked to other sources capable of keeping the information accurate.

2) Room Availability and Booking System
If a potential guest can’t get information and prices about your desired dates, the rest is history; your hotel will lose that visitor to the competition.  Implementing a comprehensive, up-to-date database that connects to the main system of the hotel is imperative.  RESI Interactive Marketing can support any application that you currently work with and help you integrate your back office system into the website for up-to-date availability and pricing.

3) Photo Galleries, Virtual Tours, and Floor Plans
By not offering potential guests the ability to see photos of rooms, amenities, and additional areas within the hotel, you’re limiting their sense of what they can expect, thus increasing the possibility of losing them to the competition. Having an accurate floor plan, virtual tour, and/or room walkthrough is vital.