2. Overview
• History
• Scope and Reach
• Reported Impacts
• Industry Examples
• Other Industries Using Meta-Search
• Professional’s Perspective
• Business Landscape Impacts
• Competitive Advantage
3. 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
4. Historical Review
• Traditional Internet Searches
• First Meta-Searches
• Hospitality Enters the Scene with Airlines!
• Newest Meta-Searches
5. 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
7. 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!
8. TripAdvisor
• It is a leading online travel agencies that is using
the meta-search engine.
9. 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.
11. Outside Industry Example - Dogpile
• Images, Information, News, Videos, Yellow and
White Pages
• Compiles results from Yahoo!, Google, Ask, etc.
12. Outside Industry Example - Yometa
• Information Gathering
• Searches Bing, Yahoo! and Google Only
• Venn Diagram to Show Results
• Not Very Successful
13. Professional Insight – Interview with
Amy Anderson
Assistant Manager at Quality Inn & Suites, Menomonie, WI
14. Quality Inn & Suites
• Vast majority of reservations are booked online or
through ChoiceHotels.com
• http://www.choicehotels.com/?source=goch&cid=go00
0010971
• Do not track results from websites such as Expedia or
Orbitz, but when contacted by these websites they
update their pictures and information.
15. Quality Inn & Suites
Online 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.
16. Quality Inn & Suites
Marketing 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”
17. Quality Inn & Suites
Marketing 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.
18. 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
19. Course Content Relations
• Market Segmentation
• Stages of Customer Interaction
• Characteristics of a Service
• Analytics
• Quality Search Experience
The Quality Inn & Suites where I conducted my interview is located in Menomonie, Wisconsin. When I asked her if more reservations were made online or over the phone she said the vast majority of reservations are booked online or through ChoiceHotels.com. (Click on hyperlink) I had not used or heard of ChoiceHotels.com before this interview, but found out it is like Expedia except it is specific to their franchise. The website allows a customer who is loyal to the brand to search for these specific hotels only. Since they are such a large franchise that was one downside to for her because if a customer has a bad stay at one hotel they will most likely not stay at their chain of hotels. With being a franchise, Amy is also very limited as to what she can make her own because almost everything has to be the same.
Ms. Anderson said that they work hard to ensure that reviews will be positive, but they also benefit from reading less favorable reviews as it gives them an opportunity to be aware of a problem that a guest wasn’t comfortable communicating in person. If they aren’t aware of a problem, they aren’t able to correct it for future guests.
In addition to discounted pricing strategies for advance bookings or AARP and military members, special promotions are offered as well as points toward free ChoiceHotel nights, gift cards at retailers and restaurants, and airline miles. On their ChoiceHotels.com website, they offer a “Best Internet Rate Guarantee”. If a guest finds a lower online rate, the hotel will match it and also give a free night’s stay. This strategy is one of the ways in which their hotel tries to encourage customer loyalty and have guests book on their site rather than using one of the other sites available.These are the hotels that are included in the chain and that are available to book reservations for on the choicehotel website.
In addition to the Internet, Quality Inn and Suites does market in other ways. Since wedding business is a large part of their revenue, they participate in the Menomonie Wedding Fair and partner with other wedding venues by advertising in their brochures. For example, the Enchanted Barn hands out brochures to their potential brides where Quality Inn & Suites is located as a hotel. They also use highway signs and offer discount coupons at area events. They encourage repeat business from business travelers by using relationship marketing to build loyalty. As important as these are, the Internet still offers the best exposure for their business.