Think about the last time you researched hotels online. How satisfied were you with the visual and written content available? For many travel shoppers, the visual experience is less than ideal.

According to a September 2009 Forrester Research report, Poor Content Could Cost Travel eBusiness Money, hotels are particularly vulnerable to losing money due to inadequate online content. Travelers have had enough of the generic, poorly organized, and confusing written and visual content on travel sites. “Just half of US online leisure hotel guests are satisfied [...]

According to Forrester Research, 38% of US online hotel guests — 47.5 million people — avoid staying at hotels that they can afford because they don’t see photos, video, or written content that would make them feel comfortable. These guests are considered ‘content-sensitive’ travelers. They are “young, quality-focused travelers who take more trips and spend [...]

Henry Harteveldt, Forrester Research: Baby Boomers and Seniors make up 42% of content-sensitive travelers, so they’re still a big chunk of the content sensitive market. It is absolutely important for luxury brands to have well-designed, well-executed, relevant content. Written content and still photography will be more useful for this audience than video – though video [...]

Henry Harteveldt, Forrester Research: Our North American Technographics® Travel Online Study, Q1 2009 is the source for the data around the content-sensitive traveler. In this survey, 54% of content-sensitive travelers are women. We don’t have data about who influences the purchase decision in that study, but plan to ask in a future study.

Henry Harteveldt, Forrester Research: Nearly four in 10 hotel guests  are “content-sensitive travelers,” so if your content is inadequate, you risk losing a premium guest. Remember the basics, but don’t overlook details – details matter. Don’t just say a room is a “superior room” and leave it at that. Explain what makes that room better [...]

Join Henry H. Harteveldt, Vice President and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research as he explores the topic of eBusiness for Hoteliers – Panacea or Pain? with a specific focus on the “content-sensitive” segment of online travelers.