Web Wednesday Singapore:
A Gathering Of Like-Minded
Web-Spinners

Show Me The eMoney!
Joe Nguyen, Director - Global eCommerce
BLOG: http://ecommerceforhotels.blogspot.com
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Why Is The Online Marketplace
Important For Hotels?
 In the US, 22%, 25%, 28% of all hotel bookings will be
made online in the years 2005, 2006 and 2007. Another
1/4 of hotel bookings will be influenced by the Internet,
but done offline (call Centre, walk-ins, group bookings,
etc). This figure includes Online Travel Agencies (OTA)
as well as direct-to-brand business.
- Source: PhoCusWright US Online Travel Overview Dec 2006.
 By the end of 2010, over 45% of all hotel bookings will
be completed online - Source: Merrill Lynch
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BUT - Where is it coming from?
Meta-
Corporate search
Website Blogs Sites
OTAs
Search
Hotel Engines Social
Website
Networks
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What Is The Online Consumer’s
Buying Cycle?
SHOP
PURCHASE
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How does Web 2.0 affect the online
consumers’ buying cycle ?
 Firstly, WEB 1.0 - what did IT mean?….. TRANSPARENCY
 Consumers are going direct to suppliers, and businesses are going direct to each
other
 Traditional intermediaries (like travel agents) got sidelined by airlines and hotels.
 Information is at the hand of the consumers and end users giving rise to ebay,
amazon, and expedia
 Consumers have more information and more choices; they can SHOP much
easier
 WEB 2.0 means INCREASED TRANSPARENCY
 Not only will end-users see a company’s product, but they will also have a better
idea of how it performs BEFORE they purchase
 They can compare and contrast a hotel’s rates offered across online channels
(online direct vs expedia vs cheaphotels.com vs telephone booking)
 They will know which rooms has a nice view and which room is “haunted”
 Consumers can RESEARCH much easier and better
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What Is The Online Consumer’s
Buying Cycle NOW?
 With the web, research is
now easy, quick, and
immensely insightful
RESEARCH
 Previously, this research
was offline or at best
SHOP going to the hotels’
websites or OTAs sites.
 Web 2.0/Travel 2.0
PURCHASE provides a lot more
information than before
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Research Then SHOP
 How do consumers shop
once they have done their
Research?
RESEARCH
 What tools do they use?
 Where do they go?
SHOP
PURCHASE
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How Do Consumers SHOP?
Direct to Websites
Direct Internet
Booking Engine
Up to 90% Via
Corp Site
Search Engines
Inventory
CRS/PMS
Hotel Site
CRS/GDS/
Extranets
OTAs
Users
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Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Google reported revenues of $11.77 billion for
the first 3 quarters of 2007, representing a
PPC
59% increase the first 3 quarters of 2006
revenues of $7.40 billion.
 Google-owned sites generated revenues of $7.50 billion, or 64% of
total revenues,
PPC
 Google's network generated revenues, through AdSense programs, of
$4.15 billion, or 35% of total revenues
 Revenues from outside of the United States totaled $5.83 billion,
representing 47% of total revenues of the first 3 quarters of 2007
SEO
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M & C Traffic Breakdown - 2007
Graph
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Where Is The eMoney?
Direct to Websites
Direct Internet
Booking Engine
Up to 90% Via
Corp Site
Search Engines
Inventory
CRS/PMS
Hotel Site
CRS/GDS/
Rateview/tiger
OTAs
Users Search Engine Marketing
= eMoney
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Web Wednesday:
A Gathering Of Like-Minded
Web-Spinners

Evolution of Online Travel Share
- HRN launches
- TripAdvisor Founded Hotels.com - IAC buys
- Orbitz Founded - Travelocity goes TripAdvisor
- Travelocity merged back to Sabre - Cendant buys
with Preview Travel Orbitz - Travelport formed;
includes Orbitz &
- Expedia spins - USA Networks >> Octopustravel
- USA Networks -Travelocity buys
off from MS InteractiveCorp (IAC)
buys Expedia LastMinute
- Priceline IPO - IAC buys Hotels.com
- Priceline buys
- Priceline buys
bookings.com
Travelweb
(Merrill Lynch, HeBS, TravelCLICK)
“In 2006 the major hotel brands enjoyed an above the average direct vs.
indirect online ratio of 81.4% vs. 18.6%.” - HeBS
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The Search Engine Marketplace
How many searches are done worldwide and what is the share?
Unique
Searches Search Result Search Visits Share of Result Pages
Items 1 to 98 Searchers
(MM) Pages (MM) Per Searcher Searches Per Search
(000)
Total Internet 66,221 97,728 22.3 788,594 100.0 1.5
All qSearch Properties ... ... ... N/A ... ...
1 Total Internet 66,221 97,728 22.3 788,594 100.0 1.5
2 [P] Google Sites 41,345 58,898 18.5 633,521 62.4 1.4
3 [P] Yahoo! Sites 8,505 12,981 9.4 302,952 12.8 1.5
4 [P] Baidu.com Inc. 3,428 5,391 11.9 67,791 5.2 1.6
5 [P] Microsoft Sites 1,940 2,971 4.7 184,451 2.9 1.5
6 [P] NHN Corporation 1,572 1,970 18.6 21,431 2.4 1.3
7 [P] eBay 1,428 1,852 4.6 108,770 2.2 1.3
8 [P] Time Warner Network 1,062 1,427 4.7 98,494 1.6 1.3
9 [P] Ask Network 728 1,004 3.6 93,853 1.1 1.4
10 [P] Yandex 566 819 13.2 12,503 0.9 1.4
11 [P] Alibaba.com Corporation 531 951 5.8 22,806 0.8 1.8
12 [P] Amazon Sites 493 793 2.7 79,152 0.7 1.6
13 [P] FACEBOOK.COM 465 786 4.1 38,919 0.7 1.7
14 [P] Fox Interactive Media 420 866 3.6 48,356 0.6 2.1
15 [P] Lycos Sites 408 662 8.1 18,365 0.6 1.6
16 [P] Sohu.com Inc. 225 453 4.5 13,696 0.3 2.0
17 [P] CRAIGSLIST.ORG 224 1,059 6.2 12,582 0.3 4.7
18 [P] Wikipedia Sites 215 253 2.3 47,646 0.3 1.2
19 [P] TENCENT Inc. 213 348 5.0 18,933 0.3 1.6
20 [P] FRIENDSTER.COM 173 273 5.5 13,454 0.3 1.6
Source: comScore Networks; Worldwide data for December 2007; qSearch Key Measures Report
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CGM Changes Minds of Online
Travel Buyers
 51 percent of respondents used CGM (Consumer
Generated Media) to help narrow a choice
 23 percent employed consumer-created information to
confirm a decision
 15 percent used it to pick their top choice.
 21.2 percent of travel purchaser surveyed said consumer
review sites influenced their choices, while 11.3 percent
noted online advice from consumers did so.
 Advice from family and friends and corporate Web sites,
however, had more impact. Friends and relatives
influenced 38.3 percent of participants, and around one-
third said company sites had an effect.
Source: The ClickZ Network, Dec 14, 2006
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