Christmas is a time for presents, foods and spending quality time with the ones we love. But not too much quality time, according to recent findings from Hotelchamp’s data science team.
What the data says
Upon examining the websites of over 100 hotels worldwide leading up to and during the Christmas period of 2016 and 2017, data shows that whilst desktop visits plunge, mobile website visits soar high over the holidays. The data looks at the number of desktop sessions vs mobile sessions, with a session being defined as the activity on a hotel website in a 30 minute window.
On any given week, desktop sessions see a decline when the weekend is approaching. This can be naturally explained by the simple fact that many of us spend our office hours on a desktop, and it would stand to reason that desktop sessions decline once the weekend comes around. Similarly, Hotelchamp’s data shows that we step away from our desktops to a greater extent during the holidays to spend time with our family. But, with the Internet at your fingertips, it seems we just can’t shake the habit of surfing the web – even if it is just to get some quiet alone time from the family.
What this means for your hotel?
These findings offer some compelling insights about your website visitors. Firstly, it shows that potential hotel guests are visiting your website and collecting information from a mobile device. This in turn offers us another crucial insight – the mobile version of your website must be flawless. The user experience on your website is of utmost importance for attracting potential guests, so make sure the mobile version of your website is as foolproof as your desktop version. If you want a few quick and easy tips on how to give your mobile website version an upgrade, make sure to check out our blog post on the subject by clicking here.
You can also reflect upon what this data more broadly means for your business. The holiday season, with more-than-usual family time, can be strenuous for many. This might serve as an explanation for why people are so eager to look at holiday offers around Christmas. But a static mobile conversion rate during this period suggests that your mobile website visitors are not necessarily booking their stays – they are browsing. This insight is valuable and can play a crucial role in a multi-touch booking strategy, where a direct booking is achieved through multiple visits. Hotelchamp offers the ability to save visitors’ search details from mobile and email it to them, providing a reminder and link to revisit the hotel website from a desktop with a higher likelihood of conversion.
Why is this happening?
The data corroborates with the constructed hypotheses:
Visitors are with family over the holiday period and are checking hotels on their mobile rather on desktopData shows us that we are actively stepping away from our desktops and putting the workload aside for the festive season. But that doesn’t stop us from surfing the web entirely. With a smartphone in every pocket, the Internet is easily accessible – and might even serve as a much-needed timeout device for when the family gatherings become too intense.
Visitors are planning trips for the new year togetherAn explanation for these specific findings could lie in the hypotheses that families are planning a trip in the coming New Year, and looking into viable vacation options together. We may not be by our desktops over the Christmas period, but that doesn’t stop us from dreaming and mobile surfing for holiday options for the new year.
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