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Availpro officially presented its booking engine for Facebook at a press conference entitled “Make Facebook a true sales channel for your hotel”. Facebook’s Sales Manager, David Zanazaka, was present at the conference, attended by more than 100 hotels. From March 14, 2011, internet users will be able to directly book on the hotel’s Facebook page, using Availpro’s booking engine.
Up until now, hotel owners have seen Facebook as a social medium for keeping their friends/customers (and, in turn, the friends of their friends) updated on their offers or news. This was limited as it meant that, for them to actually make a booking, they would have to log in to the hotel’s official website, with all the risks of diversion that this entails. Aware of the financial importance of on-line booking for hotels, Facebook developed its technical language to allow for rooms to be sold directly from the hotel pages.
At the March 1st conference, David Zanazaka, Facebook’s Sales Manager, reminded attendees of the potential of this medium for hotel owners: “Facebook proposes an array of marketing solutions (Premium, Reach Block, Marketplace) which will allow companies to make themselves better known and/or create traffic on their Facebook page.
Combined with a booking tool such as the one from Availpro, Facebook will enable hotel owners to directly convert their friends and fans from their page into customers. A Nielsen Brandlift survey has revealed that intention to purchase is multiplied by 4 on Facebook compared to a classic medium.”
Already 50 hotels, including California hotel in Paris, use Availpro’s engine on their Facebook page. This now includes a “Booking” tab and the available offers are directly displayed on Facebook’s page. As of March 14, all hotel owners will be able to install the engine on Facebook from Availpro’s management extranet, very simply and with no cost.
During the conference, Antoine Buhl, Availpro’s technical manager, clearly expressed the company’s position: “With 27 million active users in the United Kingdom and 1,7 in Ireland, Facebook is clearly one of the major players in on-line booking for the future. As a specialist in the area, we owe it to ourselves to be the forerunners. The technical advances that will be made on Facebook in the future with iFrames will enable us to integrate our engine further still.” Even if hotel owners know how necessary it is to follow this route, they are not sure what results to expect and how to measure results in terms of sales. Thanks to Availpro Tracker’s free feature, they will be able to track results in real time regarding bookings made through their Facebook page (and other actions, billed referencing, e-mailing actions, etc.).
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
