The popularity of online travel platforms is easily explained by a simple fact: platforms make European hotels more successful. Europe is the number one travel destination for international tourists. With a large part of demand coming from abroad, European hoteliers need to be visible to travelers around the globe.
Online travel platforms offer a risk-free and cost-effective way for hotels to market themselves to international travelers. Platforms invest in technology, multi-language customer service, and global marketing. Hotels are free to use this service as much or as little as they wish. In general, only when a successful booking takes place via an online travel platform do hotels pay a fee. In economic terms, platforms create scale efficiencies, which to a significant extent are passed on to hotel partners.
As a result, hotels experience higher occupancy levels and benefit from reduced customer acquisition costs. In fact, for every hotelier who believes platforms have a negative impact, four others agree that partnering with digital platforms leads to lower customer acquisition costs. Three-quarters of European accommodations agree that online travel platforms make their businesses more profitable, contributing significantly to the success of Europe’s entire travel sector.
