As you know we invite all guests to give feedback following their stay. We take this opportunity to find out views on our booking process, functionality of our website and the services we offer, using this information to add to our web development schedule. From the most recent feedback we have added 3 enhancements to our website.
One of the main things we hear from visitors to the website when we respond to an enquiry is that they look at several properties across several websites and find it difficult to remember which website a specific property was on and which properties they have enquired about.
As you will remember we recently added a ‘one click’ option of emailing details of a specific property to a friend or themselves, bookmarking a property page or printing the page off. To expand on this, and ensure we maximise the trail back to our website, we have added a wish list feature. Visitors can now build a wish list of holiday accommodation as they browse and email the list to themselves, a friend or family member. We would hope to see an increase in returning visitors to the site with this addition with a proportional uplift in conversions into bookings.
Another popular request is for nightly accommodation outside the area, to help break up a long journey to the Highlands, or within the area to add a day or two in another part of Highlands as an addition to the main self catering booking. To accommodate this extra flexibility requirement we have added a hotel page to the website that’s works in partnership with Laterooms.com. The is designed not to move away from our core self catering business but to add extra flexibility that will help support an increasing demand from mainly overseas enquiries which now account for 13% of all traffic – an increase in 7% from last year’s enquiries and 11% from 2009 overseas enquiries. This feature will allow overseas guests to book accommodation anywhere around the world and may help in making the journey to the Highlands easier to organise from one website.
The last of the current enhancements is the addition of direct link advertising for accommodation and travel related services. The aim is to build on the ‘one stop shop’ principle where guests can take care of all of their holiday requirements through our website.
At present we will show graphic based advertising links to British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, NetFlights, P&O Ferries, The Trainline, Europcar Car Rental, Hertz Car Rental, Flexinet travel Insurance and Columbus travel Insurance.
We are asked many times for postcode details for holiday homes as many guests arrange a Tesco grocery home delivery on their arrival day. We are considering whether this is a service we wish to facilitate and may start offering direct linking to order groceries. Rather than have direct linking from our website it is likely that linking information will be provided as part of the final confirmation email. The jury is out on this one at the moment.
We will expand on the available range of services bookable via the website and hope to have Easyjet, Flybe & Ryan Air available soon.
As always we will keep you informed of enhancements to our website as they roll out.
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