2024 hospitality benchmark report
Web capture – APAC
Web capture – APAC
In this chapter you will find
In this chapter you will find
Introduction
Introduction
The web capture channel represents how hoteliers collect guest data from across their online footprint — including review sites, OTAs, and their own brand page — and activate this data to drive direct revenue. Revinate collects web capture data in the form of reputation management as well as website and cart abandonment.
A data-driven approach to web capture and reputation management gives hoteliers the power to take control of the guest experience by understanding and applying guest feedback and online behavior at scale. In turn, they drive more revenue: one study found that a 1-star increase in online ratings can lead to a 2.2-3% increase in monthly revenue. And a Cornell study found that hotels that respond to 40-45% of reviews may see their booking revenue increase by 2.2x compared to those who don’t answer their reviews at all.
With reputation management, hoteliers monitor their hotel rating across review sites and respond to reviews. We’ll explore how benchmarks for reputation management vary across region, room count, and hotel class.
Website and cart abandonment refers to guests and potential guests who browse your website, enter the booking engine, but ultimately don’t complete their reservation. The cart abandonment rate for hotels is 80% – meaning one in five guests who start a reservation won’t finish. That’s a lot of revenue slipping through the cracks.
Abandonment can happen for lots of reasons — better rates, a change of plans, or just plain old distraction. Hoteliers can capture these visitors’ email addresses from the booking engine alongside browsing information and use that data to send targeted messages and win back lost revenue. We’ll share benchmarks for open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue per booking from cart abandonment campaigns.
Downloads
Downloads
APAC web capture benchmarks
APAC web capture benchmarks
The purpose of these benchmarks is to help hoteliers evaluate their own performance, identify areas for improvement, and set realistic goals. Within the web capture category, we’ll share global benchmarks for reputation management and cart abandonment campaigns.
Reputation management: Benchmarks for review volume, top review sites, average ratings, and more
Reputation management: Benchmarks for review volume, top review sites, average ratings, and more
The difference between a #1 spot on Tripadvisor and #10 spot can be the difference between a thriving property and a floundering one. That’s no surprise, since location, price, and reviews are the top three factors in booking decisions. As such, hoteliers that actively manage their reputation across review sites with data have an advantage.
Quick links
Hotel review volume | Hotel review volume – APAC | Hotel review volume by hotel class | Top review sites | Average hotel rating | Average hotel rating – APAC | Average hotel rating by hotel size | Average hotel rating by hotel class | Review response rate | Review response rate – APAC | Review response rate by hotel size | Review response rate by hotel class
Hotel review volume
In APAC, the average number of reviews a hotel receives each month increased by a whopping 45.3%, from 65 to 94. Meanwhile in EMEA and North America, review volume rose by 4.4% and 4.1% respectively. Both APAC and EMEA receive significantly more reviews per month compared to North America. This tracks with global trends in occupancy rates.
Hotel review volume – APAC
Within APAC, only Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) had a review growth rate below the global average of 12.8%, with an increase in monthly review volume of 8%. However, with 66 new reviews per month on average, they are still ahead of the global benchmark of 64. Meanwhile, South East Asia (SEA), India, and the rest of APAC showed huge gains in review volumes – with the latter segment showing an 80% increase from 2022. Hotels in India had more than double the monthly reviews of their APAC counterparts.
Hotel review volume by hotel class
All hotel classes in APAC saw their monthly review volume increase by more than 30%. Luxury and Upper Upscale hotels had both more reviews per month on average and even greater increases in 2023 compared to Upscale, Upper Midscale, Midscale, and Economy properties. Remember, more — and better — reviews don’t just happen on their own. You need to ask for them.
Try checking in mid-stay (the messaging channel is especially apt for this) to see how a guest’s stay is going. This way, you’ll have time to address and resolve any issues that may have come up. Then, solicit guest reviews after checkout with automated emails, and watch the five-star reviews come rolling in.
Top review sites
Hoteliers also need to prioritize the review sites with the most visibility in order to use staff time efficiently. In APAC, Google takes the prize for the largest share of reviews. The other top players include Booking.com and Tripadvisor. But aside from these top 3 sites, which are heavy-hitters around the globe, APAC hoteliers should also pay attention to regional players like Ctrip, which holds a 12.3% share of the area’s review volume.
Average hotel rating
In 2023, APAC increased its average hotel rating from 4.3 to 4.4. APAC hoteliers also boast the highest hotel ratings in the world for two years in a row. Within the region, India secured the highest ratings of all with an average of 4.6.
Average hotel rating – APAC
This is good news after a difficult 2022, when we reported a slight dip in average ratings across APAC compared to 2021. 2022 was a challenging year for hoteliers, as recovering occupancy and resurgent ADR combined with a staffing shortage contributed to decreased guest satisfaction. While staffing challenges continued into 2023, this rise in average hotel ratings is an encouraging sign that hoteliers are adapting to meet guest expectations.
Average hotel rating by hotel size
When we examine changes in hotel rating by room count, properties with more than 200 rooms held the best ratings at 4.5 on average. Managing reputation for large properties in particular requires a data-driven approach with advanced reporting and automation.
Average hotel rating by hotel class
Comparing average hotel ratings by class, we see that Economy hotels achieved the largest gains. Still, ratings and hotel class are roughly correlated, with Luxury hotels receiving the highest ratings and Economy hotels the lowest.
Review response rate
One effective strategy to improve your rating is to engage with reviews. A Cornell study has shown that responding to reviews, especially negative ones, can positively impact customers’ perception of a business and result in higher scores. In fact, 78% of customers state that seeing management responses to online reviews made them feel like the business values their opinion. Revinate recommends that hoteliers respond to 100% of negative reviews, and about half of positive reviews as a best practice. Learn more tips for managing your reputation in our guide, “How to respond to hotel reviews.”
Review response rate – APAC
In APAC, the average review response rate in 2023 was 58%, down -4.3% from 2022. However, APAC hoteliers still respond to more reviews on average — 58% of them — than hoteliers in other regions. The same Cornell study revealed that hotels that respond to 40-45% of reviews may increase their booking revenue by 2.2x compared to hotels that don’t answer reviews at all. However, responding to more than 40-45% of reviews had diminishing returns. Clearly, APAC hoteliers are exceeding this threshold and actively engaging with their guests on review sites.
Review response rate by hotel size
When analyzing review response rates by room count, hotels with more than 100 rooms responded to a higher percentage of their reviews than properties with fewer rooms. Hotels with 1-50 rooms had the most significant drop in their response rate, but still stayed within the recommended margin.
Review response rate by hotel class
While response rates went down in the region overall, Upper Upscale, Upscale, and Upper Midscale hotels increased their rates slightly. Economy hotels had the largest shift in their response rates, dropping by -7%. Use this benchmark data to see how your hotel matches up with your peers.
Remember, guests leave reviews when asked to, so make sure you ask often and at the right moment — after they’ve completed an excellent stay. Respond to both positive and negative reviews to show that you take guest feedback seriously. More reviews and higher rankings can lead directly to more bookings.
Cart abandonment: Benchmarks for open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue
Cart abandonment: Benchmarks for open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue
Cart abandonment campaigns are one of hoteliers’ richest opportunities to win incremental direct revenue from the same volume of website traffic. For every 100 people that enter the booking engine, only about 20 will complete their reservations. Instead of letting the other 80 go, a simple follow-up email should secure another 11 bookings, using the APAC regional average conversion rate of 14%.
Quick links
Cart abandonment overview
Engagement benchmarks — open rates and click-through rates — for cart abandonment campaigns are higher than average at 71% and 29% respectively. The regional averages for all email campaigns, meanwhile, are a 37.1% open rate and a 4% click-through rate. At 14%, cart abandonment conversion rates also significantly outperform the APAC regional average conversion rate of 0.9% for campaigns of all types.
Cart abandonment – APAC
At 14%, cart abandonment conversion rates also significantly outperform the APAC regional average conversion rate of 0.9% for campaigns of all types. Australia and New Zealand exceed the APAC regional benchmarks for click-through rates and conversion rates, while South East Asia is slightly under.
Average booking value and room nights booked
So, what does this all mean for your bottom line? Each reservation from a cart abandonment campaign averages three room nights and $874 in booking revenue. Using our example above, that would equate to 33 room nights and $9,614 of incremental direct revenue.
Looking for inspiration on how to improve your cart abandonment campaigns? Check out our guide, “Top 10 strategies to recover revenue from website and cart abandonment,” with example campaigns from top properties around the world.
