If you’re looking to increase direct bookings, the final months of the year are a valuable opportunity to put your website, offers and marketing to work.
The festive season might still feel a little way off.
But for travellers, the planning has already started.
Some are watching for Black Friday deals. Some are starting to research their end-of-year escape. Others won’t make a decision until much closer to the time.
For tourism businesses, that means there are plenty of potential booking opportunities between now and the end of the year.
And you don’t necessarily need to run a huge Black Friday sale to make the most of them.
Have you considered a seasonal offer to increase direct bookings?
If you haven’t planned a promotion yet, now is a good time to consider whether there’s something worth putting in front of your audience.
It could be a Black Friday deal, a festive-season package, an added-value experience, an incentive to book quiter dates or even a last-minute offer.
The right approach will depend on your business, your availability and what you want to achieve.
And a promotion doesn’t always have to mean a discount. Adding value or giving travellers a reason to book specific dates can be just as relevant.
The important thing is to consider what opportunity this period presents for your business.
And then there's the last-minute traveller
Not every traveller will be planning months ahead.
Some will start searching closer to the festive season. Others may suddenly have a free weekend or decide they’re ready for a getaway.
These travellers are likely to have very different needs from someone researching a holiday months in advance.
They want answers quickly:
- Do you have availability?
- How much does it cost?
- What’s included?
- How do I get there?
- How do I book?
And when you’re looking to increase direct bookings, making that journey as straightforward as possible is key.
Think about who is booking, and when
The final months of the year can bring different types of booking behaviour, and each comes with a slightly different mindset.
The Black Friday Shopper
Looking for a compelling reason to book now, whether that’s a special rate, added value or a limited-time offer.
The festive-season planner
Researching, comparing options and looking for the information they need to confidently plan their trip.
The last-minute booker
Ready to make a decision quickly and looking for availability, pricing and a straightforward booking process.
The early-year traveller
Already looking beyond the festive season and searching for availability and offers for the months ahead.
Your marketing can speak to these different audiences in different ways. But ultimately, they all end up somewhere.
And for many of them, that somewhere will be your website.
Make sure your website is ready for all of them to make direct bookings
Whether someone arrives through a Black Friday campaign, a Google search, social media or a last-minute search for availability, your website needs to support the next step.
If your goal is to increase direct bookings, don’t overlook the basics that can make the difference between someone continuing their journey and leaving your site.
- Rates and availability
- Offers and booking terms
- Booking engine
- Forms and enquiry options
- Mobile experience
- Links and call-to-action
- Important travel and stay information
Then test the journey yourself.
Don't just check that the pages load. Try to book.
A website isn’t just about how it looks. The way information is organised, how easily visitors can navigate it and how clearly the next step is presented all play a role in the booking journey. If you want to explore the difference between web design and user experience in more detail, you can read our article on the difference between web design and user experience.
It’s also worth checking your tracking while you’re there. Make sure important actions such as booking-engine clicks, enquiries, form submissions and bookings are being recorded correctly.
This means you can see more than just how much traffic your campaign generated. You can understand what that traffic actually did and which activity is contributing to direct bookings.
At WildWeb, we often look beyond the headline numbers when assessing digital marketing performance. More website traffic is useful, but what matters is what happens next. Are visitors finding what they need? Are they engaging with your booking journey? Are enquiries coming through? Are campaigns actually helping generate bookings?
That is why tracking should be considered before you increase your marketing activity, not as an afterthought once the campaign is finished.
Is your website ready?
You might decide to run a Black Friday promotion. You might create a festive-season offer. Or you might simply want to make the most of increased demand without discounting at all.
Whatever your approach, now is the time to make sure your digital presence is ready.
Because getting someone to your website is only the beginning.
Your website needs to work for the deal hunter, the careful planner, the last-minute booker and the traveller already thinking about next year.
And if you’re aiming to increase direct bookings, every one of those journeys should lead somewhere clear: towards making a booking directly with you.
Different audiences. Different booking journeys. One website that needs to be ready for all of them.
