Member Article

North East tourism businesses warned not to miss out on online bookings

Regional development agency One NorthEast has highlighted that tourism businesses could be missing out on hundreds of pounds of business if they aren’t taking online bookings.

Over £20bn a year is spent on holidays and travel in Europe alone with 64% of all leisure travellers using the internet to make reservations.

Accommodation owners and attractions who aren’t taking online bookings are missing the chance to boost their sales, with businesses switching to online booking seeing business grow by 15% or more.

North East England’s online booking system Desti.ne, which is available free to qualifying businesses, generated over £2m bookings for businesses in the region last year, with over a fifth of bookings coming from overseas.

The regional visitor survey also shows the internet is the most important source of information for people visiting the region after recommendations by friends and family.

Recent research also shows it isn’t just young visitors using the web with visitors in the 55 - 64 age group, who because they have more time on their hands, are most likely to package their own break on the internet.

Louise Davis, One NorthEast’s Head of Tourism and Culture at Regional Development said: “With increasing numbers of potential visitors searching online for holidays, anyone without an online presence risks missing out on a large slice of business.

“Desti.ne Frontdesk provides a simple, cost-effective solution for smaller accommodation and attractions who want to take advantage of the opportunities on the internet and take bookings on line.”

To find out more about online booking and Desti.ne visit: http://www.tourismnortheast.co.uk/site/desti.ne

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .