Does a hotel's overall digital competence translate into more revenue per available room and a bump in its stock price?
A new report from digital-best-practices firm L2 and Buddy Media suggests there is a positive correlation between the 350 data points that go into their digital competence metrics and both RevPar and stock price.
L2's Digital Index Hotels, the second in an annual series, pinpoints the correlation in the following two charts:
In other findings, the study concluded that:
- Hotel websites with user reviews gave up 38% less traffic to online travel agencies than did sites without such user-generated content;
- Users of hotel sites with "local, curated content" spent an average of 16% more time on these sites than customers visiting hotel sites without such content;
- Large hotel companies with multiple brands had higher digital IQs on average (109 out of a possible 150) than did independent, private hotels (92) and independent brands which are public companies (87);
- 95% of the brands studied deployed both global and property pages on Facebook in 2012, up from 73% a year earlier, and 70% participated on Twitter, compared with 56% a year earlier;
- Two-thirds of the 52 brands rated in the study offer both mobile booking and mobile-optimized websites.
The top 10 hotel brands in the study and their digital IQ were:
1. Four Seasons (150)
2. Hilton (149)
3. Marriott (143)
4. Hyatt (137)
5. The Ritz-Carlton (133)
6. InterContinental (131)
7. Westin (128)
8. Sheraton (126)
9. W Hotels (125)
10. Fairmont (116)
Of the digitally smartest brand, Four Seasons, the study says:
"New site delights and delivers strong visuals, curated itineraries and user reviews.
"Effectively manages multi-property social media communities and creates a cohesive brand experience online.
"Four Seasons is not afraid to experiment with emerging platforms and empowers staff to contribute valuable content."