Competition has never been higher in France’s capital. According to TripAdvisor, visitors now have the choice of over 2,300 hotels, with over 100 5-star and nearly 500 4-star properties alone. The Parisian market appears to be recovering well after the events of 2015/2016 with ever-increasing tourist numbers and 17% RevPAR growth (Deloitte and STR) reported in September 2018.
This has resulted in a positive, buoyant, outlook for the city. Indeed, 2018 was a very strong year for our Parisian clients, with one high end city centre 5-star hotel enjoying 27% growth in direct revenue year-on-year and 34% growth in revenue from paid channels (PPC, display and Metasearch advertising).
However, in terms of website performance, what should Paris’ luxury hoteliers benchmark against?
BENCHMARKING PARIS HOTELS
Our free hotel benchmarking service, evaluates the very latest analytics data for 4 and 5 star hotels around the world, including some of the finest 5 star hotels in Paris. Among many interesting insights, our benchmark data for 2019-to-date has helped to reveal the answers to these 3 common questions.
1. WHAT MONTHLY WEBSITE TRAFFIC DOES A LUXURY PARIS HOTEL TYPICALLY RECEIVE?
The average monthly website traffic for 5 star hotels in Paris between January and July 2019 was 14,106 sessions.
This is actually relatively low by comparison to Europe’s 5 star hotel average of 31,719 sessions during the same period. For further comparison, we note that the average monthly traffic for a London 5 star property was 46,408 sessions.
Interestingly, there’s quite a range in performance within Paris; the top performing 5 star hotel achieved an average of just over 54,000 sessions per month and the lowest performer achieved an average of just over 1,600 sessions.
2. DESKTOP, MOBILE OR TABLET – WHAT’S DRIVING THE MOST REVENUE?
So far in 2019 (January – July) Paris 5 star hoteliers within our benchmark database saw desktop contribute revenue of 74.1%, mobile 16.9% and tablet 9.0%.
Again, as comparison, European 5 star hotels saw a revenue split of 72.0% from desktop, 16.4% mobile and 11.6% tablet. Of course, this is booking data from travellers around the world booking Paris 5 star hotels, as well as domestic travellers. London shows a similar picture with a revenue split of 73.7% desktop, 15.3% mobile and 11.0% tablet.
In March 2018, we conducted a study into ‘The Mobile Booking Trends of Luxury Hotels‘ that observed a desktop, mobile, tablet revenue split of 78.5%, 10.2% and 11.3% respectively across our entire benchmark index. Reinforcing industry reports on booking trends, it would seem that desktop and tablet revenue is declining, with mobile bookings continuing to rise (albeit a little slower for the London market).
3. WHAT’S A ‘GOOD’ WEBSITE CONVERSION RATE FOR A LUXURY HOTEL IN PARIS?
The websites of 5 star hotels in Paris are converting at an average of 0.65%.
The European average for the year to date has been 0.59% so despite website traffic being less than half of the European average, Paris would appear to be enjoying a stronger conversion rate. As final comparison, we see the competitive London market converting at 0.53% year-to-date.
IN SUMMARY
PWC identified Paris as a European city ‘best placed to grow‘ in 2018/19 and the market does seem to be performing well in terms of online conversion. However, website traffic being half of the European average outlines a clear opportunity to improve. In addition, the percentage of revenue driven by mobile continues to increase, outlining the importance of responsive website design and a considered user journey for smartphone users.
Strong and sustained digital marketing campaigns alongside strategic revenue management that leaves nothing on the table will be absolutely vital for those hoteliers looking to thrive in the ‘city of light’ during the remainder of 2019 and beyond.
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