Gulliver Ireland Reports Growth in 2004 Online B&B; Bookings While Overall B&B; Bookings Fall Over Past Four Years
The Irish Bed & Breakfast (B&B;) sector can arrest the decline in overall bookings of the last few years by embracing today’s generation of effective tourism marketing to compete effectively for the tourist pound, euro and dollar, according to Dr Stewart Stephens, Managing Director, Gulliver Ireland who was speaking today [10th August 2004] at the publication of the company’s review of the Irish B&B; sector. Gulliver Ireland is Ireland’s leading cost effective provider of tourism information and reservations.
Dr. Stephens said, “There is no doubt that the sector is struggling in a much more competitive market with the number of registered B&Bs; down by over 16% nationwide in the last three years. Costs are up and budget hotels are competing aggressively for the same segment. This is exacerbated by slack demand and heavy discounting. Hotels have much more options in terms of yield management, and this can be seen in the way relative prices have moved in recent years.”
In 2001, the average per person rate on Gulliver for a Dublin B&B; was €32.83, compared with €37.18 today – an increase of 13%. Over the same period, 3 star hotel rates in Dublin have actually come down by 7%, from €58.44 to €54.53.
The difference outside Dublin is even more marked. Three star hotel prices have dropped by around 7% since 2001, while B&B; prices have increased by almost 20% in the same period.
Dr. Stephens added, “Our analysis bears out what the hotel sector has been saying – Ireland has become expensive, but the cost of accommodation is not the problem.”
Gulliver Ireland reported that it processed more than 10,000 online bookings for B&Bs; during the January to July 2004 period which represented a 53 per cent increase in bookings on the same period in 2003. These online bookings were valued at €1.5 million, a 65 per cent increase in value on the same period last year.
In addition, GoIreland.com, Gulliver Ireland’s portal which is the premier online shop window for Irish tourism businesses and the leading consumer site for tourist information and reservations, witnessed growth of more than 100 per cent in B&B; bookings for the same period this year. Almost 50 per cent of all GoIreland.com bookings now made are for the B&B; sector.
However, the company noted that there has been a significant overall drop in B&B; bookings across all booking channels over the past four years. The Gulliver booking channels used are the Gulliver Call Centre, the network of Tourist Information Offices and the Internet. The B&B; sector received nearly 50 per cent of all bookings in 2001 while in 2004, to date, this has fallen to just over 35 per cent. Meanwhile, the company said that the growth in hotel sector bookings is evident with an abundance of affordable three-star properties available that provide leisure and other facilities.
When analysing the regional spread of B&B; bookings since 2001, Gulliver Ireland said that there is a sizable decrease in B&B; bookings in County Dublin. These fell from 23 per cent in 2001 to 19 per cent this year.
However, the company reported that B&B; reservations in the West and the South West do not appear to be dropping to the extent that recent reports have suggested.
Dr. Stephens attributes the performance of Gulliver B&B; bookings in these and other regions to Gulliver’s active facilitation and promotion of small accommodation suppliers such as B&Bs.; This allows B&B; providers to “enter the global online tourism playing field” which would otherwise be unattainable through their own private website.
Gulliver Ireland’s analysis of B&B; bookings versus other accommodation categories across all Gulliver booking channels from 2001 to 2004 was as follows:
% Booking Volumes by Category |
| Category |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004(*) |
| B&B; |
47% |
41% |
38% |
37% |
| Guesthouses |
12% |
10% |
11% |
12% |
| Hostel |
5% |
3% |
3% |
3% |
| Hotel |
26% |
33% |
36% |
37% |
| Self Catering |
10% |
12% |
12% |
11% |
| Total |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
The regional breakdown of B&B; bookings across all Gulliver booking channels for 2001 to 2004 was as follows:
% Regional Breakdown of B&B; Bookings |
| Region |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004(*) |
| Dublin Tourism |
23% |
20% |
21% |
19% |
| Ireland West |
22% |
23% |
22% |
21% |
| Midlands East |
7% |
6% |
7% |
7% |
| North West |
5% |
6% |
6% |
6% |
| NITB (**) |
4% |
3% |
5% |
6% |
| Shannon |
9% |
12% |
10% |
11% |
| South East |
13% |
13% |
12% |
13% |
| South West |
18% |
17% |
17% |
18% |
| Total |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
(*) This is an annualised figure based on bookings in 2004 to date.
(**) Northern Ireland Tourist Board. |
Calling on the tourism industry to introduce meaningful initiatives that will assist the B&B; sector, Gulliver Ireland announced that it is launching Phase 2 of its GoIreland.com Marketing Opportunities Programme this month. This will provide the B&B; sector and other accommodation providers with the opportunity to market more effectively on the Internet by gaining access to 50,000 weekly unique users. Significantly, participants in Phase 1 of the Programme benefited from a 228 per cent average growth in booking volume.
Dr. Stephens added, “The B&B; sector has to look hard at how bookings are generated, and what channels give the best return. If the B&B; sector is to remain as the heartbeat of Irish tourism, it needs focused tourism industry initiatives specifically designed for the sector. In particular, it needs to embrace the Internet, and that does not mean doing the same old things online as well as in print. It means actively positioning the B&B; product as part of the destination brand online. A B&B; is not a product – the experience is the product, and a list of B&Bs;, online or offline, is not product marketing.
Dr. Stephens concluded, “We have shown that its possible to grow B&B; bookings even in the toughest years. Its not going to be easy, but it can be done”.
