Hotel booking process design & usability

Target audience 
This report is aimed at: 
• Hotel groups or agencies who create their own bespoke booking engines or websites 
• Travel distribution companies, such as GDSs (Global Distribution Systems), with online 
booking-engine products 
• Other companies, such as web design agencies, with an interest in online hotel 
reservations 
The report primarily focuses on the issues relevant for: 
• Leisure bookers (B2C bookers) 
Travel UCD - consultants in travel and hospitality website design 
http://www.travelucd.com 
 
© Travel UCD Limited 2003. All Rights Reserved. 
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Hotel booking process design & usability 
Travel UCD – February 2003 
• Independent business travellers (B2B bookers), who exhibit similar behaviour as leisure 
bookers 
Travel agency systems and business travel booking-engines (which require travel policy rules) 
are excluded from this analysis. Factors relating to group reservations are also excluded. 
This report does not address the behind-the-scenes technical aspects of hotel reservation systems.
That makes it an ideal introduction to hotel reservation websites – for marketing, web design and 
hotel industry personnel who have no specific industry or online web design knowledge. 
Definitions 
The following website definitions are used throughout this report: 
Travel agency website: A website that offers more products than simple hotel booking 
functionality (e.g. car hire, flights) – for example Travelocity.com, Expedia.co.uk, Orbitz.com. 
Hotel booking agency website: A website that takes hotel bookings / reservations as its primary 
business – for example Hotels.com, Placestostay.com, Lodging.com 
Hotel chain website: A website specifically for a hotel chain – for example Hilton.com, 
Marriott.com