Utell® Hotels & Resorts Research Indicates Travellers are turning to Independent Hotels

Inaugural “Utell Us 2007” Survey reveals 92 per cent of UK travellers find the hotel brand least important when choosing accommodation. Personal service is still important despite the increase in online hotel reservations.

LONDON (30 May 2007)

Utell® Hotels & Resorts, a service of Pegasus Solutions, today announced the findings of its Utell Us 2007 survey, designed to uncover the hotel booking habits and trends of the UK’s business and leisure travellers. The results reveal that consumers are turning more to independent hotels for leisure and business trips, with 92 per cent of respondents considering the hotel brand to be least important when choosing accommodation.

Peter Fitzgerald, president of Utell Hotels and Resorts, commented: “The Utell Us survey demonstrates that UK consumers want originality and choice in their accommodation as well as flexibility and security in how they book. The results further underline the mission we have always had at Utell to provide a diverse range of independent hotels, making finding and booking accommodation easy, safe and reliable.”

“The survey also reveals that despite the advent of the web 2.0 generation, personal service when booking accommodation is still important to travellers, which is encouraging for travel agents.”

The Utell Us 2007 study surveyed more than 1,600 business and leisure travellers in the UK. The research was conducted as Utell launched its new Collections programme, a strong portfolio of independent hotels each designed to promote hotels offering similar levels of quality, products, services and activities around the world. The new segmentation of the Utell hotel portfolio allows agents to quickly identify appropriate hotels for their customers and to sell them more efficiently and professionally. In turn, participating hotels are able to raise awareness of the services and attract high-spending customers, potentially increasing low-season RevPAR and generating incremental F&B revenue.

Additional Utell Us 2007 survey findings include:

Location drives business travellers above all
When looking at the hotel booking behaviour of business travellers, the survey revealed that location is their prime concern when choosing accommodation (84 per cent). The results indicate a convenient location situated near transport links or the site for a business meeting is the key to successful business travel. Those travelling for business also place more importance in hotels offering an easy reservation process (36 per cent compared to 27 per cent for those who don’t travel on business). This highlights the importance of time to business travellers; they need to make their travel arrangements as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Business travellers are unconcerned about hotel brands
More than half of those who travel for business are unconcerned about the type of hotel they stay in, with 56 per cent having no preference over hotels that are part of a chain or independent hotels. This move away from the big hotel brands suggests that when choosing a hotel for business purposes, today’s traveller is more independent, focusing on booking a hotel in the right location in the most efficient way possible.

Travellers are seeking independence
The survey confirms the increasing trend towards independent hotels, with 92 per cent of respondents stating they are not concerned about a hotel’s brand with 15 per cent actively preferring to stay in independent hotels. This is a phenomenon championed by the older generation who are the most likely group to make a reservation with an independent hotel, confirming the appeal of the range of unique, bespoke or boutique hotels and resorts. 19 per cent of the over 55 age group prefers to stay in independent hotels compared to just 11 per cent of 16-24 year olds.

Security fears do not dampen appetite for travel
Travellers are not deterred by security fears from going on holiday; the research found that only five per cent of all age groups were worried about security when travelling. Surprisingly, the younger generation were the most anxious, with one in ten (11 per cent) finding security the most stressful element of a holiday compared to just 4 per cent of the over 55 age group. The research reminds us that although security threats continue to raise concerns for travellers, they do not seem to significantly change the way we choose to manage our travel.

Online reservations increase
As expected, the British public is continuing to embrace the internet age with more travellers now preferring to reserve their hotels online than through traditional booking methods. Of those polled, more than half (57 per cent) preferred to book their hotel accommodation online, either with the hotel directly or via a travel booking website. The results indicate online bookings were more popular with younger travellers, with 61 per cent of 16-24 year olds preferring to book online compared to just 55 per cent of those over 55 years.

Personal service is still important however; in contrast to the younger generation, the over 55 age group is more inclined to book accommodation by telephone (20 per cent) compared with 25-34 year olds (12 per cent). In addition, business travellers are more likely to book hotels over the phone than leisure travellers (18 per cent compared to 14 per cent).

Women more cautious when booking online
The results indicate women are much more concerned about inaccurate product descriptions online than men, with 31 per cent citing this as a reason for not booking accommodation online, compared to just 19 per cent of men. This scepticism might stem from the fact that women are much more likely than men to book accommodation based on hotel facilities; 61 per cent of women rate it as a key factor, whereas only 43 per cent of men are swayed by hotel facilities.

The ‘Utell Us 2007’ research was conducted as Utell launched its new Collections. The first to launch are Utell Golf (see www.UtellGolf.com), Utell Spa (see www.UtellSpa.com), Utell Luxury and Utell Boutique with further Collections planned for launch over the coming months. Each of the Collections has been designed to promote hotels offering similar levels of quality, products, services and activities around the world, making it easy for travel agents and consumers to find the most suitable hotel for their specific needs.

For further information, please contact:

Utell Press Office
Mango PR Ltd
Tel: +44 (0) 20 74212507
Email: utell@mangopr.co.uk

About Utell Hotels and Resorts
Utell Hotels & Resorts, a service of Pegasus Solutions, has a portfolio of 3,600 hotels in more than 130 countries worldwide, offering diverse products and services to suit every traveler’s accommodation needs, whether they are travelling for business or leisure. Established more than 75 years ago, Utell is regarded by travel agents as ‘the hotel people’ and look to us when organising hotels for their customers.

About Pegasus
Dallas-based Pegasus Solutions, Inc. is a global leader in providing technology and services to hotels and travel distributors. Founded in 1989, Pegasus’ customers include a majority of the world’s travel agencies and more than 78,000 hotel properties around the globe. Pegasus’ services include central reservation systems, electronic distribution services, commission processing and payment services, and marketing representation services, including the consumer Web site, www.hotelbook.com. The company’s representation services, including Utell® Hotels & Resorts and Unirez by Pegasus™, are used by more than 9,300 member hotels in more than 130 countries, making Pegasus the hotel industry’s largest third-party marketing and reservations provider. Pegasus has 16 offices in 11 countries, including regional hubs in London, Singapore and Scottsdale, Arizona. For more information, please visit www.pegs.com.

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