AcceptHotels

Location:

Thailand

Partnership period:

2017-2020

Industry:

Travel and Hospitality

Technologies:

PHP, MySQL, Elasticsearch, AWS, Javascript, Hotelbeds API, Application, DevOps, Security Management, Data & Analytics, Site Reliability Services, SaaS Solutions,

Team Size:

1 Manager, 4 Frontend Developer, 3 Backend Developer, 2 Database Engineer, 1 DevOps Engineer

Competitive Environment

The client was struggling to compete in the crowded online travel and hospitality industry. Major OTAs like Booking.com and Expedia dominated the market share for accommodation bookings with their enormous reach, advanced platforms, and aggressive advertising investment.

As an independent agency attracting far less traffic, the client relied heavily on offering niche inventory not listed on the big OTAs. However, their website platform was outdated, clunky, and not built with modern user experience and conversion principles in mind. This hindered their ability to effectively showcase beautiful boutique properties and the uniqueness of their offerings.

Core issues included non-mobile friendly design losing bookings, lack of engaging visuals like photo galleries and 3D tours that travelers relied on during their decision process, and no personalization or recommendations based on intent and history. Their open rate and booking conversion metrics significantly lagged industry benchmarks. With online booking growth accelerating across global markets, failing to improve their digital presence posed an existential threat long-term.

Problem Statement

The outdated, clunky website failed to effectively showcase, differentiate, and attract visitors to book the client's niche property inventory.

Non-mobile friendly design caused high bounce rates and lost bookings in the critical path to purchase. It lacked modern features and visual content travelers relied on like photo galleries, 3D tours, and descriptive amenities. Generic presentation rarely highlighted each property's unique characteristics. The search was primitive with very limited filtering capabilities, and the booking workflow involved too many cumbersome steps. Technical shortcomings included poor page load speeds, lack of responsiveness across devices, and no structured data for SEO.

To address these UX gaps and compete for modern travelers’ attention, an updated platform needed to be built from scratch focused on visual storytelling and frictionless booking.

Solution and Objectives

The proposed solution was to develop a fast-loading, visually polished SaaS booking platform showcasing properties attractively using API integrations.

The completely custom-built platform would leverage technical strengths to overcome UX weaknesses in the old website while differentiating from major OTAs. Intuitive search, filtering, and comparison features would enable visitors to easily explore niche inventory matching their criteria. Property listings and details pages would spotlight engaging photos, 3D tours, amenities, and unique characteristics to capture attention and build excitement. Simple, elegant controls would guide visitors through date selection, room options, guest numbers, and cost breakdowns when they’re ready to book.

Understanding the client caters to independent boutique property owners as an agency, easy-to-use management tools were included for owners to efficiently manage expanded online distribution presence and bookings. By focusing on presentation, personalization, and conversion in addition to widening the distribution pipeline, the goal was to increase annual online booking volume 2x year over year.

Technology Planning

To support the platform requirements, a modern, cloud-based technology stack was selected. Amazon Web Services (AWS) would host the backend and frontend infrastructure for scalability, durability, and elasticity. AWS services like EC2, S3, RDS, and Cognito were provisioned to maximize reliability.

Leveraging MySQL and NoSQL databases balanced efficient relational data storage with the ability to handle growing unstructured property content. Node.js and Express were chosen as lightweight server-side frameworks in JavaScript for optimum development speed and REST API efficiency. Modern React front-end architecture allowed flexible, modular components to enhance UI/UX. API integrations utilized techniques like caching, background processing, and retry mechanisms to handle transient issues or high demand.

In anticipation of unforeseen spikes in website traffic, horizontal scaling mechanisms were designed to ensure continuity of experience. Git version control and CI/CD automation facilitated the deployment of code enhancements and new features in a sustainable way. Regular load testing and monitoring procedures are planned to rapidly detect and address issues proactively.

Phases

Phase 1

Phase 2

Phase 3

Conclusion and Results

The end result is a custom-built online booking platform allowing independent properties to increase online distribution and direct bookings. Leveraging API integrations and an optimized modern tech stack, listings are displayed attractively to engage travelers with niche inventory matching their exact needs and budgets. Intuitive search, visual content, and a streamlined booking process differentiate the platform to compete with OTAs. Since launch, website traffic has increased 73% quarter-over-quarter.

Conversions from visitor to booker are up 150% measured by online revenue growth. Increased online distribution has allowed client properties to tap new global demand in a rapidly recovering travel market. With a superior digital presence and self-service management hub now established, the client is positioned to expand partnerships and distribute inventory faster moving forward.

Key Challenge

From a delivery perspective, the tight integration with external hotel APIs posed initial development and testing challenges. Each had unique authentication protocols, data schemas, rate-limiting policies, and availability update cadences requiring careful handling to avoid disruptions. In terms of optimization, balancing page load performance and visual design enhancements required judicious prioritization and stress testing during Phase 3 deployment.

Next Steps

With solid technical foundations and UX benchmarked, the next priority is expanding platform inventory within current regions and into new continents. Adding personalized recommendation functionality will help match travelers to hyper-relevant listings aligned with unique preferences and demonstrated interest-based on-site behavior.

There is also an opportunity to further optimize booking conversion rates through expanded payment options, promoted listings, bundles/upsells, and loyalty programs. As machine learning continues disrupting predictive modeling and pricing engines in hospitality, future possibilities lie in training proprietary models to compete even more intelligently.

AcceptHotels

AcceptHotels

Competitive Environment

Problem Statement

Solution and Objectives

Technology Planning