Why you should translate your hotel’s website

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has published its statistics for 2011. They found that in 2011, international trips numbered 980 million, with 503 million travelling to Europe, 216 million to Asia and the Pacific, 156 million to the Americas, 50 million to Africa and 55 million to the Middle East. UNWTO estimates that the numbers will increase to 1 billion in 2012.

If you want your website to be inviting to your potential customers, you definitely should consider translating the text into various languages. People are more likely to spend time on your website when they feel comfortable. Making your guests feel comfortable includes making them feel at home. The best way to do that is to approach them in their own language.

Additional data that backs this up is to have a look at statistics regarding passports. One sign of people’s intent to travel to a foreign country is issuing a passport. In the U.S. about 30% of the people hold passports, 60% in Canada and 75% in the U.K. Once again, proof that you want to leverage your offering to woo these millions and millions of potential customers to your hotel.

Josiah Mackenzie of Hotel Marketing Strategies states that "I’m worried about the number of hotels I see neglecting to make their websites friendly to international guests." His article goes on to emphasize how important it is to encourage international business, including translating hotel websites.

According to Max Starkov and Lauren DeGeorge, both of HeBS Digital, a full-service digital marketing and direct online channel strategy firm, "…determine the top international feeder and demand markets for the hotel. Then, implement five- to ten-page optimized foreign language translations for the markets with the most potential and existing demand for the hotel’s destination and product. (Be sure to translate your booking engine, too!)".

LingoTip specializes in providing localization and translation services to the hospitality industry. We work with hospitality services such as hotels, travel agents, car rental companies, software and website services, tourist attraction sites, and more. For a free quote, email us at info@lingotip.com.