Hotel marketing online has become an important part of the hotel marketing mix, and that importance is growing rapidly as time goes by. But that was not always the case. There was actually one point in time where Hotel Marketing is not as confident and stalwart. There was one particular weakness that the public was quick to point out — the lack of online distribution.

In an age wherein majority of the people are already active internet users, the threat that such a risk pose was easy enough to comprehend. A hotel that is still striving for better rankings within the search engines needs someone who can efficiently organize the efforts and manage all internet related activity.

So how should this problem be resolve? Well, just like any problems that web based company faced the answer is outsourcing. Doing this will ensure that the company have the best of both worlds. They can participate in the internet bandwagon without sacrificing their main responsibility, in this case the hospitality industry. Outsourcing paved the way for hotel marketing online to progress without hitch and to become a favored method of booking hotel rooms.

According to Keynote Systems, Inc, when it comes to booking hotel accommodations travelers now preferred to do their reservations online instead of going through the hassle of calling a travel agent or wasting money making internationals by contacting hotel reservation lines.

This statement is even fortified by statistics, studies shows that in 2004 more than 16% of all revenues in hospitality were driven from the Internet. Hoteliers are now slowly but surely starting to realize that hotel marketing online is altering the traditional distribution spectrum.

Jupiter Research, a company that provides researches, analyses as well as advices to help companies profit from the impact of the Internet and new consumer technologies on their respective business, predicts that the size of the online hospitality market may very well reach $10 billion in two year’s time.

Meanwhile, some hotels reported that they are already generating 20% to 30% of their bookings from the Internet. Come to think of it, these figures are not that hard to imagine. After all, hundreds of millions of people are active Internet users and according to Nielsen 40 million of them have already bought travel online.

This is especially true in the United States. Americans preferred to make their reservations online, particularly those due to visit European countries. Why you ask? Well, by making reservations online they avoid dealing with travel agents as well as the exorbitant international calls.

With a quick browse on the net, they are able to see which hotel suits their needs better and which one has the best rate. Regardless of their destination, whether Spain, United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Belgium or Austria, hotels can easily on be found on the internet.

These statements only go to show that the Internet is indeed fast becoming the preferred source of hotel room bookings all over the globe. Why not? After all, the Internet presents an extensive, interactive, rich media as well as a growing distribution market.