What virtual tours do to bookings
1 minute readBy Zac FoxLast checked
A walkthrough gives a visitor more to decide with. It does not book the room on its own. Anyone who tells you a virtual tour will increase bookings by a fixed percentage is guessing, and we would rather give you the honest version.
What the report measures
Every tour we host sends back a monthly report of where visitors went and when. Add two lines of code, one on every page and one on the page a guest sees after they enquire, and the report also names the room each enquiry began in.
What it cannot measure
A planner might open the tour on a work laptop, show a colleague on a phone, then ring you from the car. Two devices, one booking, and no way for us to tie them together. So we do not have a figure for how many tour visitors go on to book, and a plausible looking percentage would be worthless.
How to test it yourself
Change one thing a month, then set the next report against your booking sheet:
- If the report shows few people opening a room, move it earlier in the walk.
- Put the tour higher on the page, or beside the enquiry button.
- Add the tour link to your reply to every enquiry.
- Keep the enquiry form a click from the tour.
The same test works for smaller properties, including holiday lets. See a tour running and check where your own form would sit.