CheapCaribbean.com, an online travel company specializing in all-inclusive, discount packages to the Caribbean and Mexico, celebrated its 10th anniversary by offering a $10-per-person deal on a hotel in the Dominican Republic.
The deal, which launched Sept. 30 for bookings through Oct. 10 and travel by Dec. 20, covered five nights at the 400-room, all-inclusive Lifestyle Tropical Beach Resort & Spa in Puerto Plata: accommodations, meals, drinks, use of a private beach and all resort facilities.
Within four days, 2,200 bookings had streamed in, said CheapCaribbean.com founder Jim Hobbs.
Hobbs said that, including airfare, the five-night deal came to about $400 per person.
"Originally we were going to take just 99 bookings, but the response was so incredible that we extended bookings to Oct. 10 and figured we'd end up with 5,000 bookings, representing about 25,000 room nights in all," Hobbs said.
"Basically we have taken over the resort for the rest of the year up to Dec. 20," he said. "It's our 10th anniversary. We had to do something special."
The firm also launched Bazaarvoice, a service that offers users access to hotel reviews written by CheapCaribbean.com clients.
While the reviews can be viewed by anyone, posting a review is limited to CheapCaribbean.com clients, who are given access codes linked to their eight-digit booking ID and confirmation ID numbers, Hobbs said.
CheapCaribbean did a soft launch of the review service in late July, Hobbs said.
"We emailed our database of customers explaining the new review service and encouraged them to post their feedback and reviews of the resorts they have stayed in on our packages," he said. "We received 10,000 reviews in less than two weeks. One of our top resorts got 400 reviews alone."
After customers return from a CheapCaribbean.com vacation, they receive a follow-up email asking them to rate their vacation experience on a scale of 1 to 5, using palm tree icons to indicate their resort ratings in the categories of value, service, beach and pools, dining options and room comfort.
"They are invited to write a review and upload their own vacation photos and videos," Hobbs said. "They also are asked whether or not they would recommend the resort to a friend."
The ratings and accompanying reviews are displayed in detail on the resort's page on CheapCaribbean.com.
Hobbs said CheapCaribbean.com already had seen a 39% increase in booking conversions since introducing the reviews.
Ask and Answers service
In the coming months, CheapCaribbean.com plans to launch Ask and Answers, where prospective customers can post questions about specific resorts.
"Our administrative and sales teams, our 110 res agents and our past guests will provide the answers, and we'll build a community of people knowledgeable in all areas about beach vacations in the Caribbean and Mexico," Hobbs said.
Capturing, analyzing and amplifying the voice of the customer can transform a business, according to Mark Riggs, chief client officer for CheapCaribbean.com.
"The travel industry is well-suited for our hosted social commerce application because many consumers research travel decisions online before investing money and vacation time," Riggs said.
On the business side, the ratings and reviews platform offers CheapCaribbean.com access to immediate feedback and insight into its customer service as well as the performance of the resorts with which it partners, said CEO Josh Paine.