TripAdvisor is dominating the Australian online restaurant bookings market as it now has the first and second most popular sites to reserve a dining table in the country.
The new rankings have come out 80 days after the travel website acquired Dimmi, which remains the most popular way to book restaurants online in Australia.
Previously ranked at number four, TripAdvisor has managed to climb just ahead of the third most popular website for restaurant bookings, Qantas.
TripAdvisor has also revealed the top four most online booked restaurants in Australia are ARIA, Voyager Estate, La Luna Bistro and Prime Steakhouse.
Since the acquisition in May, Dimmi has been fully integrated with the TripAdvisor platform, exposing it to TripAdvisor’s online global monthly audience of 375 million users. Combined, TripAdvisor and Dimmi work with 2500 restaurants.
Stevan Premutico, chief executive and founder of Dimmi, told SmartCompany this morning it was business as usual post TripAdvisor’s acquisition.
“It’s still very fresh, the relationship has been amazing so far from our side,” he says.
Premutico says the acquisition has allowed Dimmi to leverage global best practices from the partnership, and had seen the site experience significant increases in site conversion rates, SEO and restaurant sales.
Premutico says TripAdvisor’s jump from the number four spot in the rankings to number two happened “effectively overnight”.
He says TripAdvisor’s success shows Australians, who love to search and discover restaurants on the internet are just as inclined to book them online.
“It makes sense travellers looking for restaurants can book too,” he says.
However, Premutico says TripAdvisor’s demographic is a slightly different demographic to Dimmi’s membership base.
“The TripAdvisor demographic tends to be travellers and international cliental… people who spend well,” says Premutico, adding TripAdvisor users also tend to be dining out in premium restaurants and regional restaurants.
Premutico believes the popularity of restaurant booking websites comes down to consumers wanting to combine traditionally segregated segments of the travel industry by booking accommodation and restaurants in one hit.
“It’s all the same, it’s now a leisure and travel segment,” he says.
On top of this, Premutico says the travel industry is beginning to appreciate the restaurant experience as a significant driver of travel experiences.
“The restaurant experience is at the absolute core of that experience,” he says.
Renee Thompson is a former journalist at SmartCompany. Previously, she worked at Fairfax Media for the Bendigo Advertiser and at another regional Victorian media outlet.
