Now, if you have read my previous article on hotel marketing trends, you must have come across “flywheel marketing”.

But I discovered that not many are aware of what exactly flywheel marketing is.

And if you’re one of them, then fret no more.

In this blog, I’ll be covering all the aspects of hotel flywheel marketing and how you could leverage it for maximum benefits.

What is Flywheel Marketing?

Marketing professionals would probably know the nitty-gritty of a sales funnel. Generating leads and then converting them into customers hold importance. And most of the time, no one bats an eye on what happens in between.

This is exactly where flywheel marketing comes into the picture.

It is a marketing model that self-sustains its momentum and generates qualified leads. It keeps the customer at the heart of it and focuses on delivering as much value as possible. And this in return, attracts strangers, turns them into prospects, acquire them as customers, and makes them your promoters. 

In simple terms, your marketing keeps spinning just like a flywheel. If you apply more force and remove friction, it will spin faster.

What are the Stages of the Hotel Flywheel Marketing Cycle?

Generally, the sales and marketing process focuses on maximum revenue generation through product sales. However, there’s a psychological grey area that no one pays attention to, i.e. ‘Customer Experience’. 

In fact, guest satisfaction is the base of the hospitality industry. But rather than providing it after they book your property, why not focus on it during various stages of the sales cycle?

That’s where flywheel marketing comes into the picture. First of all, we would create a hotel flywheel marketing model, as mentioned in the diagram below. 

Now, you need to check that the stages of sales are aligned with marketing tasks to ensure that you have enough force to get the flywheel rotating. The basic fundamental of this process is to gain enough momentum that it spins at a great speed. 

What I mean to say is that putting together the efforts of sales and marketing simultaneously will act as a catalyst in generating maximum sales and keeping the customer engaged throughout the cycle. 

Let’s study the steps which can help you to achieve this. 

1. Attracting Right Audience

We all are aware that every product needs to be marketed among the right audience, at an appropriate time, with an intriguing strategy to capture their interest.

Now, while going with flywheel marketing for hotels, the initial step is promoting your property to the right guests. And to do this, you need to focus on identifying your guest segments. 

It’s about understanding what type of guests your property caters to the most. Accordingly, you can create your marketing campaigns that would focus on their requirements. 

If you need more clarity on how to do it, here’s a blog that will help you out.

Learn Everything About Guest Segmentation in Less Than 10 Minutes 

After identifying your target audience, you need to deploy ‘n’ no of strategies to reach out to the guests. But don’t do it haphazardly or just go with a way just because it’s a trend in the market.

Instead, do your research first and then invest. This way, you will be aware of various marketing practices used by hoteliers and then choose the most effective ones for your property. 

To save your time in Googling about strategies, here’s a link that would redirect you to the library of our trending blogs on marketing in the hospitality industry. Do give them a read later on. 

Check Out These Blogs On Hotel Marketing Strategies and Stay Ahead Of Your Competitors

2. Pitching the Interested Leads

Once you start promoting your product to the right audience, your flywheel will start moving ahead slowly. Now it’s time to get your sales team into action. How to do that?

First of all, prepare a mind-blowing pitch that can keep leads interested throughout the call. However, ensure that it should give a personal touch to the guests. 

Post that, start pitching the inbound leads from marketing campaigns, understand their requirements, and note each and every detail mentioned by the guests. 

This step SHOULD be followed by sending across an email or WhatsApp message pertaining to brief details of the call and your hotel’s fact sheet or brochure (even if they are window shopping)

I know this would sound like a basic sales step, but trust me, I’ve seen many hotels not following it. Results? Losing the potential guests. 

Now, this part is quite crucial as you collect each and every information about your guests that would assist you in personalisation and is a base of hotel flywheel marketing cycle. 

3. Keeping Guests Engaged

To give your hotel’s flywheel marketing cycle more momentum, you need to keep your guests engaged. But, you need to do it gradually, as imparting them with too much information in a single go will make them lose interest in your property.

I’d suggest following a schedule. See, travellers tend to make travel plans mostly in the mid-week or at the weekend.

So, schedule marketing campaigns for such days. Showcase them exclusive deals, about your hotel’s loyalty program, last-minute bookings offers a mini-guide of your locality and such other things. 

For instance, if one of your leads is looking for a family trip on an upcoming weekend, you can promote your packages, activities, or any family booking combo. 

This personalised way of marketing is well-appreciated by the guests, moreover aids in improving their brand loyalty towards your hotel. 

4. Close Follow-Ups

As the marketing team is keeping the guests engaged, the sales team needs to be on their toes for rigorous follow-ups. Let me give you a pro-tip here, which is sure to bring in the result and reduce the drop count. 

The Three Call Rule: Tap the guests thrice in every three days. For instance, if you have called guests on Monday morning and they haven’t attended it, try once in the afternoon, and then finally in evening. Don’t forget to drop an email or a message at EOD. Repeat this process twice in a gap of 3 days.

If you haven’t received any update from guests after this step, mark the lead as uninterested, but do not discard it. Instead, send them your promotional emails. 

These lost leads act as friction in slowing down your hotel’s flywheel marketing cycle. Meanwhile, the ones that book your property give it good momentum.

5. Post-sales Services

Coming to the last step that will give the final push to your hotel’s flywheel marketing cycle, you need to focus on post-sales services. No, I’m not talking about the services. 

The post-sales activities are used to assist the guests in every possible way till they reach the property. This includes,

1. Assisting guests with their billing and booking confirmations
2. Working on guest requisitions
3. Offering them upgrade to higher room categories
4. Suggesting them to opt for local activities and sharing packages for the same
5. Cross-checking for any possible referrals

6. Retaining Them At Your Property

Now that your hotel’s flywheel marketing cycle has set into motion, it’s time to focus on keeping it steady and increase the speed. How will that happen?

The answer is retention. But that depends on two factors ‒ Services experienced by guests and the after check out approach.

The former one depends on the quality of services provided to the guests. It should match the expectations you set through your sales pitch. In simple words, ‘don’t over-promise and under-deliver’.

But that part needs to be handled by operations. As far as the marketing part is concerned, you need to invest in certain steps to ensure maximum guest retention. These steps are:

1. Sending a thank you note to guests post checkout
2. Greeting mailers and messages on special occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, and festivals
3. Personalised deals and loyalty program offers

How is Flywheel Marketing Better Than Sales Funnel?

I hope you are well aware of the generic sales funnel. If not, let me explain it to you. Basically, there are 5 stages in a sales cycle:

1. Lead generation and verification (Connecting with guests)
2. Product pitching (Offering different types of packages)
3. Regular follow up (Calls and visits at a fast pace)
4. Lead closure (Either guest will book or they won’t)
5. Post sales process

That’s where the sales funnel ends. Meanwhile, the marketing team focuses on bringing in more leads through various sources like email, blogs, social media, WhatsApp and so on. 

By implementing hotel flywheel marketing at your property, you streamline the sales and marketing process to work in cohesion. This gives you an opportunity to keep your guests engaged from start to end. 

Moreover, it increases the probability of continuous business generation for your guests through retention and referrals. In fact, it helps you identify the step where you lost the client, take necessary action, and pitch them again in a different way. 

On the honest note, if you ask me who would win in the war of flywheel vs funnel, I would say go with the former one. 

How can Hotels Leverage Flywheel Marketing?

Hotel flywheel marketing emphasises personalisation. As a matter of fact, it can be used to smoothen out every strategy you deploy to attract guests. 

Let’s take digital marketing for example. We all know that there are various components in it promoting on social media, email marketing, improving website content to facilitate direct bookings and so on. 

What I mean to say is that out of a gazillion tactics, you need to find suitable ones for your property. And for that, you need to go with a trial-and-error approach with a touch of personalisation in each campaign. 

That’s where you can use the hotel flywheel marketing strategy. In fact, you can use it in every marketing campaign to determine the factors creating friction in your tasks and eliminate them.

However, to make the most out of it, you need to focus on collecting and storing guests data. Without that, you won’t be able to go with the personalisation of marketing campaigns. 

You can take a cue from Marriott Hotels for this. They have reshaped their marketing strategy and made it guest-centric. Check out this article to know more. 

Marriott Brings Customer Hospitality To Inhospitable Digital Media

The post Hotel Flywheel Marketing: A Guest-Centric Approach to Improve Sales appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Soaring temperatures in summer, irregular rainfalls, melting glaciers, dried water bodies, depleting ozone layer, and this list is never-ending. I am not scaring you, but if this continues, we may soon face a catastrophic situation.

Many industries have adopted sustainable practices to save the environment, and the hospitality industry is not behind in this eco-friendly drive.
Today in this blog I’ll discuss sustainable hotel practices to make your property eco-friendly.

What are eco-friendly hotels?

Eco-friendly hotels are properties that have adapted sustainable ways and products to protect the environment. In simple terms, eco-hotels practice green living by using organic products and clean energy. 

Eco-hotels form an important part of eco-tours. In fact, many of them are located in natural places such as forests, near waterfalls, or amidst the mountains. 

Going by various names like eco-lodge, environmental-friendly hotels, and green hotels, they have carved a niche among travellers these days because of the non-toxic environment they offer. 

What are the pros and cons of sustainable hotel practices?

Although sustainable hotel practices are environment friendly, they come with their own set of problems. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of eco-friendly practices in the hotel industry.

As they say – every coin has two sides, and this dictum applies to greenways also. Before you make any decision, keep in mind these pros and cons.

How to have an eco-friendly hotel?

Now that we are well-versed with the concept of green hotels, let’s look at some eco-friendly practices in the hotel industry. 

1. List out the suitable ways and products

The first step is deciding on the products and ways you need to use them at your property. This depends on multiple factors, such as location, budget, availability of materials, and ease of use. 

For instance, to use wind energy as an alternative source of electricity, hotels need to have open space, access to farmlands, and a definite height. Without any of these factors, using this step is a sheer waste of time and money. 

Let me give you another example. Organic products such as bamboo fabric bed sheets, natural room cleaners, infrared saunas are costly and have availability issues.

This makes it difficult for every hotel to opt for these organic products. Hence, consider the mentioned factors before making a list of sustainable hotel practices. 

2. Form a green team

Implementing sustainable hotel practices definitely requires expertise. You need to create a team with an expert and some interested employees from each department.

Once they receive training, you can deploy them to guide others and keep a track if the practices are followed in a proper manner. 

But, it’s important that the team members are highly motivated. The reason I bring this up is, initially everyone is excited with the idea of going green. However, after some time, the motivation to follow these practices goes cold. 

3. Avoid Plastic

Ban plastic – This campaign has been among us for the last few years. However, there are only a handful of cities that could achieve a 100% plastic-free environment.

As you know, plastic is a non-degradable material, which makes it difficult to decompose. You can either recycle, reuse, or avoid using it completely.

You can opt for alternatives to plastic. For instance, you can use cotton or jute bags instead of polythene, or terracotta containers instead of plastic boxes.

Plastic is indeed a bane to the environment and to all the living creatures on earth. It’s better if we could get rid of it as soon as possible. 

4. Go Paperless

Did you know that every day, there are thousands of trees being axed down for making paper?  

Yes. As per the statistics shared by GFRA (Global Forest Resource Association),

Every day, roughly 80,000 to 1,00,000 trees are cut down to make paper. 

Imagine the amount of deforestation that takes place every year. And, it’s obvious that it would have a drastic impact on our environment. 

We live in a digital era, where every kind of data can be stored on cloud servers. Moreover, it’s convenient, as you don’t need to maintain a pile of papers and can find any information with just a click of a button.

Similarly, you can invest in a good PMS in your hotel that can help you with easy check-ins, guest profiling, tracking requisitions, and maintaining guests’ data.

‘Go Digital’, is the motto that the hospitality industry should work on.

5. Automation for conservation of water and energy

These days many malls, airports, and theatres have automatic faucets installed in the public restrooms. These faucets are equipped with sensors that dispense water only in the presence of a user’s hands. 

That’s one of the convenient methods to save water, especially if you have a regular inflow of guests. In fact, using these motion-sensing faucets at your hotel can save you ample water. 

A research conducted by California State University, Sacramento proved that,

Automated faucets can save 50-60% of water, as compared to a regular tap.

It’s a little expensive option, but it is beneficial in the long run. You can start by installing these motion-sensor faucets in your hotel lobby’s washroom.

Many hotels have magnetic keycard facilities. These keycards act as a connector to complete the circuit, and allow the flow of electricity. 

The moment these cards are taken off from the slot, the circuit is broken resulting in power cut-off. It is one of the popular eco-friendly amenities used in hotels to save electricity. 

6. Opt for eco-friendly options

Organic products are in trend these days. You must have come across many products stating – made from 100% natural or organic ingredients.

So, what are these organic products?

To grow any plant or crop, you need to use fertilizers and pesticides for getting a quality output. But, many of these are grown using harmful chemicals.

Once these crops are harvested and developed into final products, they are mixed with preservatives or other chemicals to extend their shelf life. 

In contrast to these, organic products are grown using natural fertilizers and pesticides. Moreover, they are preserved using antioxidants or natural methods like vitamin e oil, germaben, rosemary oil, salt, and sun drying.

Using these organic products is definitely a great sustainable idea for hotels to keep the environment free of harmful chemicals. However, beware of greenwashing. 

Greenwashing is a term coined for products or organisations that promise of being eco-friendly, but don’t practice sustainable ways to achieve it. 

Before investing in natural alternatives, check if the manufacturer has ever been involved in any case of greenwashing.

7. Invest in green energy

Have you come across this saying, ‘Green energy, clean energy’?

Nowadays, industries are adopting renewable sources of energy as an alternative to fossil fuels. 

Solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear power have already made their way into major industries. As a matter of fact, the governments of many countries support the organisation who pitch in for adopting clean energy.

Even the hospitality industry made their way into using clean energy. Many hotels have invested into solar heaters, bio fuels, CHP (Combined Heating and Power), wind farms, and geothermal energy. 

Wind and geothermal are uncommon due to their location restriction. Solar power is one of the best ways to harness and store energy for use as an alternative source of electricity. 

8. Rain-water harvesting works

Nature has given humans everything for survival. It’s upon us how we utilise these resources in a sustainable way. 

Every year, many countries face drought and famines during summer due to scarcity of rainfall. Additionally, because of deforestation, the situation has worsened. 

To combat this situation, rainwater harvesting is an excellent method to save and store water for future usage. The method is simple and effective.

All you have to do is build an underground chamber, to collect the rainwater directly during monsoons and channelise the water collected on your hotel’s terrace into the tank. 

The water can be filtered and used for non-drinking purposes like laundry, cleaning vegetables, equipment, washrooms, and other such activities. 

9. Implement 3 R’s (Reduce, reuse, recycle)

One of the important ways to create an eco-friendly environment is using 3 R’s – Reduce, reuse and recycle. Let’s take a brief look at them.

Reduce – As the name suggests, you need to reduce the amount of waste generated in your hotel. It’s better to avoid using materials that are unfriendly to the environment. Moreover, you can make an appropriate quantity of food, so that the amount of wastage is minimum. 

Recycle – When I say recycle, it’s not only limited to plastic or glass. You can recycle various things such as fused bulbs, cans, cartons, and cartridges. Waste treatment is another alternative for materials that cannot be recycled.

Reuse – The simplest of all the 3 R’s, reuse is a common practice among every person. For instance, every home has polythenes stocked for throwing garbage, storing products or any other purpose. Similarly, you can reuse paper, toner cartridges, or linen (if the room has the same guests staying for a couple of days). 

10. Environmental audit is necessary

Once you start using sustainable hotel practices for being eco-friendly, you need to invest in environmental audits. It’s a necessary step for every hotel.

If the hotel passes every point in the audit, they are given LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification. It is a proof that the particular hotel practices methods which are beneficial to the environment at certain levels.

However, this audit is carried out by third parties, and you need to be careful while choosing them as you may come across fraudulent ones also. Some of the other eco-friendly certifications are:

1. TripAdvisor Green Leaders
2. Greenkey
3. Energy Star
4. Green Tourism

What are some of the famous eco-friendly hotels?

Let’s take a look at some of the famous hotels practising sustainable ways.

1. Svart, Norway: The property uses solar energy as the main source for electricity and is the world’s first energy-positive hotel.
2. The Machan, India: Located in India, The Machan is a tree-house based hotel. The rooms are made using wood from dead trees without disturbing the environment, thereby making it eco-friendly.
3. Bambu Indah, Bali: This property has various tents made from bamboo, and is situated on treetops. The restaurant here serves food made from organic ingredients on plates made of leaves. Surely, it is a catchy and sustainable property.

The post Go Eco-friendly and Save Nature with These 10 Sustainable Hotel Practices appeared first on eZee Absolute.

As a matter of fact, I’m a local influencer too. If you visit my Instagram page, you will come across various posts promoting hotels and off-beat destinations.  Here’s a post from my feed.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Siddharth Joshi (@siddharth_blogger)

Earlier, businessmen and marketers used to approach celebrities for a photo shoot or to produce advertisements with them. They would then broadcast the ads on television, in cinemas, or use its audio version for transmitting over the radio. 

This approach was used by hoteliers as well. During an inauguration ceremony, they would call well-known chefs, movie stars, or any local celebrity. It would bring them in the limelight owing to Page 3.

With digital marketing in the picture, the concept has changed a lot, and hoteliers are looking out for various influencers to promote their property.

But, there are certain questions around it that need to be addressed, such as:

What is influencer marketing? Which types of connoisseurs should hoteliers approach? What are the criteria to select the right influencer for your property?

Let me give you answers to these questions. So, hold on to your seats, for in this blog I’ll guide you on influencer marketing for hotels and all the aspects related to it.

What is Influencer Marketing?

Before I begin with the marketing part, let’s understand who is an influencer. In simple words, influencers are people who have the ability to get customers into buying a product or investing in a certain brand with their convincing skills and popularity among the audience. 

It includes bloggers, movie stars, YouTubers, stand-up comedians, travel vloggers, and so on. Bringing influencers to your aid, and leveraging them to promote your business is known as influencer marketing. 

Ever since travel blogging became a trend, the hospitality industry received maximum benefits from it. Let’s take a look at how it has worked so far.

What is the Impact of Influencer Marketing on the Hospitality Industry?

Since social media came into existence, the number of influencers has grown exponentially. Moreover, it opened doors for marketers to reap maximum benefits through influencer marketing. 

As per local research conducted by the students of MIT World Peace University, Pune,

Around 81.8% of hospitality businesses invested in influencer marketing, of which 90% achieved good business. Not to forget, an average of 75% of revenue was generated by bookings from millennials and GenZ.

This research was conducted in just two cities, Mumbai and Pune, which happen to be metropolitan cities in India. If we consider the impact of influencer marketing on hotels on a global level the benefits get multiplied a gazillion times.

However, people do have certain misconceptions while going with influencer marketing in the hospitality industry. Let me clear some of them.

Myths About Influencer Marketing for Hotels

There are various misunderstandings and beliefs among users about influencer marketing for hotels. Let’s debunk them one by one.

1. Maximum Followers Give Better Visibility

One of the biggest misconceptions that has spread among social media users is that people with thousands of followers are influencers (I believed in it too). But that ain’t right. And it worked two ways.

Most users believe that increasing the count of followers will help them get a verified badge and improve their credibility. That’s why they use various hacks to bypass algorithms of social media platforms and increase their follower count.

However, this is where they fail. An influencer is known by the engagement level on their page. Wondering what’s that?

Suppose you come across a user’s page with 20K followers. Don’t rush; check the number of likes and comments on the post. The content engagement should be at least 30-35% of the follower count.

If the followers are just for show (bots or inactive accounts), the count would be high but the engagement level will be average. 

Note: Don’t fall for users with the maximum followers.

2. It Provides Result Quickly

People need to understand that overnight success is never possible. Every strategy or effort you put in will bring you results; slowly, but surely. And using influencer marketing for hotel promotion is no different.

Often people think that an endorsement by a celeb will give them hundreds and thousands of customers the next day. Put together with the myth I mentioned above, it would form a cocktail of misunderstandings (I would call it ‘wrong punch’).

Let me put an end to this myth by saying that ‘hotel influencer marketing won’t give you results in a short period.’

3. It’s a One-time Investment

Another myth that needs to be cleared is that investing once in influencer marketing will give you results in the long term. But that ain’t true. 

Achieving results in a single attempt is not possible; even if you go with an international celebrity. 

You need to invest in various influencers and that too at regular intervals and smartly to gain maximum benefits in the long run.

4. Spending Amount In Getting A Known Celebrity

And finally, coming to investment in influencer marketing. It is a common myth among marketers that spending lavishly and bringing in famous celebrities to promote their hotels will get them better recognition and business. 

However, that’s partially true. Yes, it does benefit you, but it may not work all the time. Sometimes, the investment wouldn’t give the desired result. It could be due to choosing the wrong influencer, promoting improper content, or targeting the incorrect audience.

How to Select the Right Influencer For Your Hotel’s Influencer Marketing?

I hope I’ve cleared the doubts and misconceptions you had about influencer marketing for hotels. Now before you go ahead with it, let me share some quick tips on selecting the right influencer for your property’s marketing campaign.

1. Time for Some Googling

As they say, Google is the epitome of information. The best way to find the right influencer for your hotel’s marketing is Google, ‘the top influencer for hospitality business’. 

You will come across certain list posts providing details of connoisseurs of the hospitality industry. You can connect with them for your hotel’s influencer marketing. 

Alternatively, you can go with an area-specific search such as ‘influencers in Pune’. It will help you in promoting your property among local audiences through local influencers. I will guide you about them ahead in the blog.

2. Waste A Bit Of Time on Social Media

Whenever I used to spend time on Facebook, my mom always said, “Next time if I see you wasting time on your phone, I’ll burn it or throw it away”. A decade later, she is the one who promotes my achievements and blogs on her page. 

I do agree that social media does waste your time if you keep on scrolling for hours, doing nothing but liking and sharing memes. However, if you invest your time smartly in engaging with influencers and their content it’ll be beneficial for you. 

There are various hashtags for influencer marketing, such as:

• #influencermarketing
• #influencers
• #influencerwanted
• #digitalinfluencer
• #influencerlife
• #hotelinfluencer
• #influencermarketingforhotels
• #travelinfluencer

I can go on and on, but these are the trending ones. You can just follow these hashtags and connect with the users posting some classy content and have better engagement on their posts. 

Moreover, approaching them to promote your property is the smart step in finding the right influencer for your hotel. 

3. Try Referrals

Another way to find the right influencer for your property is by using referrals. I’m sure you would have certain acquaintances in the hospitality industry.

You can ask them to recommend some known connoisseurs for your hotel’s influencer marketing. Alternatively, you can keep an eye on your compset and check which influencers they are collaborating with.

Depending on the engagement on their promotional posts, you can opt for that influencer too. However, don’t spend excessively just because your compset did it.

4. Read More Blogs

Over time bloggers have carved a niche for themselves. Moreover, blogging has become the most sought-after profession among netizens. 

In fact, travel blogging has paved the way for many travel enthusiasts to become an influencer with their blogs. Similarly, many hospitality connoisseurs turned into influential personalities by blogging on trending topics (I’m one of those bloggers).

You should start researching about them and reading their articles. Go ahead with the ones providing intriguing and relevant information in their blogs.

Pro-tip: Opt for the ones appearing on the first page of Google, as they have better user engagement and contextual and informational content. 

5. Do Some Ground Research in Your Locality

Using influential persons from your locality is a cost-effective way to go with your hotel’s influencer marketing. Let me explain with an example.

I recently met a guy, Mr. Sven Hoogeland on Instagram. He happened to be a hotel marketer and an influencer in the hospitality industry. 

As I went through his feed, I came across various posts where he has promoted hotels where he stayed. Here’s one of his posts for your reference.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sven Hoogeland | Travel (@travelling.dutchman)

Similarly, you can find such influencers in your locality having a wide reach among your target audience, and every post by them can help you generate better business opportunities.

6. Connect with Talent Agencies

Whenever I hear the word ‘talent agency’, the first thing that comes into my mind is Joey and his agent Estelle.

 I literally loved the way she got roles for him, not to forget the famous Dr. Drake Ramoray of the soap opera ‘Days of Our Lives’. 

Many celebrities and artists share their portfolios with talent agencies in search of various opportunities. And they get paid depending on their previous work experience and popularity. 

You can approach these agencies to find the right person to promote your hotel by staying and sharing experiences among their followers.

7. Don’t Forget LinkedIn

Finally, one last way to find the right person to promote your hotel is through LinkedIn. See, hospitality is all about being professional, and LinkedIn is the best platform to find the right influencer for your property’s marketing.

Do you know that LinkedIn provides an influencer badge to profiles that create an impact on the audience and influence them?

This feature can aid you in finding hospitality influencers to promote your property with their LinkedIn posts. 

The post 4 Bizarre Myths About Influencer Marketing For Hotels You MUST Know appeared first on eZee Absolute.

A couple of decades ago, the prime focus of hotels was to provide a comfortable stay with basic facilities and services. In fact, guests opted for properties with feasible tariffs and a decent ambiance. 

Currently, this scenario has been flipped over. These days, providing a place to stay is not enough. Guests are expecting a lot from hotels to make their stay memorable. Moreover, they are looking for something unique, exclusive, and exotic.

That’s why the concept of experience economy has gained momentum in the hospitality industry. If you are still unaware of it, this blog is a MUST-read for you. 

What is the Experience Economy?

Experience economy can be defined as a business generated by providing quality products or services to customers and creating a valuable experience for them. Moreover, it’s important that it justifies the investment made.

For instance, why are millennials and GenZ attracted to hostels these days? Obviously, the kind of guest engagement activities they offer, such as adventure sports (trekking, river rafting, etc.), music and bonfire sessions, local food taste tours, and whatnot.

This concept of business is what we can call the experience economy in the hospitality industry.

Why Should Hotels Adapt the Concept of Experience Economy?

You might wonder why adapting to the experience economy is a big deal. Let me explain this with an example. 

I hope you’ve heard of Mahabalipuram in India. Apart from being famous for temples, this place is also known for promoting surfing culture.

There’s a well-known resort in that area that assists travelers by providing professional surfing coaching at their property. They have hired a couple of trainers for this.

In fact, the resort provides certification to the guests who opt for the surfing training course. This benefitted them in two ways:

1. It saved guests from the hassles of looking for classes or an expert to guide them.
2. The property had an edge over your competitors considering they were the first ones to introduce this unique service.

And not to mention, it increased their booking flow. 

The point I’m trying to make here is that the experience economy in the hospitality industry is the need of the hour. And you need to adapt ways to build your business around the experience economy. 

How can Hotels Tap into the Experience Economy?

I’m sure you must be eager to know the ways to incorporate experience economy in your hospitality business. So, let me save you the suspense and give out those precious tips.

1. Learning about your guests

If you want to provide a world-class experience to your guests, then start by understanding your guests. By this, I mean knowing every minute detail about them.

It could be their purpose of travel, food preferences, time of visit, services opted for, and whatnot. But how will you know that?

The answer is, by analyzing guest data. And for that, you need to implement various data-collecting strategies like Wi-Fi marketing, website chatbots, reviews, past booking records, and so on. 

Once you have a concrete database, study it to get a better insight into your guests. Use your findings to curate personalized marketing campaigns and give guests a unique experience the next time they visit you.

2. Adding a personal touch to stay

Since you’ve invested time in learning about your guests, you would be aware of their likes, dislikes, preferences, and other travel habits. It’s time to put that to use. Let’s use a scenario to understand it better.

Suppose,  you have a repeat guest at your property. Upon analyzing his past booking records, you find that every time he stayed with you, he has asked for a wake-up call, because of his early morning flights.

Now that you are aware of his travel habit, you can take an initiative to enrich his experience. And how to do that?

Simple, next time he arrives at your property, inform your staff to ask the guest if he would like to opt for a wake-up call service. Additionally, arrange for a drop if you can, as booking a cab in the early hours is quite a hustle.

You might wonder how it is related to the experience economy. Well, it is. When you start adding a personal touch to guests’ stay or helping them out in some or the other way, it enhances their overall experience at your property.

In turn, they become your on-ground marketeer. This helps you in generating business from your guests’ references. And that’s how you become a part of the experience economy in the hospitality industry. 

3. Offering local experiences

One of the prime things that guests usually look for these days is indulging in local experiences. This could be taking part in any adventurous activity, tasting regional and exotic food, trying hands-on any special skills, or something else. 

Here’s an amazing fact shared by Condor Ferries on experience economy in the hospitality industry:

Around 87% of millennials chose exploring new culture in comparison to partying and shopping.

Hence, you should try to include some form of local experience in your packages. For that, all you have to do is a partner with local activity providers, skill development coaches, and tour guides. 

4. Introducing exclusive services

As I said earlier in this blog, travelers these days expect a plethora of services from hotels. And if you see, there are various services and facilities that used to be counted as a luxury but have now become quite common. 

For example, a decade ago, free Wi-Fi was no less than a luxury for guests. During that period, many hotels promoted it as an exclusive benefit. In fact, there were properties that charged guests for Wi-Fi. And guests reacted like this:

The point is that free Wi-Fi was an exclusive service, and hotels providing it saw an influx of guests. 

Similarly, you can find and introduce certain unique services at your property and give guests a chance to experience something they haven’t done before. 

5. Connecting with guests individually on social media platforms

Next on the list is building personalized connections with your guests. Meaning, you need to connect with your guests on social media platforms. 

Once done, you can send them greetings on special occasions like their birthdays and anniversaries. You can also send them personalized wishes at festivals.

Additionally, whenever any guest stays at your property, you can ask them for their social media handles and permission to click a couple of pics whilst they are enjoying their stay.

You can later use it on your social media pages to promote your property, and simultaneously you can tag the guests in that post. 

Also, guests can share the photos and videos they have clicked at your property on their profile geo-tagging your property.

6. Creating unique moments for guests during the stay

Let’s say you are on a business trip and staying in one of your favorite properties. Unfortunately, your birthday falls during that period.

How would you feel if the hotel surprises you with a birthday cake and arranges a small party for you (Of course, with complimentary wine and dinner)? 

That’s right, amazed and happy.

This is exactly what you need to do if you want to tap into the experience economy. Try to create some precious memories with guests and it’ll enrich the overall experience they had at your property.

7. Bringing in innovation

These days, people are becoming health conscious. Even when they visit hotels, a lot of them demand menus like vegan, keto-friendly, low-carb diets, and so on.

However, many hotels are yet to tap into such a customized menu. That’s where innovation comes into the picture.

You can either find and invest in such kinds of products that can cater to your guests. Alternatively, you can find a solution to a common problem faced by hotels.

These works in 2 ways:

1. You are adapting the ongoing trends
2. You have something exclusive to offer and promote

Note to wise: This kind of innovation can be time-consuming and expensive. So, invest your time and money wisely. Or rather stick to the ways mentioned above to be a part of the experience economy in the hospitality industry. 

Conclusion

We all have heard this saying: Experience matters. When it comes to the hospitality industry, this stays true. 

A good or bad guest experience can change the entire game of your hotel’s business. But, when we talk about generating an experience economy in the hospitality industry, the only option you have is to give your best. And for that, you’ve to think out of the box and go out of your way. After all,

Jokes apart, I’ve listed various ways that can make it easier for you to adopt the concept of experience economy in the hospitality industry. Give them a try and let me know the results. Till then, happy hoteliering.

The post Trending in 2024: Experience Economy in The Hospitality Industry appeared first on eZee Absolute.

In this blog, I’ve covered all the aspects pertaining to serviced apartments with some tips that can help in improving your booking flow. 

What is a Serviced Apartment?

Serviced apartment is a residential flat, equipped with services and amenities that cater to guests for long and short stays.

They are fully furnished with all amenities that are required in a home, such as a bed, TV, cooking essentials, fridge, AC, and so on. Apart from that, there are other services that give serviced apartments a luxurious touch like housekeeping on call, Wi-Fi connectivity, and other additional facilities available in society/complex (swimming pool or gym).

Often termed as serviced condos and extended stays, this hospitality segment is one of the profit-making businesses these days. Let me tell you how.

Why Should You Invest in Serviced Apartments?

First, let’s take a look at the market statistics. As per the Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report (GSAIR), 2020-21 edition, by The Apartment Service Worldwide,

• In the past two years, the serviced apartments industry has seen a growth of 24% in terms of business and capacity. 
• In 2020-21, there were 12,54,743 serviced apartments available for the guests across 15,464 locations.
• The top 15 brands, including chains like Marriott, Accor, IHG, and Hilton, constitute an inventory of 6,85,303 serviced apartments at 7,817 locations.

These figures prove that the extended stays industry is booming on a rapid scale. Moreover, the current scenario of work from home has paved the way for apartment owners to re-market their property with a new approach.

In fact, I have a real-life scenario to explain why serviced apartment business is worth investing in. Back in my hometown, one of my friends had a vacant apartment, which was generally used by us for hanging out. 

One fine day, he came up to me with a business plan, which was to rent out his flat to the local tenants. But, I had a better idea. I suggested to him why not convert his flat into a serviced apartment?

Furthermore, I explained to him how it works along with the tangible profit. He was quite intrigued and quickly initiated the setup process.

While researching for this blog, I called him up to get some insights. And this is what he said: 

“There has been an influx in bookings for long stays, especially during the rainy season. In fact, I’ve got a couple of clients from nearby cities that have booked stays for a month due to their work from home policy. Even the profit earned is quite higher in comparison to regular flat rental business.”

So, you see that serviced apartments are faring well in terms of generating revenue and are in demand as well.

How to Make Money from Your Serviced Apartment Business?

Now the tips I’m sharing here can work if you have even a single apartment. Moreover, if you are planning to invest in a flat and convert into a serviced apartment, these points will be quite useful.

1. Utilise space properly

It’s important to have an understanding of space. Generally, the extended stays are either studio apartments, 1 BHK, or 2 BHK. This space determines how many guests you can accommodate in your apartment and work on the furnishing part accordingly .

Suppose you have an unfurnished studio apartment that is spacious for a maximum of 2 guests. After initial calculations, you come to a conclusion that it can be furnished with certain items, such as a bed, fridge, TV, wardrobe, and so on.

Once you are done, you plan on putting an extra bed to accommodate one more person for maximising the revenue. I would say it’s an arduous task considering the short amount of space you’ve in hand.

Even if you adjust it somehow, the place will look congested and there won’t be enough aisle space to move. Moreover, the room will lack air circulation, making it feel claustrophobic. 

That’s why it’s vital for you to have a clear understanding about your apartment’s carpet area. It would help you in gauging the space usage and making further changes.

2. Invest in important amenities

It goes without saying that serviced apartments have to be fully furnished. But, it doesn’t mean that you need to cover every inch of space with all the amenities and furniture available in the market. Let me give you a better insight on it.

There are 2 categories in the amenities that you should have in your serviced apartment:

1. Necessary amenities
2. Luxury amenities

Talking about necessary amenities, it includes the basic furniture and some vital services that are found in every home. Here are some of the mandatory ones:

1. Bed (king/queen size)
2. Table and chair/recliner/couch
3. Wardrobe
4. Fridge
5. Kitchenette facility (cooking equipment, utensils, and dishwasher)
6. Centralised/Window AC
7. Hot and cold water (24*7)
8. Free Wi-Fi access
9. Housekeeping services
10. TV with dish connection
11. 24*7 security

On the other hand, the luxury services and amenities are optional; since it depends on your budget and guests’ demands. These are some of them offered by top brands,

1. Bean bags instead of regular chair
2. Laundry facilities 
3. Smart lighting
4. Voice control gadgets (Alexa)
5. Gaming consoles (X-box, PlayStation, etc.)
6. Access to premium facilities (Swimming pool, gym, spa, etc.)
7. Hardwood/Carpet flooring
8. Parking facility
9. Resident mobile app

By opting for these or any other premium facilities, you can give your guests a sense of luxury living and have an edge over your competitors. 

3. Hire staff to maintain the property

Just like other hospitality establishments, serviced apartments also require regular maintenance in terms of housekeeping and repair works. For that, you need to have dedicated staff deployed at your property. 

I would suggest keeping a minimum of two housekeeping staff members that would be responsible for the upkeep of the property. Also, ensure that they are properly groomed, trained, and must adhere to the designed SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).

When guests check-in at your property, don’t forget to inform them about the shift timings of housekeeping staff. 

If you are deploying a 24*7 staff on your property share their contact information with guests. In this way, they can connect with the staff whenever they want to avail housekeeping services.

Word to wise: If you want to avail any kind of deep-cleaning services by professionals or need to repair something in the apartments, opt for home-service companies. But again, it’s not advisable to go with it on a regular basis considering its cost. 

4. Bring technology to your aid

Technology has reshaped the working structure of the hospitality industry. In fact, there are several SaaS companies that provide various solutions for hospitality establishments.

Start by investing in a PMS. It will help in keeping a track of bookings, manage requisitions from a single dashboard, collecting and storing guest data, and so on. 

Furthermore, you can integrate it with a channel manager. It’ll aid you in updating real-time inventory and pushing rates on all the online portals in a single go. 

5. Divide and sell

No, it’s not something that I came up with after reading the freedom movement of India. When I say divide and sell, it means that rather than selling your apartment as a whole, you can sell it on a bedroom basis. Let me explain with an example.

For instance, you own a 2BHK serviced apartment. Now, you’ve listed the property on various booking portals with a tariff of Rs. 3500 per day. But in that way, your property can only be rented by groups and families. The other segments, like individual working professionals, couples, and solo travelers would be left out.

In order to cater to them as well, you need to adopt the divide and sell policy. It’s simple, just create a separate room category named as single room on all the online booking portals.

Once done, you can update the tariff as Rs. 2000 per room per day. 

In this way, you can maximise your bookings as well as the overall revenue. However, keep in mind that the rates you update for individual rooms should be competent in comparison to that of the whole property. 

6. Introduce packages and feasible tariffs

Another strategy to make your serviced apartment business profitable is having flexible tariffs. That’s one of the prime reasons why people opt for extended stays. 

So, while you work on your tariffs, keep the concept of log stays in mind. Additionally, you can create packages for long stays, like one week or a month. 

Also, try including meals like breakfast in the tariff. In fact, a report by Seven Rooms states that,

Around 65% of travelers opt for an accommodation facility offering free breakfast. 

Hence, when you are creating a package, do focus on the meal component. And for that, you need to have partnerships with nearby restaurants. Moreover, this will come in handy if guests want to order food from outside or try local delicacies. 

7. Have a flexible cancellation policy

Often guests tend to have changes in their travel plans, which leads to the cancellation of their existing reservations. However, the cancellation policies of accommodation facility providers are usually rigid. Which means, either they suffer a loss or the guest. 

That’s why it is recommended to have flexible cancellation policies that would be in favour of guests as well as your serviced apartment business. For instance, you can charge a penalty of 25-50% fees if the guests cancel their bookings 3 days before their check-in date. 

Flexible cancellation policies can help in boosting guests’ confidence that they can book the property without worrying about changes in plans and loss due to cancellation of reservation. This will result in improving your booking flow. 

8. Have a robust marketing strategy

Marketing is one of the important aspects for any organisation to raise awareness about their product or services amongst their audience. In fact, there are a gazillion marketing strategies that you can use to promote your serviced apartment business. 

However, it’s necessary to check which ones will work for you. Let’s take help of an example to understand it better. 

Suppose you’ve a serviced studio apartment that is spacious for one or two guests. So, promoting it to families or larger groups is a futile step. That’s why, while devising marketing strategies, you need to be aware of your target audience. 

Hence, if you are looking for ways to improve your serviced apartment’s business flow, you MUST have a robust marketing plan that should be able to capture the attention of your target audience.

9. Focus on guest satisfaction

Guest satisfaction is the essence of the hospitality industry. The primary goal is to give guests a comfortable and luxurious experience which is worth the amount of money invested. 

So, whenever you have any guest at your property, ensure you deliver the highest level of services to them. Also, try to give a personal touch to their stay by giving them local experience based recommendations. 

10. Keep a check on your online reputation

If you thought that reviews and reputation are a matter of concern only for hotels, you are wrong. Just like hotels, reviews play a vital role in the serviced apartment business. 

As per a survey done by TripAdvisor,

87% of travelers prefer to check reviews before booking any kind of hospitality business.

So, if you haven’t started collecting reviews for your serviced apartment, you should consider doing it in the first place. Also, don’t forget to reply to all the feedback, be it positive or negative.

The post 10 Best Tips To Improve Profit Of Your Serviced Apartment Business appeared first on eZee Absolute.

For example, working from home is becoming quite common in every sector. This led to the rise of workcation, i.e., work while you travel. The hospitality industry took this as a perfect opportunity to start promoting the workcation culture.

One such trend is coworking spaces in hotels. Let me tell you how you could make the best out of it in this blog.

What is a Coworking Space?

Coworking space is a rented place shared by various organizations and individuals as a workplace at an affordable price. Let me explain it in detail.

Since work from home is being adopted by the majority of organizations these days, the need for bigger office space has reduced drastically. 

Moreover, startup culture is at a boom. Most of the startups have a small team size, which negates the requirement of investing in a big official space. 

That’s where coworking culture comes to the rescue. How? I’ll tell you in the next point.

Why is Coworking Culture Becoming a Trend?

I would say that there are two reasons:

1. Cost-effectiveness
2. Ease of maintenance

First of all the cost-effectiveness is due to the pricing structure which is on a per-seat basis. Meaning the organization pays only for the number of seats they need instead of paying out for the entire office space. Secondly, they don’t need to worry about maintaining cleanliness, inventory, and paying utility bills.  Let me explain with an example. 

Suppose there is a startup with 10 employees. Now, they would be looking for a small official space to set up their office. This includes investing in other aspects like hiring an admin and housekeeping staff, installing Wi-Fi, and purchasing amenities (coffee machine and related accessories, printer, chairs/recliners, whiteboard, etc.). Coworking spaces simply provide them with all these things.

Moreover, the per seat per day pricing is feasible for freelancers. That means any individual looking to work from the office can rent a seat for a day, week, or month as per his convenience and avoid the hassles of signing a lease.  

That’s why working professionals are widely adapting to coworking culture these days. 

How can Hotels Benefit from the Coworking Space Trend?

In 2020, the hospitality industry suffered a major setback and hotels were figuring out various strategies to recover the loss and welcome guests to stay with them. That’s when workspitality came into existence. 

Many hotels, including big chains like Accor, converted some of their rooms into a workplace. Basically, the local people can check into the room between 8.00 AM to 8.00 PM and work from the hotel thereby enjoying the available luxurious services.

In this way, people can maintain a work-life balance and get away from the noisy home environment. Also, they didn’t have to worry about their regular household chores, because every kind of service was available in the hotels. Be it cleaning the room, ordering food, or getting any stationery supplies. 

For hotels, it became an opportunity to earn revenue by offering their rooms as well as their meeting rooms as coworking spaces. 

How can Hotels Implement a Coworking Culture?

It’s time to address the elephant in the room – how to start a coworking space in hotels. Here are some steps you need to implement at your property.

1. Turn your hotel’s meeting room into a coworking space

Turning your property’s meeting/conference room into a coworking space is a great idea. There’s a reason behind it. 

These days, business meetings have taken a different turn. What used to happen face-to-face has been taken over by virtual meetings and zoom calls. Even the seminars are replaced by webinars. 

In such cases, the need for conference rooms by organizations has reduced drastically. And this has led to hotels’ meeting rooms staying vacant most of the time. 

By converting conference rooms into coworking spaces, hotels can earn a subtle amount of revenue. Since the meeting rooms are already designed to cater to working professionals and corporates, this strategy would be easier to implement with minor tweaks. 

2. Invest in important services and assets

Hotels are already accustomed to providing services like housekeeping, maintaining stocks and inventory, administrative tasks, and so on. Hence, this part gets covered without any issues. However, I will recommend appointing a couple of dedicated staff members who can take care of the services part. 

When it comes to assets, there are various things that need to be available in the allocated coworking space in hotels. This again can be divided into 3 different categories, which are:

1. Stationeries
2. Consumables
3. Comfortables

As far as the stationeries are concerned, they are similar to the ones required by the front office department, such as printers, blank papers, staplers, pen/pencil, files, and other likes. 

When it comes to consumables, the most important thing is a coffee vending machine along with the required raw materials. Alternatively, you can place a TCM (Tea Coffee Maker) if you don’t want to go for any heavy investment. 

Also, keep a minibar for the guests. If possible, keep food materials like wafers, biscuits, or other such light snacks. Any guest looking for consumables can purchase them by paying to admin staff. 

Comfortables are basically the equipment and accessories that make a workplace complete like recliners/chairs, tables, whiteboards, projectors, etc. You can also opt for luxurious and fancy items like bean bags.

3. Provide a high-speed Wi-Fi

We all know that food, water, and shelter are three basic necessities of humans. However, there is a new addition to this list. Yes, the internet. 

Whenever you visit any place, the first thing you check is if the place has a proper internet connection. And at the workplace, an internet connection is a MUST. 

That’s why, when you create a coworking space in hotels, you need to focus on this factor. A high-speed Wi-Fi connection with 5Ghz bandwidth is a can’t-miss facility.

Pro-tip: Check with your internet service provider for setting up LAN cable connection too.

4. Maintain cleanliness and hygiene

This goes without saying that cleanliness and hygiene are important in the workplace. No one likes to work in a shabby and unhygienic environment. 

In fact, special care is supposed to be taken with maintaining the public washrooms, since they would be used by every guest availing hotel’s coworking space. Also, sanitize the area you are providing for coworking regularly. 

5. Keep feasible rates

As I said earlier, one of the prime reasons for professionals to adapt to coworking is flexible and feasible rates. The provision of paying as per usage is what sets coworking apart from the traditional office. 

If you are offering your property’s conference room as a coworking area, then go with per seat per day pricing. In case you are converting rooms into a coworking place, then charge as per the expected tariff from that room (only if the room is accessed by guests for 24 hours). 

You can introduce day-use tariffs if the space is occupied from morning to evening. In any of the cases, keep affordable rates. Don’t keep extremely high prices as that would defeat the whole purpose of creating a coworking space in hotels. 

How can Hotels Market their Coworking Space?

Now that you are ready with the coworking space in your hotel, it’s time to market it for generating leads and business. 

1. List the space on online platforms

Start by listing the coworking space on different online booking platforms. You can Google which ones are prominent in your region, such as My HQ and Coworker.

Whilst you list your property as a coworking hotel on these sites, ensure that all the facilities and services are highlighted using high-quality pictures and videos. 

2. Offer discounts to students and freelancers

These days, students and freelancers are looking out for a proper working environment under a specific budget. So, you can cater to those people by providing certain discounts.

For students, you can provide a flat rate on a per-day basis. Or else, give a discount coupon after verifying their IDs.

As far as freelancers are concerned, the pricing has to be on the bare minimum side.

3. Promote on social media platforms

It’s no secret that social media is one of the best ways to promote any business. This goes for coworking space in hotels as well.

You can showcase your hotel’s coworking space on your social media pages like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and so on. All you need to do is create posts that would highlight the features that are most sought by working professionals and share it with your audience.

This post could be in the form of a photo or video. Whilst you are creating a post, try to use relevant hashtags to reach out to a wider audience. Also, try using high-quality photos or videos for leaving a maximum impact on viewers.

4. Invest in ads

Ads are one of the effective marketing strategies that can be used to promote your hotel’s coworking space. You can create both online and offline ads for the same.

Talking about offline ads, they are a part of traditional marketing strategies, such as print media advertising (newspapers, pamphlets, brochures, etc.), TV ads, podcasts, and so on. In fact, they are quite effective in area with connectivity issues.

On the other hand, online ads can be updated on various social media platforms, Google, and on YouTube in the form of videos. For that, you need to create targeted ads based on the kind of audience you would be catering to. It’s based on factors such as location, age group, gender, and so on.

Also, ensure that the post you are promoting as an ad is intriguing enough to capture the guests’ attention.

5. Partner with coworking space providers

Last but not the least, partnering with coworking space providers. There are various organizations that can assist you with setting up a coworking space at your property. In fact, there are certain companies that take vacant space on lease, renovate it, and market the same on their websites.

Here are some of the well-known coworking space providers you can tie up with:

1. 91 Springboard
2. Regus
3. Smartworks
4. Innov8
5. WeWork

By working in cohesion with such coworking space providers, you can improve your reach among customers.

The post How can Hotels Tap Into The Trend of Coworking Space? appeared first on eZee Absolute.

I was working as a business development manager (BDM) for a reputation management firm. As a part of my role, I was supposed to meet the key decision-makers at the hotel.

Once I was pitching the reputation management software to the owner of a renowned hotel in a remote location. And this is what he said :

“All these software are almost the same. We took a PMS almost a year back and investing in a software to manage review is not something we need. My hotel’s staff replies to the feedback we receive. Plus, I don’t feel these reviews have much effect on our business.”

I was taken aback at the response and began to wonder how people can have such notions. In fact, when I met a few more hoteliers, I realised that they are plunged into a deep sea of misconceptions. 

And it’s not just about the reviews, there are various myths in the hotel industry that create hurdles for hotels.

In this blog, I’ll debunk some of those infamous hospitality industry myths and share the reality behind them.

Widely Believed Myths in the Hotel Industry

Talking about the commonly believed myths in the hotel industry, most of them are pertaining to technological aspects and marketing strategies. The reason could be lack of knowledge, word of mouth, or reading and understanding half-baked information from the internet. 

Let’s take a look at some of the widely accepted myths in the hotel industry that need to be busted right now.

1. Myth: Technology will take away jobs

There’s no doubt that technology has made our lives easier. However, one of the common myths about technology in hotels is that it will take away hoteliers’ jobs. 

For instance, many hoteliers believe that robots will replace human staff in hotels, leading to a scarcity of jobs in the hospitality industry.

Truth:- 

First of all, you need to understand that technology is just a tool that makes our lives easier. Let me explain it with an example.

PMS is a tool that is helpful in effectively managing hotel operations. One of the important tasks in any property is maintaining guest records. Now, before PMS came into existence, this task was done manually.

The automation brought by PMS has made this task simpler. There are various software that can capture data just by scanning OCR code.  This helped in saving a lot of time for hotel staff and they can focus more on improving guest experience. Plus it didn’t take away the jobs of the front office staff.

Similarly, by adopting various technological solutions at your property, you can make your processes easy and efficient.  

2. Myth: Investing in revenue management is expensive and futile

Talking about revenue management systems (RMS) and revenue managers, it’s no doubt that they help in improving hotels’ business. However, there are certain myths about revenue management. Among them the common ones are: 

• RMS or hiring revenue managers is a costly matter.
• It is only necessary for luxury and high budget hotels. 

Let me tell you the reality about them.

Truth:

See, the factual reality is that revenue management is a MUST for hotels. Be it having a system, hiring a revenue manager, or both. Furthermore, revenue management not only aids in boosting a property’s bottom line but also helps in finding the loopholes. 

Not to mention, there are various RMS providers with flexible pricing plans that help you go lighter on your wallet. They create customised plans as per your requirements, property size, average tariff, and other such aspects. This means that even if you are a budget property, you can invest in RMS without burning a hole in your pocket. 

3. Myth: Giving maximum discount can increase bookings

I have seen many hoteliers saying that guests book properties with slashed up tariffs or ones that offer extremely low rates. That’s because of the heavy discounts given by OTAs and aggregators.

Truth:

I would say this is partially true. I mean, giving discounts is definitely a good strategy to attract guests. But the question is up to what extent?

For example, OTAs generally tend to give a discount of 50-60%. This, when clubbed with bank offers, the amount paid by the guests is slashed drastically.

Now for hotels, giving such deals and discounts is literally not possible. There are two reasons:

1. It would incur a terrible loss.
2. Guests will demand such discounts while booking the property again.

If you want to give discounts, I’d suggest doing it in the form of packages. That’s because when you club certain additional things like a meal plan, discount on paid services, or activities, the rates seem more valuable to guests.

Thus, when they compare direct rates and the ones on OTAs, the weightage of packages would be more. Alternatively, if you want to give discounts on bookings, you can use the commission amount or percentage of tariff which is charged by the 3rd party platforms.

4. Myth: OTAs are better than direct bookings

It’s no secret that OTA’s drive a good amount of bookings. But, this point has made many hoteliers believe guests book only from OTAs, and the scope of direct booking is negligible, leading to a debate about OTA vs direct bookings.

Truth:

To be honest, OTAs do drive maximum bookings. However, they act as a mediator between guests and hotels. And these days, hotels are more concerned about their relationship with guests. 

So, the guests need to contact the respective OTA if they have any issues with the property. But because of this elongated communication process, the resolution of the same does take time.

Due to this, the guest experience is hampered. Hence before booking any property, travelers connect with that hotel’s reception to see if they can get better rates, upgrades, additional facilities, or for generic queries. Trust me, I also do this.

Here’s a statistic shared by Guest Centric in their ‘Hotelier Pulse Report’ that will act as a cherry on the cake,

 Direct bookings have grown exponentially by 78% in 2021 compared to 2019. 

So, you see that direct bookings are definitely winning over OTAs. All you need to do is maintain the right balance while distributing your hotel’s room inventory. 

5. Myth: Do what your competitors are doing

Often hoteliers believe that copying what their compset is offering is the right thing to do. They think it would help in attracting the guests of the competitors. And this is not just limited to offers, it applies to marketing strategies as well.

Truth:

I know, you might be wondering that I’ve written in most of the blogs to learn from your compset. But what I meant was TAKING A CUE; not blindly following what they are doing.

See, every hotel has its own uniqueness. Be it in terms of room interior, facilities, offerings, services, and other such aspects. Based on these factors, they have different tariff structures as well as annual revenue goals. Hence, the strategies or deals used by them may or may not work for you.

As a matter of fact, these days guests look for hotels providing a unique experience. So, I’m not asking you to avoid competitors, all I’m saying is to use your specialties to get an edge over your compset.

6. Myth: Reviews and reputation management are not important 

As I said initially in this blog, many hoteliers assume that reviews don’t hold enough importance in terms of increasing a property’s booking flow. They think reviewing websites are partial when it comes to guests’ feedback.

Many of them even believe that replying to reviews is futile, as viewers checking out the property believe in the feedback rather than understanding the real scenario behind it. 

Also, there is another myth in the hotel industry that reputation management tools help only in replying to reviews.

Truth:

Feedback in hotels is as important as critic reviews about any movie. Everyone has different experiences about a property (positive and negative). Now, these reviews act like a mirror to guests who are looking forward to booking that hotel. 

Here are some stats by TripAdvisor for backing up my statement,

• Around 96% of travelers believe that reviews are an important factor while researching a hotel.
• 91% millennials trust online reviews, just like they consider a personal recommendation.
• Up to 85% travelers agree that a logical and honest response on reviews denotes hotel’s thoughtfulness and improves the overall impression of the property.

Now, talking about the reputation management software, it does help in collecting and showing the reviews from every online booking portal. However, there are various other important tasks it can help you with. This includes,

• Review analysis
• Online reputation score calculator
• Review flagging
• Hotel’s online performance report
• Analysing and providing areas with the scope of improvement

7. Myth: One marketing campaign can cater to all guest segments

I don’t know who started this, but I’ve heard hoteliers saying to digital marketing agencies, “Create one marketing template and share with us. We will promote it among all the guests with the data we have.”

As a matter of fact, I’ve received calls from many people asking me to create a marketing template for their guests. Since I was aware of how marketing works, I tried to convince them that the same template won’t work for all the guests. To which their reply was, and I quote,

“All the guests are the same. You just create one attractive ad/template/content for our property. Mention all the good things, offers, and amenities. We’ll take care of the rest.”

Well, in the end, I did as asked. I’ll tell you what happened next, after uncovering the reality behind this myth.

Truth:

Firstly, not all guests are the same. Every traveler has a different comfort zone, requirements, purpose of travel, budget, and other such aspects. 

Before you invest in a marketing campaign, you need to learn about understanding your guest segment. Once you do that, you should be investing in vivid marketing campaigns, either personalised or mass marketing.

Secondly, every campaign has to be unique and MUST highlight the points that can cater to the particular guest segment. For example, if you have an influx of business travellers, ensure that you focus on services like Wi-Fi, half board meal plan, and conference room facilities. 

Now, let’s talk about the story I told earlier. I received a callback from those hoteliers stating that the campaign didn’t give the expected results. And they agreed to go ahead with my suggestion with required tweaks.

8. Myth: All software are same

There’s another common myth in the hotel industry that all the software is one and the same. Like I said in the beginning of the blog, hoteliers feel that every software has the similar benefits and usage. And investing in a single one can cater to all the aspects of a hotel.

Truth:

How? I mean, how is it possible? Here’s a simple reference of PMS and channel manager for everyone’s understanding.

As I said earlier in this blog, PMS is property management software that assists in managing operations of your property, such as payment updates, bill posting, accepting bookings, settling guest folios, and so on. 

On the other hand, the channel manager automatically updates your room inventory in real-time on all sites.

I hope you got the difference. I know there are thousands of hospitality products in the market, and one might think that they are all the same. But in reality all are different and service specific purposes in the hotels.

9. Myth: Building a website is costly and time-consuming

I would have believed in this if we were living in the early ’20s. Because at that time, having an internet facility was no less than a luxury in hotels. During those days, building a website was a tough task as it required a lot of knowledge in coding and graphic designing. 

But believing that building a website these days is costly and time-consuming is just one of the common myths in the hotel industry. Let me tell you why.

Truth:

Nowadays, there are multiple self-help software that can assist you in building a website easily. They even offer customisable themes that can make your website look attractive. 

In fact, the websites are pre optimised for necessary features like white spacing, website map, CTA (Call to action) buttons and so on. Additionally, many website builders have an option of easy updates, where the admin can directly post any marketing campaign, blog, articles, or offer through WhatsApp and email. 

As far as the costing is concerned, there are website builders that have flexible payment policies. And most of them even offer a free trial. 

It’s time that you stop believing in this myth and build your hotel’s website, RIGHT NOW.

10. Myth: Star category can be updated as per guest ratings

When I used to work in an OTA, I had an argument with a hotelier over star ratings. According to him, the property was a 4 star, since guests had given it an average rating of 4 star on every portal.

This is one of the common myths in the hotel industry that the star category can be updated according to guest ratings.

Truth:

First of all, ratings and star categorisation are two different things. When you say ratings, they are provided by the guests to your hotel and the services as per their experience. And it does not certify the stay category of your property.

The star categorisation of hotels is done by the governing bodies of the hospitality industry in each country. It depends on certain factors, like room amenities, services, room inventory, location, and so on. 

This star categorisation also decides the rack rate of a property. So, if you have updated an incorrect star rating based on user/guests reviews, you need to change it now.

11. Myth: Working with hotel aggregators is not at all feasible

I’ve kept this myth for the final showdown. ‘Working with hotel aggregators is profitable or not’, is one of the trending topics in the hospitality industry.

Some say it’s good, while others say it’s a loss. But the question is, what is the truth?

Truth:

I’ve already done a detailed article on hotel aggregators and in that, I’ve mentioned the pros and cons of working with them.

There’s no doubt that aggregators are profitable since they solicit hotels by giving them a fixed monthly revenue for the leased out inventory. In case they take the entire property on lease, they do renovate it as per their requirements at their own costs. Moreover, they take care of training the staff as well, to improve the guest experience. 

As they say, every coin has two sides. This applies to aggregators as well. Many hotels have reported cases of delayed payments and the market being changed drastically, owing to the meager tariffs offered by 3rd party property managers.

So, whilst you chose your side, it’s important that you brush aside the myth that working with aggregators is not feasible.

The post 11 Myths in The Hotel Industry Debunked With Facts and Figures appeared first on eZee Absolute.

6 out of 10 people experience stress at work. And, China has the highest rate of workplace stress; 86% to be precise.

Stress is often not limited to the workplace, but there are various other factors that contribute to it. These include monotonous lifestyles, financial breakdowns, social media anxiety, relationship issues, and so on.

To help people break this chain, doctors recommend going on a vacation or taking a break from their daily routine. This is where health and wellness travel is one of the upcoming trends in the hospitality industry. 

If you are new to this concept, this blog is for you. Today, I’ll tell you everything you need to know about health and wellness travel trends, along with some tips for hoteliers to make the best of it. 

What is Health and Wellness Travel?

Health and wellness travel is going on a vacation, staying at a retreat hotel, and indulging in various activities for mental and physical well-being. This involves going for therapeutic sessions like Ayurvedic spa treatment, being a part of yoga training sessions, or meditation classes, that can help in the rejuvenation of mind and body.

Often this stay lasts from a week to a month. In fact, most of the retreat hotels are offering a workation to guests, opting for health and wellness travel. Meaning, they can stay, experience therapeutic sessions, and simultaneously work from the property. 

Nowadays, many organizations are encouraging their staff to go for such workation and take a break from their routine, especially for those working from home.

Why is Health and Wellness Travel Trending?

As I mentioned earlier, stress is quite common these days. In fact, WHO has declared that depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. 

Traveling is said to be an effective treatment for stress. Whenever you visit any destination, the first thing that helps you get out of depression is the change in surroundings. Secondly, you tend to meet different people, make new friends, and share your stories with them. 

Now, when you add the health and wellness factor to it, the trip becomes more productive, indulging, and rejuvenating. Reason being, the activities you do gives you a sense of relaxation, and calmness, and help you break free from the shackles of stressful thoughts. 

Let me share my experience with you. I lost my job in 2020, and I was sitting idle for around 6 months. I tried my hands on certain things like teaching, business, multi-level marketing, and whatnot. But none of them worked.

Eventually, I became depressed and had to seek a way to get rid of it. That’s when I thought of traveling to ‘Rishikesh  – The Yoganagiri’. The trip lasted for almost a week. 

My stay was clubbed with meditation sessions, yoga classes, and other stress-relieving activities. And trust me, it literally worked. I came out of depression, had a relaxed state of mind, and gained good control over my anger.  

This is not just my story. There are various people out there who opt for this kind of wellness travel to get rid of stressful issues and work on their physical and mental well-being. That’s why health and wellness travel is a trend among people.

What are Different Kinds of Health and Wellness Travel Trends?

When it comes to health and wellness travel trends, it is not just limited to one single category. Here are some of the prominent ones.

1. Sustainable travel 

We are all aware that the earth is in grave danger owing to global warming. Hence, various organizations are adopting eco-friendly ways to help save the environment. And, so are the hotels. 

Sustainable tourism is one of the ongoing travel trends in the hospitality industry. Guests often look forward to staying in a hotel that has adopted sustainable ways. This helps them live in a clean, refreshing, and healthier environment. 

For instance, many hotels are switching to renewable energy resources to reduce their carbon footprints. This includes opting for solar-powered water heaters instead of coal and wood-based. 

Another commonly accepted measure is organic products. There are many properties that have resorted to disinfectants, room fresheners, and toiletries that are made from natural products and are chemical-free. 

These kinds of initiatives are appreciated by guests, and in turn, give a boost to a sustainable lifestyle. In fact, as per a report shared by IMARC Group, the global ecotourism market size reached US$ 172.4 Billion in 2022. It is expected to reach US$ 374.2 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% during 2023-2028.

Considering these stats and figures, it could be rightly said that ecotourism is one of the emerging health and wellness travel trends.

2. Tours for physical wellness 

Physical wellness is not just about going to the gym, building muscles, or having 6-pack abs. It’s more about developing your flexibility, agility, and reflexes. 

There are many martial arts form famous across the world, such as Kalaripayattu, Thang-Ta, Judo, Kushti, and Tai Chi, that help open up your muscles and make you more flexible. Additionally, they also help in improving agility. But, how can traveling help you with that? 

Well, many guests look for hotels providing packages that include such activities. In fact, there are retreat properties that have martial arts experts on their premises. Where, guests can come, stay for a long duration, and do a crash course during their vacation.

Not only this, indulging in sports such as trekking, mountain climbing, cycling, and marathons helps in physical well-being. And even they are quite popular among guests. Let me share an example for the same.

In Bali, Indonesia, there is a rocky mountain cycling tour that starts at 4 AM in the morning. This involves visiting Mount Batur to witness the glorious sunrise and glimpse the iconic volcanic mountain. And it’s one of the sought-after activities by travelers for leisure and physical well-being.

There are thousands of other destinations promoting such sports to help travelers indulge in physical activities during their vacations. Some of the famous ones are:

• Kayaking in Costa Rica
• Scuba diving in Spain
• River rafting in North India
• Skiing in Whistler (Canada)
• Skydiving in New Zealand

3. Traveling for mental health

Yoga is widely accepted across the world as a path to restore mental balance, attain peace, and improve physical well-being. There are 84 asanas in yoga, and of that, meditation is the most recommended to channel your thoughts and have control over your mind. 

Here’s a scenario that will help you understand the reason behind it. Imagine yourself sitting on the mountainside with a mesmerizing view of surrounding valleys and greenery-clad peaks. 

Once you close your eyes and focus on your breath, you’ll start hearing the melodious music of nature. And every gust of breeze flowing through your hair seems like sweeping away all your worries. With time, you’ll find yourself a bit closer to attaining nirvana and filled with a surge of positive vibes.

This is just one scenario. People often travel to natural places just to experience serenity. Opting for yoga sessions during such trips can help in improving your mental wellness. 

That’s where hotels come into the picture. Guests can book a stay for a long duration in hotels located at remote/natural destinations and experience a yogic lifestyle. 

In fact, retreat/wellness properties offering yoga training are perfect for guests to rejuvenate themselves. Here are some interesting facts about yoga tourism shared by Book Retreats,

• There are around 300 million yoga practitioners worldwide.
• Of these, around 86% have reported a strong sense of mental clarity.
• There are approx 20,000 yoga retreats in the world.
• The worth of the yoga industry is a whooping US$84 billion worldwide.

I guess these stats are more than enough to justify the fact that the yogic way of living is one of the health and wellness travel trends of 2024. 

4. Therapeutic travel

Last but not least is therapeutic travel. As the name suggests, this involves traveling to destinations to receive a therapeutic massage or attaining therapy sessions. 

You might be aware of the famous Ayurvedic spa treatments offered in Kerala. Travelers visiting there often opt for it. And considering its popularity, many hotels have started including spa therapy sessions as a part of travel packages. 

There are basically three widely accepted Ayurvedic treatments by properties in India, viz;

• Abhiyangam
• Shirodhara therapy
• Panchakarma 

These therapy sessions last for a week or two. Out of these 3 sessions, the former two are opted for by travelers only if recommended by doctors. Talking about the latter one, it can be experienced by any guest for rejuvenation purposes. 

Word to wise: If you opt for Abhiyangam or Shirodhara, ensure you consult your doctor first. In case you have any medical history, do not go for it.

5. Rehab tourism

Rehab Tourism is one of the quirkiest types of wellness travel.

Yes, you heard it right.

For those who aren’t aware of this form of travel, it is a vacation where travelers mostly seek treatment for their addiction problems.

The reason behind rehab tourism gaining traction is that a basic vасаtіоn-lіkе trеаtmеnt wоrkѕ well for most treatment seekers. This form of treatment and travel is not trаumаtіzing to the traveler (the patient, to be precise) аѕ оutrіght еxреnѕіvе hоѕріtаlіzаtіоn.

To make this approach of rehab effective, centers and hospitality businesses are partnering up to curate a ѕоft аррrоасh that nоt оnlу аttrасts recovering аddісtѕ but also helps in significantly асhіеve соurѕе соmрlеtіоn rаtеѕ.

Despite being a farewell new trend, it seems to be catching up at a good speed as it is focused totally on delivering health and wellness.

If you think, you and your hotel can be a part of this cause, then it is certainly a great way to jump into the trend and offer what’s best for people.

How can Hotels Tap into this Segment?

Hotels play a pivotal role in health and wellness travel. After all, they are the accommodation providers to travelers opting for wellness tourism. 

They can make the best of it by providing facilities associated with health and wellness travel at their property. Be it introducing the concept of yoga, physical activities, or therapeutic sessions.

But whilst you partner with such service providers, it’s important that they have certified practitioners. Or go for ones that have been associated with these segments for a long time and have good client reviews.

For therapeutic sessions, it is mandatory to check if the person giving it has proper certification in the same. Also, ensure that s/he is using proper oils and equipment to deliver it the way it’s supposed to be. 

The Kairali group in India is the best example of a retreat property. They have a plethora of packages with almost every type of Ayurvedic massage for the guests. Moreover, travelers can combine it with yoga sessions to complete their treatment cycle and feel completely rejuvenated. 

Trust me, I’ve stayed at their properties and went under a treatment for my spinal issue. The results were quite amazing, and to date I recommend everyone to experience it themselves.

Here is a video that’ll compel you to go for it. 

What does the Future of Health and Wellness Tourism Look Like? 

Post-pandemic, people are more concerned about their well-being. And after a long work from home, everyone is looking forward to a break to rejuvenate themselves. That’s why various health and wellness programs are being reintroduced in the hospitality industry. 

The concept is not new, but it has gained momentum in recent years. Moreover, it has helped people to start things afresh. 

Even now, people opting for workation are looking for places that can aid in improving their physical well-being and finding inner peace. This has led to exponential growth in wellness tourism.  

It can be rightly said that health and wellness travel is one of the trends in the hospitality industry with a bright future.

The post Heard of Travelasana? The Top Health and Wellness Travel Trends in 2024 appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Let me tell you about an incident where I had to juggle a lot with the hotel payment processing.

Recently, I went to a conference in a nearby city and booked my stay with a well-known hotel. During checkout, I had to pay my food bill and to my surprise, the manager said they accept only cash or card payments. Unfortunately, I wasn’t carrying either of them. 

I literally felt helpless at that time. But thankfully, the manager was a nice guy. He asked me to transfer the amount into his account online and then, he would make the payment from his card. 

It took me around half an hour to expedite this entire process and finally checkout from the hotel. But, it’s not just me, there are many travelers around the world who often face such problems at hotels. And this, in turn, fetches hotels negative feedback. 

Today, I’ll talk about various modes of payment that not only give guests a better experience but also streamlines a hotel’s payment processing. So, give this blog a read and save yourself from unwanted hassles.

How to Improve The Payment Infrastructure in Hotels?

There are a gazillion ways to collect payment from guests. But the question is, which ones are preferred by them? And, how can they provide a seamless payment experience to guests? 

Here are the answers to these questions.

1. Enable card-based payment 

Many hotels still believe in collecting cash payments due to evolving fraud cases of credit and debit cards. 

In fact, as stated by AHLA (American Hotel & Lodging Association) in Today’s Hotelier,

Half of the global credit card frauds happen in hotels, and it sumps up $3 billion annually.

But you have to understand that just because something is happening with others, it’s not necessary that you’d face a similar situation. One cannot neglect the risks involved in it, but these days the payment infrastructure is quite safe and secure. 

For instance, online card transactions require OTP authorisation from the card/account holder. Or, while swiping a card at any POS terminal, one needs to enter the 4 digit pin to enable the transaction.

You can also implement certain regulations while collecting payment from credit cards, such as setting an upper limit for transactions. Any kind of payment above that limit will require the guests to provide their identity proof.

2. Accept online payments

I’ve seen many properties still operating on pay at hotel mode. This is a sheer waste of time and often results in loss of bookings as guests don’t need to pay even if they cancel their reservations a day prior to check-in. 

So, first of all, start with installing a booking engine on your hotel’s website. 

Secondly, integrate it with a payment gateway. However, opt for the one that is reliable, supports all kinds of payment modes (cards, UPI, net banking, etc.), and provides faster payment processing.

Ensure that both of them are integrated with your PMS. In that way, all the bookings and their payments will be updated in your system automatically. 

Word to wise: If you have an influx of international bookings, then opt for a payment gateway that accepts international payment modes like Paypal and World pay. 

3. Implement QR code-based payment

These days, QR code-based payments are prominent everywhere. Be it a grocery store, cab, or any e-commerce website. There are 2 prime reasons behind this:

• It’s a contactless mode of payment.
• There is no surcharge, or any additional transactional charge levied on it.

These QR codes are multichannel. Meaning, a single QR code can be scanned by apps like Google pay, Amazon Pay, PhonePe, Pioneer, and PayPal. Many properties, especially in India, have implemented it to make the payment process easier and seamless for guests. 

However, there’s a catch. QR code scanner works only when there is internet connectivity at the payee’s end. So, in areas where the network issue is frequent, implementing a QR code is not that effective. But still, you can keep it as a viable option. 

4. Install POS on every outlet

If you have a single POS (Point of Sales) terminal which is at reception where payments from every POS outlet are done, you are doing it all wrong. You MUST have a POS terminal on every sales outlet on your property. There are two prime reasons behind it:

• It’ll help in keeping a record of transactions and sales happening individually at each outlet. 
• It aids in a faster checkout.

In case you’ve multiple checkouts at the same time, you can ask the guests to make payment at any other POS in the property.

Word to wise: POS terminals require hi-speed internet to process payments. If your property is located in a remote area with connectivity issues, go for offline POS systems.

What are Some Additional Ways to Improve Guests’ Payment Experience?

Adapting payment methods is one thing that hotels can do to improve guests’ experience. However, there are other additional ways that can improve payment related experience for guests.

1. Ease out the refund process

When it comes to getting a refund, guests always end up struggling for it. It can be due to bank’s transaction timings, hotels and OTAs refund policy, or some glitch at users’ end. 

That’s why guests avoid cancelling their plans. Because they know that getting a refund and that too instantly is like getting blood out of stone. 

You can make their task easier by simplifying your hotel’s refund process. You might wonder, how is that going to improve the guests’ experience with hotel payment processing?

See, the best example of this is food ordering websites. They have an instant refund policy. Whenever you complain about an incorrect order or bad meal, they initiate the refund process immediately. 

2. Go for paperless billing

We all preach about green earth, adapting sustainable practices at hotels, going paperless, and so on. But when it comes to following this, I’ve hardly seen people doing it, especially the hotels. 

It’s important that you avoid it. Because it causes considerable damage to the environment due to a large amount of trees being axed down to create paper. Secondly, it’s a sheer waste of time.

You can simply mail a pdf version or send an SMS to the guests on receiving the payment. And if you are using a PMS, all this data is stored in the cloud. So, you don’t have to worry about managing piles of papers and files.

FAQs

The post Make Hotel Payment Processing Seamless With These Unique Ways appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Without guests’ data, your hotel’s marketing campaigns are like vehicles without fuel. That’s why it is rightly said that ‘data is the new oil’.

But, have you ever thought, how do hotels collect this data? How can you use it? If so, then I have got you covered in this blog. 

What is Guest Data?

Hotel guest data is simply every piece of information of a person who can be a potential lead for a property. It could be email addresses, phone numbers, social media handles, traveling habits, traveler type, work details, and so on. 

Even if you have just the name and number of a person connecting over a call, email, or on the website, it counts as guest data. Just remember, every single piece of information is valuable.

You might be wondering, why am I emphasising so much on guest data? Let me tell you the reason ahead.

Why is it Important to Collect Data from Guests?

If you are a fan of F.R.I.E.N.D.S, you might be aware of this scene.

Similarly, guest data is the essence of every hotel’s sales and marketing campaign. First of all, the more you have it, the wider your reach is amongst the audience. Secondly, it helps you craft personalised marketing campaigns. 

Guest data is not only important for marketing, it also helps you in knowing them in a better way. So, next time they book a stay at your hotel, you can keep all the arrangements ready for their convenience prior to their arrival. 

Let me share an incident from my hotel diaries for a clear understanding. 

Once we had a repeat booking from a guest. During his previous stay, he had asked for vegan food. Since we didn’t have such a special menu, he had to order his food from another vegan restaurant. 

So, when we received the booking this time, we cross-checked the profile in our hotel’s database, and this request came to light. And before he arrived, we kept a vegan menu in his room.

The point I’m trying to make here is that keeping a record of such tiny details can make your data-rich and more effective.

How can Hotels Collect Guest Data?

According to me, gathering hotel guest data is one of the easiest tasks. All you need to do is, implement the following strategies. 

1. Check past booking records

The best way is, to begin with analyzing what you have in your hand. Yes, your past booking records.

You can pull out various details from it, such as: 

• Guests’ contact details
• Social media handles
• Any special requests (pick and drop services, smoking room, or one with any specific view etc.), 
• Travel purpose
• Room plan 
• Type of traveler (Solo, group, corporate, and so on)
• Duration of stay

Once you have the data, you can learn about your guests and craft personalised marketing campaigns for them. 

2. Bring a hotel PMS to your aid

When I talk about pulling your past records, you can take help of a PMS. That’s because it’ll be easier for you to accumulate all the data and you’ll be saved from the arduous task of managing it. 

Moreover, you can analyse the sources of bookings. This will help you in identifying and working on the channels with low productivity rate. 

Another best part of investing in a PMS is that all the data is stored on a cloud-based server. Which means that you are saved from hassles of keeping hard copies of guests’ data. 

3. Pull data from reviewing websites

If you thought that reviewing websites are only for maintaining your online reputation, think again. It is the ocean of guests’ data.

All you need to do is invest in review management software.

Its core purpose is to fetch reviews from all the websites on a single platform. From there, you can read, reply to, and flag them at your convenience. 

Further, it gathers guests’ data and tells you about their likes and dislikes with the help of sentiment analysis. You can address those aspects next time they book a stay at your property.

Not only this, you can also get the reports of compset’s reviews, and see where they are criticized. If you have facilities that can address the issues of those guests, you will have an edge over your competitor. 

4. Capture guest details from social media

If your hotel has a social media page, this strategy will work for you quite well. And if you don’t have it, make one NOW.

That’s because it is more convenient to reach out to the young audience. Plus, it is a good platform for marketing your property to travelers across the world.

Talking about guests’ data collection from these platforms, it is a bit of a time taking task. Initially, you need to visit the profiles of your followers, and check about their travel habits. It could be places they’ve visited, kind of trips preferred by them, any recent check-ins made in any hotel, and so on.

This data will be helpful in creating a personalised marketing content for them. In fact, with help of push notifications, you can alert them about any ongoing offers through stories and posts. 

5. Chatbots can prove useful

You must have come across chatbots on websites. So, what’s the first thing it does?

Right, it collects your information, which is your name, phone number, and email address. In case it’s a hotel chatbot, there will be additional details such as travelling date, room plans, number of pax, and so on.

Once you have all the information, you can proceed to the next step at your convenience. Also, you don’t need to worry about the data storage part. See, these chatbots are software. Meaning, it saves all the data on their backend or directly to your repository (with help of integration), so you can extract it anytime you want, as a report. 

In fact, some advanced chatbots have a provision of cloud storage. In short, your data is safe and secure.

6. Use Wi-Fi to capture data automatically

You might be wondering, how’s this possible and whether it’s legit? 

The answer is, yes, it is possible, and it’s certainly a legit way of capturing guests’ personal data in hotels. It is called Wi-Fi marketing. Now, let me tell you how it works.

One thing that any person does while visiting a hotel is ask for Wi-Fi. In fact, I do it a lot. And it doesn’t matter if I went there to stay, meet a friend, or just for a dine out. I always ask for Wi-Fi.

Now, here’s the interesting part. The moment I connect to Wi-Fi, a pop-up appears, asking me to sign-in. When I click on that pop-up, it’ll redirect me to a browser page, where I need to fill in the details like my name, contact information, or social media handle. That’s all.

See how simple it was. You just have to configure your Wi-Fi for this and you are all set to collect guests’ data through Wi-Fi.

7. Fetch data from loyalty program members

Details of people signing up for loyalty program membership are also a part of guests’ data. Moreover, the potential of generating leads from it is higher as the guests listed in it are already aware of your property.  

You can simply pull the data from the list of your loyalty members and utilise it to market deals and offers at your property. 

8. Get records from ancillary services

Last but not least, collecting guest data from your property’s ancillary services. This includes restaurants, bars or lounges, cafes, spa, and so on.

It’s not necessary that these departments host only in-house guests. At times, visitors do come to experience only such services at your property. 

You can collect their data using either feedback forms, entry registers, payment modes, and so on. Apart from that, many hotels ask the guests to share their business cards to notify them about events happening at their property. That’s also a clever strategy to capture guests’ data and that too with their permission. 

How can Hotels Use Guest Data for Creating Marketing Campaigns?

There are two ways to leverage hotel guest data for marketing campaigns. You can either use it for promotion to the audience in bulk or go with personalized marketing. 

The former one is pretty simple. Just create a common template with an ongoing offer, and shoot it via emails, WhatsApp, SMS to the audience. For this, you just need to have their contact numbers and email addresses.

Talking about the latter one, it requires a robust approach. It requires understanding guests’ behaviour. 

For instance, I stayed at your hotel a couple of months ago. So, you have certain data about me from my previous records, such as:

• Solo traveler
• Opted cab for pick and drop
• Visited hotel’s bar during the stay
• Asked to arrange for local sightseeing

Now, with this data, you can craft a personalised marketing template for me. It could be something like this:

Celebrate this new year by booking a stay with us, and get free access to ‘the XYZ lounge’, the hottest pub of the town. Enjoy unlimited drinks and food, followed by the new year’s countdown. 

This is just an example of how you can use hotel guest data for creating personalised marketing campaigns. You can take a cue from it and implement this strategy at your hotel. 

Here’s a blog that can help you in understanding your guests’ behaviour.

7 Brilliant Strategies To Understand Travel Behavior Of Your Guests

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