Most sales professionals always find it frustrating when closing a lead takes forever.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. Every hotel, irrespective of its shape and size, can speed up its sales cycle.

You just need to spare some time to understand your current process, implement certain steps, and voila!

I know…I know. It isn’t as easy as ABC! But it’s not something you can’t achieve.

Without further ado, let’s dive right into the topic, understand everything about it, and come up with strategies to speed up your hotel sales cycle.

What Is a Hotel’s Sales Cycle?

Generally, a hotel sales cycle is a process of turning a lead into a guest. However, this process is repeatable and tactical and involves everything from the first touchpoint to building strong relationships with the guests.

To put it simply, a sales cycle in a hotel is not just about turning a lead into a guest, but also repeating the success by acquiring repeat reservations.

Why a Sales Cycle Is Important for Hotels?

You’re walking down the halls of your hotel and you’re seeing that all your rooms are empty. There’s complete silence!

Isn’t that the horror?

This is a hotel without a sales cycle. A little exaggerated but you do get the point, right?

Basically, when you have a well-defined sales cycle you increase your chances of keeping your hotel booked. Even during the drought days of the year.

In the case of a hotel that doesn’t have a sales cycle, the control is usually with the potential guests. They are going to book based on their impression of your hotel. You, most probably, have no say in their decision-making.

Worst still, you’re just sitting at your property and waiting for guests to check in or waiting for reservation calls or notifications.

What if you have a sales cycle? Or, what if you have a strategy to find prospects and communicate with them?

Then you have a better chance of acquiring reservations.

Let me explain how.

A potential guest checks your hotel website. He gets your number and calls you right away. However, he refuses to make a booking because of the pricing or maybe something else.

What would you do?

Maybe you’ll let the person drop the call at that moment. But you’ll certainly call him back and try to offer a price, inform him about the latest discounts or events or anything special. And maybe, this time he’ll make a booking.  

This might sound philosophical but a hotel with a sales cycle is like “not giving up”. You’re not sitting idle and waiting for guests to flock. You’re playing your cards right to make them book a stay with you.

I am sure this shows the imperativeness of a hotel’s sales cycle.

Different Ways to Speed Up Your Hotel Sales Cycle

Having a sales cycle is one thing but having a sales cycle that delivers results at speed is a thing to achieve. However, there are various ways to increase sales cycle speed at your hotel and we are going to see just that.

1. Understand the fundamentals

Be it in terms of a hotel or any other business, fundamentals aren’t simply said to be the “building blocks”.

Hotel sales is a vast aspect. It involves multiple stages before you convert a lead to a guest. And to gain advanced knowledge in hotel sales and support your future sales strategies, you need to have a strong foundation.

Now, I also want you to see whether your current strategies are in line with the basics, the results it is driving, and the average sales cycle length.

So, this is the first and foremost thing to do when you’re speeding up your sales cycle.

2. Determine the bottlenecks

Next up, drill a little down further and see where exactly it takes time.

What I mean by that is you must look for the stage where it takes time to move the leads.  

Once you figure that out, you’ll be able to filter out what’s going wrong.

For example, you receive a lead from your website but then you’re taking days to reach out to the lead. Is that the right thing? I don’t think so. I might want to change it and make it quicker.

Furthermore, human errors could also be bottlenecks. Maybe your sales reps aren’t that well trained or maybe they are missing out on leads.  In these cases, you might want to host sessions to train them.

Whatever the case is, identifying what’s wrong is the key to building future great strategies.  

3. Attract ideal leads

Most of the hotels have a severely slow sales cycle because they are channelizing their efforts toward a guest base that isn’t in line with the hotel.

For example, I run a luxurious hotel that is located near the airport. Through the months, I figured that corporate travelers are more likely to stay at my hotel. So, my ads, content, and all my marketing material should be directed toward corporate travelers.

But what if I keep capturing details of budget travelers? Am I going to make a sale? I don’t think so.

This is why it is important to attract the right leads — the ones who are interested as well as who can afford.

#ProTip: One of the best ways to do this is to create guest personas. They can help in curating personalized marketing material to attract the right guests.

4. Use social proof to gain trust

Social proof is majorly a marketing element. However, it can significantly speed up a hotel’s sales cycle.

Let me explain.

As per the typical definition or what Wikipedia says, social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people try to replicate the actions of others in an attempt to undertake correct behavior in a given situation.

For example, you’re browsing a hotel website and see a testimonial from an influencer you respect and follow. You can also recall that the influencer has posted great pictures from this hotel. It now drives you to make a reservation in this hotel. That’s exactly what social proof is.

And if used correctly, social proof strategy can eliminate multiple stages of your sales cycle and bring in a good number of reservations.

5. Have a set of KPIs

The reason I am asking you to have a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) is that they help in setting and achieving realistic goals. They are like the catalyst that drives you to your milestones.

However, it doesn’t mean you’ll list dozens of KPIs. No!

You have to determine the prime key performance indicators; the ones that actually make the difference in your hotel’s sales cycle.

For example, lead response time could be a KPI to track. It is the amount of time between a lead’s inquiry and your sale rep’s response. Upon tracking, you’ll get the average time that your sales reps take, and if it seems to be high, you must reduce that.

After all, the faster you’re able to respond to your leads, the more likely you can send them further down your sales funnel to convert.

6. Set realistic and achievable goals

I talked about goals in the previous point and now, let me stretch a bit on it.

When I am talking about setting goals, I mean realistic goals. Because when goals are realistic and achievable, it increases motivation that goes beyond simply saying, “I’ll do my best.”

You might want to do some in-depth analysis of your weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals before coming up with a new set. Also, it might seem like a daunting task, but it is worth it considering the bigger picture.

7. Ask more and better questions

Wondering why I am talking about asking questions; better questions, to be precise?

It will help you understand and communicate with your prospective guests better. You must ask questions whose answers reveal your prospects’ motivation and preferences.

For example, you cannot shoot arrows in the dark and try convincing the person on the other end to make a booking. You could rather simply ask about their budget or what amenities, experience, etc. they are looking for. It will make it easier for you to make an offer that is in line with what they are willing to pay or want.

8. Make time-sensitive offers

Speaking of offers, there’s one more thing you can do to speed up your sales cycle is making time-sensitive offers.

What is that, you ask?

Time-sensitive offers are exclusive hotel promotions that are limited to a certain period of time to create urgency and engage buyers who might be on the fence.  

Interestingly, there’s, a psychological element involved which is based on the pleasure principle that states that people make decisions to avoid pain. And in the case of a time-sensitive offer, the pain would be missing out on the deal and paying the full price later.

Isn’t that intriguing?

9. Keep a lead call cheat sheet handy

Having a cheat sheet handy while on a call with a lead is also a great way to dodge unnecessary situations and stick to the point.

To be precise, a lead call cheat sheet is a set of instructions or a mock conversation that has all the answers or everything you need to say during the call.

For example, if the prospective guest asks whether you could give him a 30% discount, you shouldn’t say “No, I can’t” and let him drop the call. Rather, you should have an answer ready with an offer that’s a win-win for both – the guest and the hotel.

Or, what if a guest starts to curse or become rude, you can retaliate the same way, can you? So, for situations like this and to cut right to the chase, it is advisable to have a lead call cheat sheet.  

10. Automate the process (use a CRM)

While every other step is crucial, it is also important for hotels to turn to automation. And this is where a CRM comes into the picture.

Even if it sounds a little harsh, but if your hotel isn’t using a CRM then it is certainly lagging.

A comprehensive hotel CRM helps in managing the leads in the most effective way possible.

For example, it helps in ranking and prioritizing your hotel sales leads. Meaning, you have the exact idea of where to spend your time. No lengthier calls with the “not-so-ideal” prospects.

Furthermore, a CRM offers a 360-degree view of guest information and interactions, helping in managing guest feedback, loyalty programs, and more.

The post Faster Sales. Better Profit: 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Sales Cycle appeared first on eZee Absolute.

This year, the festival of lights is clubbed with a weekend, making it a perfect opportunity for all Indians to plan a great gateway.

Not to mention, it is also a great opportunity for hotels to attract guests to boost their business significantly.

Sounds interesting, right?

Diwali and Hospitality Go Hand in Hand

Every year, during Diwali, the global hospitality industry witnesses a great surge in bookings. And this is not just me who’s making this tall statement, there are stats that show how Diwali impacts the performance of Indian hotels.

As per Deepak Harane, regional manager (Pune), MTDC, nearly 60% of MTDC resorts are already reserved for the 2023 Diwali season.

Another study also finds that domestic tourism in India is clearly on the upswing with the festive season witnessing a forward booking surge of 25 percent compared to the previous year.

Bharatt Malik, Senior VP of Flights and Hotel Business at Yatra Online says the room tariffs during this year’s Diwali period are up by 20 percent compared to the previous month.

This makes it evident that the role Diwali plays in the industry is prominent.

Meaning hotels must create strategies the right way to reap maximum benefits. But how?

How can Hotels Prepare for Diwali?

Now that you know how Diwali impacts the hospitality industry, it’s time to get the call rolling. So, here are a few tips on how hotels can attract guests during Diwali and boost revenue.

1. Decide what strategy to use

Planning ahead is a prominent aspect of achieving business goals. And this is the same for hotels as well.

Before you run any offer or campaign during Diwali, first decide how you actually want to pull it off.

Do you want to target a particular group of travelers?

Or, do you want to open up for all kinds of guests?

How about your campaign length?

Various questions may arise while planning for a festival season.  

You have to take the call and decide how you want to go about it.

By strategizing prior, you become proactive and foresee issues or roadblocks that may come your way to take appropriate actions.

2. Create various offers and packages

Now that you have a strategy in place, let me help you with a point that is going to top up your festivity strategy.

Packages and offers are two prominent ingredients of a successful hotel recipe.

Offering discounts and packages quickly draws travelers into your hotel, intrigues them to make a reservation, and helps you boost occupancy.

Have you seen those discounted prices on banners where a higher price is always struck out? Well, that’s a good way to go about it. Further, you can make your offer more intriguing by creating packages that include various amenities.

The idea is to tell your guests that they can save money, and you’re likely to get their attention.

But again, shout your offer message louder way before the festivity starts.

(We will talk more about this going forward. Keep reading.)

3. Be strategic about the pricing

Pricing is a supremely sensitive aspect of an accommodation business.

If you price the rooms higher, the guests will ghost you. And if you lower them without conscious thought, you’re prone to witnessing loss.

Then what should you do?

Sell more rooms at the right price and at the right time.

However, it’s easier said than done. Because hoteliers either don’t have the proper knowledge of setting room prices or they don’t simply care.

To help you master hotel room pricing, here are two of my favorite blogs on the topic. These will surely help you understand this top affair and get it right.

• Powerful hotel pricing strategies
• How to identify if your pricing strategies are broken?

4. Start partnering with ethnic brands

Diwali and ethnic themes are a match made in heaven.

If you are reading this, I want you to know that Indians love connecting with ethnic things. Be it food, stationary, clothing, or anything.

Your role here is to bring that ethnic vibe closer to your guests. And one of the best ways to go about it is by partnering with brands that are in the ethnic space.

But what’s next after partnering?

Maybe allow them to set up stalls in your hotel. People would love to visit stalls during their stay and make a purchase.

It’s a win-win.

Your guests are happy, your partnered brands make money, and you make a commission.

5. Host a special event

People want their Diwali to be memorable. And if they are staying at your property, they would expect something special. 

Events are one of those special things that people usually look for when they explore hotels and gateways.

Diwali special events are a great way to attract travelers. They not only boost your occupancy during the festival but also enable you to earn extra by upselling.

When I am saying event it could be anything that goes hand-in-hand with Diwali. Be it a musical concert, gala dinner, etc.

Also, read: Strategies to Boost Events at Your Hotel

6. Plan around the gifts

How about some gifts for your guests?

Already sounds like a plan, isn’t it?

Many hotels think of this as an expense. But that’s wrong, mi amigo.

Gifts, especially during festivals like Diwali, are a great way to build meaningful and long-lasting business-consumer relationships.

When you give gifts to your guests, they’ll have a sense of being admired and valued. And that’s exactly what drives hotels towards becoming a brand that people love.

Therefore, if you are planning to attract guests during Diwali and make it special, do bet on some good gifts.

7. Have a strong hotel technology stack

In this fast-paced and competitive hospitality industry, technology is going to be your sidekick.

If your hotel is the hero, then technology is a counterpoint that offers something you don’t have.

With the right set of hotel technology (especially integrated technology), you not only streamline and automate your hotel’s daily operations but also become capable of delivering a supreme guest experience.

If you haven’t turned to hotel technology, it is not too late yet.

Analyze your hotel, look for all the pain points, and analyze the technologies that can ease things out for you.

During festivals like Diwali, hotels are likely to have a huge inflow of guests and hotel technology is certainly going to support you throughout.

8. Spread the word through marketing

Next up, bet on marketing as much as you can.

You may have the best event coming up, the most intriguing packages and discounts, a supremely flawless operational infrastructure, and many activities to make Diwali awesome.

But what’s the point if no one knows about it?

Well, that’s when marketing comes into the picture.

Leverage every form of marketing, whether it’s posting on Facebook and Instagram, running digital ads, or even putting up hoarding by the highway. 

Not every guest of yours is on the mobile all the time, so it’s not a bad idea to leverage traditional marketing techniques.  

9. Get the messaging right 

In continuation to the previous point, messaging is also a factor that needs to be addressed.

It’s not just your hotel that’s preparing for the festival of lights, there are numerous hotels that must be doing the same.

And if you want to stand out, your messaging has to be simple yet appealing. It needs to create clarity and align your guests to the big picture.

From discounts on rooms to freebies, the marketing message has to touch up every prominent point and intrigue your guests.

10. Focus on post-Diwali stays

Now, what most hotels overlook is the period after Diwali.

Yes, you heard it right.

A few days post-Diwali is also a great opportunity to drive hotel sales.

There are times when people tend to go on small vacations post celebrations. Wedding season also follows after the Diwali. And you as a hotelier cannot afford to miss it.

Here's how you can make your hotel wedding-friendly.

Be strategic about this too. 

Do not replicate the same offers and packages. 

Do your research and come up with strategies that would go in line with post-Diwali preferences of people.  

A Little Something for International Hotels

While I tried to cover almost everything for hotels in India to attract guests during Diwali, I don’t want to miss addressing the same for hotels in other countries.

For many, festivals like Diwali are a perfect excuse for an overseas vacation and they don’t shy away from extending their work leaves a bit for the vacation.

Meaning, this festival is also an excellent time for international hotels to attract Indians and boost revenue.

Now, before you already jump on the bandwagon and start preparing for Diwali, there’s a little something you must keep in mind.

If I plan to travel to some international destination on Diwali, then I would expect certain things to be the same as we do in India.  Maybe I would want to perform puja, gamble in a casino, and even feast on Indian dishes.

We Indians love our festivals and just because we are traveling abroad, we aren’t going straight to the beach or strolling around the city; we are doing our festivity chores first.

So, if you’re reading this, I want you to know that it’s worth every dime to prepare for the festival of Diwali. Get aggressive in your marketing and spread the word.

The post Light Up Your Occupancy: Tips for Attracting Guests During Diwali appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Meaning, that the accommodation providers will have to think outside of the box to bring in better business in the coming year.

In this blog, I am sharing some of the noteworthy strategies on how to improve your hotel business and keep it profitable in 2024.

Current Landscape of the Hotel Industry

Talking about the current scenario of the hotel industry, it is much better than what it was a couple of years ago. The industry has been scoring a moderate growth number and has great potential to score even more in the future.

According to a report, the hospitality industry in India is estimated to reach USD 29.61 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 4.73% during the forecast period (2023-2028). Meaning more travel and business. But this also means the landscape is constantly evolving and there are certain changes in travelers’ behaviors and preferences.

Safety

The major behavioral change in travelers that we can witness is a safety concern.

As travelers embark on journeys to explore new destinations, the need for a secure and risk-free experience has become increasingly crucial. From the choice of accommodation to transportation modes, they meticulously evaluate the safety measures in place.

The global community’s awareness of potential threats, unforeseen challenges, and health-related concerns has led to a paradigm shift in travel preferences. As a result, hotels are compelled to prioritize and enhance safety protocols, reassuring travelers that their well-being is a top priority.

Millennials and Gen Z

Another thing to notice is that millennials and Gen Z are among the top travelers at present. Millennials and Gen Z have compelled the hospitality industry to evolve, adapt, and innovate. The focus is now on creating memorable, technology-driven, sustainable, and socially connected experiences that resonate with the values and preferences of these influential generations.

Workation

Moreover, these are not the only changes in the landscape.

Recently, we interacted with two leading personalities from the hospitality domain, Pranav Dangi, Founder and CEO at The Hosteller, and Darshan Bora, Sales and Revenue Manager at goSTOPS.

Both of them have shed light on the fact that workation is a trending segment that is going to go a long way.

Sitting at home during a pandemic and working within four walls of the home has hit like a saddening wave to many people, affecting their mental health as well.

People are tired of working from home and it is affecting their efficiency and mental health. Since people are allowed to travel, WFH has converted into Work from Anywhere (WFA).

The above-mentioned points are just to name a few. Various other things are happening in the industry.

So, how can your hotel be ready for all of it? With a new hotel business strategy. And this brings me to my next point.

Top Hotel Business Strategies to Incorporate in 2024

This section is going to be all things hospitality business strategy as I list some of the effective and creative hotel business strategy tips for your hotel.

1. Make smarter distribution decisions

The first and foremost thing to do when you are creating a hospitality business strategy is to relook at all the distribution strategies you have made so far.

You must be investing in various distribution channels. However, do all of them deliver the results that you expect? If they are, well and good. But if they aren’t, then you might want to have a peek and see what can be done.

The best way to go about it is by analyzing cost vs profit across all your distribution channels. Consider calculating the cost-per-acquisition of each channel and determining which ones are faring for you and which ones aren’t.

Just because distribution is important, you cannot afford to invest everywhere. It is important to control costs if you want to navigate the difficult waters.

2. Start monitoring demand for better marketing

Next up, is undoubtedly a creative business strategy for the hotel industry. You have to start monitoring traveler behavior and preferences. As I said above, travel behavior is changing and hotel marketers need to tap into every new demand.

For example, a hill station-based hotel was running marketing campaigns only for adventure enthusiasts. However, lately, workation has become a trend and people are looking for hill stations to spend time working and relaxing.

So, the hotel was quick enough to embrace this trend and tweaked its marketing campaign accordingly. Soon, they could see a good amount of bookings coming in.

It is just like hammering the iron when it’s hot. The quicker you are in monitoring and spotting demand, the better your marketing is going to be.

3. Implement sustainable hotel practices

Climate change is real. Those who think otherwise must be living under the rocks.

To contribute to saving our environment, many industries have stepped in and done their part. And hospitality is no expectation. However, not every hotel is active in adopting sustainable practices.

At present, it is important for hospitality establishments to contribute extensively to minimizing the impact on the environment by reducing the unnecessary use of energy. It can be done by turning to alternative energy, reducing greenhouse gases, and various other practices.

Furthermore, there’s a bitter truth. Many hotels around the world are putting in efforts not exactly to change the course of global warming but to gain traction in the industry. That really shouldn’t be the case.

If you’re planning to be sustainable, go for the earth, not for your business.  

We have a detailed blog on sustainable hotel practices. Do give it a read to learn more about this aspect.

Sustainable hotel practices for being eco-friendly.

4. Conduct market positioning analysis

Another top hotel business strategy that you need to add to your list is analyzing your property and seeing where it stands in the market.

This is where positioning analysis comes into the picture. Also, it should be aligned with the target market’s demand.

In simple words, marketing positioning analysis is the process of determining how your hotel brand is perceived with the needs of the targeted market. When you have this insight, you can better your hotel offering and other aspects to match the changing preferences of the marketplace.

So, if you haven’t done any sort of positioning analysis, it is time to get your hands on it.

5. Perform compset analysis

I am sure you are already aware of the compset analysis.

However, I would still like to put this in the prominent hotel business strategies of 2024 because of the benefits it brings to the table.

There are different competitive hotel business strategies used in the industry, but competitor or compset analysis remains one of the tops.

When you are in the hospitality domain, you can never overlook what your competitors are doing. The better you understand your rivals, the better you can make decisions about your hotel and its operations.

Here’s a blog to help you perform competitor analysis the right way.

Step-by-step guide on performing hotel competition analysis.

6. Incorporate revenue management into your property

Revenue management is a vital element of every hotel’s business strategy. If you aren’t leveraging it, then you are overlooking one of the great hotel growth strategies.

However, there are various misconceptions about revenue management. A significant number of hoteliers think that it is expensive and doesn’t deliver results. But that’s absolutely not the case.

I have talked about revenue management in my blogs a lot of times. And I cannot emphasize enough the role it plays in boosting a hotel’s revenue. Be it a revenue management system or a revenue manager, a hotel must ensure that it has someone who is an expert in making smart pricing decisions.

Moreover, revenue management today is a vast segment, from outsourcing the best revenue management service to deploying AI-powered systems, everything is possible.

If you would like to read about revenue management in-depth, click here to access our archives of blogs on the same.

7. Re-evaluate supplier partnerships

Hotels spend a huge amount on outsourcing several things such as software, housekeeping essentials, and raw materials. However, at times, they end up getting into a loss. It is mostly because of poor product quality or over price.

Also, it is not a small issue. I have seen how it has taken a huge toll on hotels.

What can be done? Re-evaluation is the key.

Look at all supplier partnerships and see if anything is going wrong. This will help you break ties with suppliers that aren’t doing any good to your business and help you fix your pockets.

8. Optimise your direct booking channel

Let me give you a scenario.

Your hotel is listed on all the possible OTAs and seeing all the business you are getting from that, you’re thinking it’s a pretty good deal.

Not just that. You’re so into getting bookings from OTAs that you’re completely overlooking the direct channels.

But wait, did you forget about the commissions you’re paying to those OTAs?

I am not saying you should break ties with them. But what I am trying to state here is that your direct bookings are more profitable. This is when you should step in and start optimizing your direct reservation channels.

The most prominent one is your hotel website.

There is nothing better for any hotel than having an attractive and business-oriented website. What I mean by this is that your hotel website should have a robust booking engine for channeling direct bookings and a better conversion rate.

Apart from that, you can also optimize your social media pages. For example, you can use a ‘book now’ button.

Hence, make sure to opt for your hotel website optimization for better conversion.

9. Re-look at your hotel’s tech stack

What does your hotel technology stack look like?

No, I am not only talking about the internet, intercom, door locks, etc. But I am also weighing more on technologies like:

• Property management system (PMS);
• Mobile app;
• Point of sale (POS) system;
• Channel manager;
• Booking engine;
• Revenue management system;
• Review management system;
• Customer relations management system etc.

These are some of the hotel tech essentials. A property with an arsenal of these technologies is more likely to succeed in this competitive industry.

Furthermore, these systems work in sync with PMS being at the heart of it. Meaning, PMS is the epicenter of all operations, departments, data, and more. And when other systems are connected to it, systems work together seamlessly.

10. Emphasise mobile-friendly services

Hotel reservations on mobile devices have gained tremendous traction in the last couple of years. At present, it is one of the most preferred ways to book accommodations by travelers.

Therefore, hotels must ensure that they have an app to let people book a stay on the go.

Now, in terms of a hotelier, mobile hotel PMS is also on the rise. There are PMS providers who offer mobile PMS as well. Meaning, hoteliers can manage their properties’ each and every operation without even being present on the property.

This is not just me who is preaching about going mobile. People are actually inclined towards businesses that offer some sort of mobile-friendly services.

11. Keep abreast with contactless services

I have said this in my previous blogs and I am saying it again.

Contactless hospitality is here to stay. Hands down!

Ever since COVID happened, people have been inclined towards safety over luxury (if not all, then at least the majority of them). Now, what’s more interesting is that people have built a notion that to make their travel safe, they should take charge of certain things such as checking into a hotel without standing in a queue at the front desk.

And contactless hospitality solutions help with just that.

Guests can choose their room, check-in, avail services, make payments, and even check out, with little to no human contact.

When you have such a solution, you get more time to focus on other aspects of your hotel and make the entire guest journey satisfactory.

12. Identify key hotel risks

People usually don’t talk about it much. And I really don’t understand why. Maybe they think it is common to have risks when you’re running a hotel business.

But in reality, it is a hospitality business strategy that accommodation businesses must know where the water is difficult.

When you’re preparing to welcome 2024, do not forget to identify and analyze all the potential events that may negatively impact your hotel business. Next up, determine the severity of the risk so that you can prioritize your actions accordingly.

13. Focus on employee retention

The hospitality industry is one of the largest employers in the world. But, the employee turnover rate in this industry is also supremely high.

However, despite knowing this fact, the industry is sort of operating in denial and not focusing much on retaining staff.

This should not be the case at any cost. Employees are the brand ambassadors of a hospitality establishment and retaining them is a prominent hotel business strategy to succeed. Their experience working with the hotel speaks volumes.

So, make sure, you as a hotelier are taking every necessary measure to retain your employees. Also, it is not just about the reputation, frequent hiring is an expensive task and might take a serious toll on your business.

The post Hotel Business Strategies for 2024 to Boost Revenue appeared first on eZee Absolute.

I’m a light traveller and avoid carrying essentials that are mostly available in hotels.

However, it does happen that hoteliers avoid certain amenities due to budget constraints, availability, or low importance, and this affects the guest experience. 

So, how to know which hotel amenities are important?

Don’t worry, I’ll help you to choose amenities for the hotel.

What are the amenities in hotels?

Hotel amenities are facilities that any property provides to its guests for enriching their experience during the stay.

For instance, a standard room is loaded with:

• Cupboard with hangers
• Safety box
• Study table and chair
• Coffee table
• Stationeries
• Towels
• Toiletries
• Smart TV
• Minibar

If you see, some amenities are consumable by guests (minibar items, toiletries, stationery), whilst the others can be used by them but cannot be taken. 

That’s like two different types of amenities in hotels. They are bifurcated as complementary and paid.

Talking about the former one, it can be further divided into consumable and non-consumable amenities. The latter ones are mostly tangibles since they are services such as a bar, cafe shops, and vending machines.

Apart from that, there are various other categories such as luxuries (spa, theatre room, or private pool in suites), essentials, and creative amenities (welcome/departure gifts, fruit basket in room, lawn setup in balcony, books to read in room). 

How to choose amenities for your hotel business?

While we are talking about different amenities for hotels, you should look into the factors before choosing the right ones for your property. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Understand the guest segment

The first and foremost thing to do before you choose amenities for a hotel is to understand your guest segments. For instance, if your hotel caters mainly to business travelers, the amenities required would be different from family vacationers.

A business traveler would look out for a hotel with laundry services, Wi-Fi access, meeting rooms, a travel desk for pick and drop facilities, and so on. On the other hand, a family would opt for a hotel that has amenities catering to kids or old people such as 24*7 restaurants/coffee shops, recreational activities (swimming pool, outdoor games, or open lawns), or rooms with kitchenettes.

So whilst planning which amenities are most important for your hotel, invest time in analyzing your guests, so you can list out the most sought ones by each group of travelers.

Once you have the list, sort them out on the basis of which guests visit your property the most and the amenities they look for. 

2. Know your property’s type

Another factor that you cannot overlook is the type of property. I’ve written multiple blogs on hospitality businesses, and one common point in all of them was investing in appropriate amenities for guests. If your property is a business hotel, your focus would be majorly on corporate guests.

So investing in amenities and facilities like kitchenettes in rooms or exclusion trips for families, might be futile for you. That’s why you should choose amenities for hotels that match the theme/category of your property.

3. Research about guest preferences

While choosing amenities for hotels, don’t forget to consider guest preference. This can be done using reviews and feedback analysis. 

To make this easier, you can opt for reputation management software that will provide you with a detailed report about what guests are looking for and what can be done to make their stay better.

Apart from that, you need to look out for trends adapted by other hoteliers as well. I would suggest researching the most sought after hotel amenities by guests and updating them in your list for reference.

4. Analyse your budget

Once you have made the list of all the hotel amenities you need for your property, it’s time to check one of the biggest hurdles faced by hoteliers–budget.

As we all know, the ongoing pandemic has affected the travel and hospitality industry adversely. In fact, many hotels closed down, or are working in stealth mode.

Although revenge tourism is a trend, guests are travelling cautiously. So, don’t rush to buy every new amenity that guests are looking for. Check if it’s feasible to invest in it as per your budget.

If the answer is no, avoid those amenities for the time being, but don’t compromise on a low-quality product. 

5. Check for the availability of amenities

One of the common problems that hotels usually face is availability of amenities. Let me explain with an example.

Many properties these days are adapting sustainable ways to become eco-friendly. However, the problem is the availability of organic and eco-friendly products.

First of all, they are expensive. And second, most of them either need to be imported, or directly purchased from manufacturers.

In fact, a majority of times, the product is unavailable due to low production, inaccessible delivery area, or the company unable to match the desired quality.

Moreover, hotels need to maintain a standard quality of service, which means that you cannot keep changing the brand of amenities every now and then. As I said earlier, this discrepancy can hamper your guests’ experience, and mostly of regular ones.

What amenities are most important in a hotel?

Now that you are aware of the factors that you need to consider when you choose amenities for a hotel, let me give you some of the mandate ones:

• Basic amenities every hotel room SHOULD have:
  • Towels (Pair of 2 bath towel, 1 face towel)
  • TCM
  • Hangers in cupboard
  • Mirror in bathroom
  • Toiletries
  • Hair dryer (preferably on request)
  • Mineral water (2 bottles per room)
  • Notepad and pen/pencil
  • TV with either dish connection or Smart TV
  • Coffee table (Can opt for a study table also)
  • Lounge chair
  • Tissue box

• Other guest amenities in hotel
  • A dining facility
  • Luggage room 
  • Free Breakfast (CP Plan)
  • Wi-fi
  • Public Restroom
  • Elevators (If your property is more than 2 storeyed)
  • Free parking 

The post How to Choose Amenities For Hotel The Right Way? appeared first on eZee Absolute.

The memories of night audit, creating hotel reports and discussing them with my manager; all flashed across my mind. 

I still remember our hotel’s front office manager telling me – 

"Invest time in learning hotel reports. It'll help you gauge the performance of any property in financial aspects. As a manager, one day, you will be responsible for the rise and fall of the figures in it."

In this blog, let me share…

What are some of the important hotel reports?

As we all know, a hotel has two major divisions:

1. Operations (Front office, food and beverage (F & B), kitchen, housekeeping)
2. Admin (HR, finance, maintenance, purchase, sales and marketing)

And, each department has a few crucial reports. Let’s take a dig at each of them individually

1. Front office reports

The front office department handles one of the core aspects of the hotel “Room Revenue”.

A majority of the transactional processes such as reservations, night audit, bill settlement, and others fall in the front office department. These transactions get reflected in certain hotel reports.

Here are some of the front office reports used in hotels.

a. High balance report

Many hotels have credit facility to let guests extend their stay, without worrying about payments.

It enables guests to use services at the moment and pay later. This amount is settled during check-out.  

It’s given based on the fidelity of the guests and their credit scores. But, it has certain limitations known as the house limit.

Everyday, the night auditor checks if any guests have crossed the house limit. Details of such guests are registered in the high balance report.

For instance, a guest staying in your hotel has a house limit of $500. However, night auditor notices that the guest has a pending bill of $850.

He will immediately create a high balance report and share it with the front office manager (FOM). The guest receives an email from FOM to pay the exceeding amount.

In the case of corporate billing, hotels send invoices to the company’s accounts department. 

Here is a sample of a high balance report used in the hotels for your reference.

b. Daily arrival and departure report

Hotels have numerous check-ins and check-outs every day. It’s mandatory to keep their records.

A copy of this report is available with the housekeeping, sales and concierge departments, mainly because:

1. The front desk staff can initiate the check-out process for guests with early departure. This would save time and avoid chaos in the bill reconciliation process.
2. The housekeeping department can get the rooms ready before the guest arrivals, so they don’t have to wait for room allocation.
3. It assists the sales and marketing team with the count of rooms available for booking.
4. The concierge can align the pick-up and drop off facility for the arriving and departing guests.

Here’s how the arrival and departure reports look like.

c. Concierge report

A concierge’s task is to make travel arrangements for guests residing in the hotel. It could be either pick-up and drop-off or local sightseeing. 

The guests can request for these services at the concierge’s desk or reception as per their convenience.

The concierge shares a detailed report of all the travel services guests availed with the front desk, at the day end.

Some guests opt for the prepaid way, while the ones with a house limit prefer to pay later. 

The night auditor posts these charges in respective guests’ folios. If you don’t have a concierge report, here’s a format for your reference.

2. Night audit reports

Night audit is one of the principal processes in hotel operations. It marks the start of a new day. 

This process summarises the performance of a hotel on a day-to-day basis. The data is shared in the form of various reports.

Let’s take a look at different types of night audit reports.

a. Manager report

The manager report is the most critical one for any hotel. It provides details of the revenue realised by every department along with the forecasted figures.

These figures are on MTD (Month to date) and YTD (Year to date) basis. It helps in evaluating hotels performance.

Some of the key factors in the report are:

• ADR (Average daily rate)
• ARR (Average room revenue)
• Average occupancy
• RevPAR (Revenue per available room)

Here’s a hotel night audit report sample for your reference.

b. Daily forecast report 

Every hotel works on a pre-planning basis and the daily forecast report helps to achieve this. 

It encompasses various decision-making aspects such as the upcoming arrivals, departures, ARR and so on. This data is vital for forecasting hotels revenue and room sales. 

Moreover, factors such as events, holidays, competitors performance and others, are considered while forecasting revenue figures.

This hotel report assists the sales and front office department in planning their day accordingly.

You can try a simpler version of this report. Here’s how it looks.

c. Daily sales recapitulation report

Every department submits its sales report to the night auditor for reconciliation with bills and total revenue. However, for any hotel’s manager, it won’t be possible to look at all of them every day.

So, a daily sales recapitulation report is generated to ease this task. It is a summarised data of revenue from every department individually.

This assists in focusing on lower revenue-generating areas and taking corrective steps to improve them.

You can use the given format and start recording sales figures of every department in your hotel.

d. Cashier report

The cashier report is prepared for all the transactions in the front office department involving cash inflow and outflow.

If the hotel has a facility of foreign currency exchange, then it’s details are also logged into this report.

It’s mandatory for staff to handover the report during shift change. It is tallied at the end of the day and submitted to the accounts department. 

You can refer to the below-mentioned cashier’s report format for maintaining the records.

e. POS (Point of sales) terminal report

Once the night audit process begins, the transactions in the POS terminals are settled. It is cross-checked with the bills generated and merchant copy of transaction receipts.

The POS has an option for settlement. All you need to do is, initiate the process and it will automatically generate the report for you. 

3. F&B reports

The F&B department is a part of the revenue-generating division in hotels. Any outlet serving food or beverage falls under the F&B department. 

Most hotels have 3 basic outlets: Restaurant, bar and banquet. But, it all depends on the hotel’s classification. 

For example, a 5-star categorised hotel may have multiple restaurants and speciality bars. Meanwhile, a budget segment may have only one. 

The F&B supervisor shares a consolidated report with the night auditor for making relevant updates.

a. Restaurant sales report

The restaurant sales report comprises revenue generated from the food and beverage sales in a hotel.

Sales data of every shift is considered separately. This revenue is divided into different segments such as liquor, food and so on. 

Some hotels don’t serve alcohol. In such cases, the report consists only the food sales from all outlets.

Before generating the report, KOTs (Kitchen order tickets) are rechecked for any missing entries. Many restaurant POS software even provides an analysis of budgeted and actual revenue.

Here is a basic version of the restaurant report which you can customise as per your convenience.

4. Kitchen reports

The kitchen department is one of the main pillars of F&B service, as the hotel’s restaurant is entirely dependent on it. 

They also play a crucial role in revenue management. Here’s a report that every hotel should have to reduce their costs.

a. Wastage report

Everyday hotels have a certain amount of food wastage, and it is essential to keep a track of it before dumping. 

A basic comparison of wastage with the previous day would give you an evaluation of the loss incurred.

You need to take stern action if the amount is increasing daily or you may have a catastrophe in your hand. 

Here’s the format to record and analyse the wastage of your hotel’s kitchen. 

5. Housekeeping reports

The housekeeping department is also known as the backbone of the hotels. It falls under the cost-generating division, yet it is of equal importance.

As I mentioned previously, I did my internship in the hospitality industry. I can still recollect pulling all-nighters to clean the dirty rooms for the upcoming arrivals. 

Cleaning the lobby, preparing beds, cross-checking all rooms and much more to ensure that guests have a comfortable stay.

We had to complete every task as per the checklist, and create a report based on the same.

Here are two cardinal hotel reports in the housekeeping department to look into.

a. Room occupancy report

Sometimes guests have visitors in their rooms. As per the hotel’s policy, visitors are not allowed to stay overnight. 

The housekeeping department fills room occupancy report during the morning and turndown service.

It helps the receptionist and security to inform guests about hotels visitor policies. Also, it is important from security aspects.

Like other hotel reports, this one also has different formats. But, here’s a basic one for you to start with.

b. Minibar sales report 

Housekeeping has its share of contribution to hotels revenue with minibar sales. Any item placed in the minibar is on a chargeable basis.

The housekeeping personnel checks the minibar while cleaning any room or before guests’ check-out. The guests have to pay for any item they have consumed.  

The housekeeping supervisor shares the minibar bills and sales report with the front office department to update in guests’ folio.

Here’s how a minibar sales report looks.

The post Excuse Me! Are You Looking for Hotel Reports? Here They Are appeared first on eZee Absolute.

It provided hotels with an opportunity to increase their sales, while travellers reaped benefits by booking rooms at huge discounts. It was a revolution in the hospitality and travel industry.

But recently, aggregators have become a topic of discussion. There’s a tug of war going on between hotel aggregators vs independent hotels.

In this blog, I will tell you about the aggregators, and why they are moving out of this partnership despite all the benefits they receive.

What are hotel aggregators?

The hotel aggregator (aggregation) is a business model to rent hotels on lease, and take over their operational and marketing aspects. 

The aggregators get the properties under an agreement, which are then rebranded and facelifted as per SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures).  

To elaborate simply, hotel consolidators have introduced a standardised set of offerings and services to budget hotels.

Do not confuse this with the franchise model. Both work differently.

How do hotel aggregators work?

It may sound complicated, but the hotel aggregators business model is pretty simple to understand. Here’s how it works. 

To start with, a dedicated team studies about budget hotels and their business statistics. Properties are selected based on certain criterias, such as:

• Low annual turnover
• Negligible online presence
• Poor online reputation
• Mismanaged operations

In the next step, the team schedules a meeting with the hotel owners. Here, they learn about potential revenue their properties can generate. 

The aggregators propose to achieve those numbers by modifying various aspects of the properties. These include:

• Refurbishing the properties (rooms, banquet, restaurant and other areas)
• Streamlining operations
• Deploying hotel technologies (PMS, channel manager, reputation management tool and others)
• Training the staff

If hotels find the aggregator model interesting and profitable, the agreement is signed; considering the lease for the entire property or for a fixed room inventory.

Why do hoteliers opt for an aggregator model?

The profits of tying up with hotel consolidators are quite staggering. And, they ensure that properties receive the promised benefits.

Soon, hoteliers started welcoming these aggregators. Properties under the aggregators have an enormous inflow of bookings everyday. 

Let’s understand the benefits hotels avail while working with the aggregators.

1. Hotels earn a fixed monthly revenue

As per the agreement, the aggregators pay hoteliers a fixed revenue every month. This amount is calculated on the basis of certain factors, such as:

• Inventory leased out (Number of rooms to be managed)
• Property location  (That would give the revenue generation capacity of the hotel)
• Condition of the property (Aggregators renovate the hotels to provide a standardised experience to guests)

This fixed amount is irrespective of the actual volume of sales and the occupancy season. 

However, these payments are low in the initial days when the properties are under renovation and maintenance. 

2. No stress about managing online presence 

In this digital era, hotels NEED to have an online presence. But, managing it is easier said than done. This includes various verticals:

• Creating listings across various hotel booking sites
• Inventory management
• Maintaining rate parity
• Online reputation management

Well, aggregators solve these problems. They list the hotels on Google and other relevant OTAs to ensure their visibility to travelers. 

Infact, many aggregators have their own portal to generate direct bookings for properties.

3. Standardised quality of services

Following SOPs helps in maintaining a uniformity in the service quality of every hotel. It’s important for every staff member to work according to them. 

Even aggregators have certain SOPs that are incorporated in all the hotels, to deliver guests with the same experience.

4. Perks for hotel staff

When the property is leased, the staff members are either replaced or trained.

The staff is upgraded in every aspect. They get  an opportunity for learning and development (This was helpful for hotels located in remote areas). Each member is trained to handle every kind of situation. 

Gradually, better salaries and allowance improved their lifestyle. Moreover, it was mandatory for them to wear proper uniforms and safety gears whenever required.

This helped in organising and streamlining operations of budget hotels.

Why are hotels moving from aggregators to independent properties?

Because the benefits aggregators provided were remarkable, they became the talk of the town. Every hotel was looking forward to working with them.

But, as they say – Nothing lasts forever. In the last few years, many hotels have moved from under the aggregators to being independent properties.

A few of our customers that went through this shift and shared their experiences with us. Let’s take a look at them.

1. Delay in payments

One thing that everybody hates is delayed payments. Even hotels have strict credit policies.

Over time, aggregators joined forces with a majority of budget hotels. As the inventory increased, so did the booking flow. 

But, providing heavy discounts to guests proved fatal for aggregators. They soon became victims of a financial crisis. Not to mention, the business expansion affected the quality of services. 

As a result, aggregators had to deal with refund episodes (from unsatisfied guests) and booking cancellations daily.

This caused a delay in payments, which irked the hoteliers.

2. Cases of dual OTA listings

Aggregators handle and optimize the properties’ online presence. For that reason, they create a new listing for properties on every booking portal.

This caused problems for hotels already listed and for the ones working on partial inventory. 

How? Let me explain.

#MyExperience: I was working for an OTA a couple of years ago. My team handled cases of hotel booking aggregators. Every day, they used to send us mails to create new listings or modify the existing ones. But, after the alterations, we faced many issues.

The transactions on the modified listings were processed in the aggregators’ accounts. This enraged many hotels, as they didn’t receive payments for bookings on time. 

Owing to the new listings created, travelers saw two properties at the same address. One was managed by original management and another by aggregators.

This led to guests getting confused and choosing another property to book

3. Irregular changes in policies

Hotels update their policies periodically owing to change in circumstances and market situations. 

The aggregators were not strangers to this practice. They often changed policies pertaining to commission structure, payment cycles, agreement clauses, and more without prior information to hotels. 

Clearly, hoteliers did not accept these amendments. This worked as catalysts in decision making for many hotels to quit on aggregators.

4. Impact on bookings

As I mentioned previously, business expansion led to substandard guest experience. Since, hoteliers were displeased with delayed payments, they began rejecting bookings from aggregators. 

This rift between hotels and aggregators affected the booking ratio. Soon enough, guests avoided booking at the aggregator properties. 

Hotels urged the guests to make direct reservations at the property. But, guests were frustrated over 3 things:

1. Their initial bookings were cancelled
2. They had to wait for a refund to be processed
3. They had to book another property at higher prices

As a result, hotels lost a considerable amount of bookings, leading to an end in partnership with aggregators.

5. Lower rates

It’s no secret that aggregators offered significant discounts to guests. 

Although, the low rates were given for a reason, such tariffs saturated the hospitality industry.

Guests became accustomed to booking hotels at meagre prices from the aggregators. So, they expected such discounts and rates from independent properties as well.

The hotels which quit on aggregators or worked on partial inventory faced similar issues. They couldn’t afford to offer such discounts at the loss of their revenue.

This was the last nail in the coffin, before hotels decided to move out of the aggregator partnerships.

What are the benefits for hotels if they shift to independent properties?

Day by day, the industry is witnessing an increasing number of properties breaking loose from the aggregators and going independent. 

But, is this step worth it? Let’s see, what’s in it for hotels to work as an individual property.

1. Brand exposure in the industry

Working with a brand and becoming one are poles apart. 

By being an independent property, hotels have an opportunity to establish themselves as a brand. They would have a unique identity, which would ultimately impact guests’ loyalty.  

Further, they can also invest in their brand website and acquire direct bookings. 

2. Complete control of tariff and inventory

While working as independent properties, hotels have complete control over their rates, availability and their entire online presence. 

They can change their tariff, as per the benchmarks set by the hotel associations. The revised rates may not be on the lower side, but will justify any property’s services.

Hotels can also allocate specific inventory to various booking channels. They can choose which OTAs to work with and also decide on the discounts and promotions they want to run.

3. Opportunities to experiment with SOPs

There are no set rules for designing SOPs. Their core purpose is – streamlining the hotel operations and maintaining the service quality. 

For instance, some hotels add one spoon of sugar in a cup of tea. While, some properties place sugar cubes for guests to help themselves. Yet, the result is the same - a cup of sweet tea.

Similarly, as an independent property, a hotel can design its own SOPs to achieve the desired result. 

However, those should be better than what aggregators offered. 

What steps should hotels take after moving from aggregators?

I know, shifting from one management to the other is a hectic and challenging task. Hotels have to make changes to various aspects. Be it facade, room interiors, SOPs, or online presence. 

If you make a few amendments and continue your hotel operations, it will hamper your guest experience. 

So, start working from the base. If it were me, I would focus on understanding – ‘What guests want?’

That would give me a direction and help me make relevant changes.

1. Eradicate old OTA listings

Hotels need to connect with online booking platforms and get old listings deleted. 

There are two major reasons behind it:

1. A fresh start would bring in new reviews. This would help them identify scopes of improvement. 
2. Because old listings may have a good or bad reputation score. These would impact the property’s booking ratio. 

A new listing helps guests to make a booking with fresh expectations and enthusiasm. 

2. Focus on revenue management

Millennials always search for discounts while booking any hotel (So do I).

However, it doesn’t imply that hotels can sell rooms at negligible prices. So, how to set the tariff?

‘Market and competitor analysis’ – That’s what hotels need to do. 

This activity would give them a tariff range to use. Additionally, hotels can create deals in the form of a one-time discount or run reward programs. 

You can promote those deals by showcasing them on the hotel’s brand website.

3. Partner with local vendors for ancillary services

Aggregators have centralised operations. So, they have fixed vendors available for the services offered.

For instance, the amenity kits they provide belong to a specific brand. These kits are available across all the properties they manage. 

We recommend having a partnership with local vendors for such ancillary facilities. These could be pick up and drop off services, toiletries and such likes.

4. Train staff to use hotel technology

Once hotels have designed their SOPs, they need to train their staff to follow them.

It’s also necessary for the staff to be technologically updated. We live in a digital era. Every task is now technology-based. Be it creating a booking, checking-in, revenue management and so on. 

AI based chatbots are the best example in this case. They can easily converse with guests and assist them with bookings. 

Hence, hotel staff should be thorough with using gadgets and hotel technology for an enhanced guest experience. Infact, there are numerous hotel tech giants in providing tools to easily manage such tasks. 

5. Improvise your marketing techniques

After all the operational changes, it’s time to move to the marketing aspect. 

Gone are the days, when hotels had to rely on word of mouth marketing to attract guests. 

With the dawn of the internet era, one can know about any hotel located in a country miles away. Moreover, social media has brought closer the world to us. 

It introduced a new angle of hotel marketing. It gave marketers an opportunity to reach out to millions of guests across the world.

If you are looking for some fruitful marketing technique, here’s a must read for you - TOP 11 DIGITAL MARKETING TECHNIQUES

Conclusion

Aggregators brought a new revolution in the hospitality industry. It paved a way for budget hotels to increase their room sales. 

But, too many cooks spoil the broth. Similarly, when aggregators started managing higher inventory, it affected the quality of services. 

I am not saying that hotel consolidators are bad. But, they are like a double-edged sword. 

With the above scenarios, I’ve listed all the pros and cons. Now, it’s upon you to decide whether to work with hotel aggregators or be an independent property.

The post Hotel Aggregators: A Revolution for Budget Hotels appeared first on eZee Absolute.

From welcoming guests to observing a low influx, you never know where you might have taken the wrong path. 

And, such a breakdown, smashes you both ways – mentally and financially.

(This was the scenario for a lot of hoteliers in 2020 .)

So to keep you well prepared and save your hotel business from failing, I have penned down some extremely useful tips below.

But first, let me tell you

What can be the various reasons for a failing hotel business?

The word “closing” itself leaves me with a teary eye. And, we cannot stop or change something that is about to happen.

Besides, businesses don’t fail out of luck. There are several factors involved that turn you into a loss-making company from a profitable one. 

And before you reach a point where it all seems out of motion, let’s understand the reasons that can head you to closure.

I have covered some of the major ones below:

More expenses, less income:

When your expenses exceed the income, it is natural that your business will suffer from a loss. And this is one of the primary reasons why hotel businesses fail. Thus, make sure to reduce your costs and hike your profits before it’s too late.

Low bookings and guests influx:

For a hotel, everything revolves around guests. They are the reason why your business exists. So, if you observe low occupancy even during the peak seasons, then make sure you start implementing strategies to attract more guests.

Poor guest experience and bad reviews:

Bad customer service comes with dangerous side effects on your business. If you come across any negative reviews, start applying strategies to improve your customer experience. In case you fail to do so, it will harm your hotel’s reputation; leaving a bad impression on your future visitors.

Installing expensive technology:

Technology simplifies your hotel’s complex operations, but make sure you are getting enough ROI from it. It is very important to note that expensive DOES NOT mean EXCELLENT! So adopt a solution that delivers you the right returns and better guest experiences. 

Unfavorable market conditions:

Market conditions are unpredictable and you have no control over them. But, you should always have a strategy for the worst times. I have some exceptional cost-saving ideas that can help you overcome this.

Using old hotel management practices:

Technology and trends look fresh until they are not outdated. Likewise, the hospitality industry witnesses various trends with rising guest expectations every day. And, if you fail to adopt those, they’d choose your competitors over you.

Each of these and several other reasons can largely affect your business’s growth. If you’re not taking a proactive approach to controlling your expenses, your hotel will not generate higher profits.

So, better late than never, be well prepared to take the right steps in advance.

Let’s have a look below to implement them at your property. 

How to save your hotel business from failing?

It’s always good to have a plan B when plan A doesn’t head in the right direction. Likewise, if your hotel is not achieving the desired goals, it’s time to adapt creative strategies and turn things around.

Here are the smart ways through which you can lower your costs and achieve higher business profits.

1. Go low on marketing expenses

Marketing for your hotel business is surely going to give you better returns. But, when you are low on profits, this is one thing that you can consider skipping on. 

Instead, you can switch to no-cost marketing activities from paid ones (like ads). Also, consider targeting your audience directly from social media platforms.

Join (suitable) groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Start posting about your offers, discounts, and the various facilities that you provide at your property.

I’m sure this will help you generate more business plus improve the brand awareness of your property.

2. Revamp your pricing and cancellation policies

Good pricing and flexible cancellation policies are always good deals for your guests. If you plan this right, what more would they want from you?

Pricing involves a lot of factors. And, if you don’t want to lose your customers, it is necessary to set effective pricing strategies to enhance the overall profit of your business.

All the more, ensure that your cancellation policies are in line with your hotel’s pricing. Because no guest would want to lose their money if they are unable to visit your hotel.

These are very crucial elements that you should often track. Especially during an unprecedented crisis, at the time of festivals, events, long weekends, and on the whole.

3. Take ideas from your hotel staff

When things get complicated, it becomes hard for you to come up with new ideas and draw a conclusion on the ongoing hurdles.

Here’s where your hotel staff can be your best friend to help you stay afloat during tough times.

Do consider their views and plan out new strategies. Because they are the ones who are actually on the frontend of your business. 

Further, if you deem it right, get in touch with industry experts to seek advice for your business growth.

4. Implement low-season tactics

Low seasons can make or break a property. If your budgets are already tight, any significant dip in bookings can largely affect your business revenue.

But implementing the right tactics in advance can help you beat them. Smart ideas, planning, and a bit of pop psychology can get you more guests even during the low season. 

Personally, I prefer to visit locations when there is an off-season. Because there are two major benefits – low prices and no overcrowding. 

I’m sure there must be many travelers like me that would help you here. So make sure you target the right audience during such times and hike your profits.

5. Take advantage of underutilized spaces

Look into every nook and corner of your hotel and find spaces that are not utilized or not used often. 

Using underutilized spaces to enhance your hotel’s revenue during your low-profit days can be a good way to earn a side income. 

Make use of such spaces for recreational activities that do not include much set-up costs. Namely - yoga, meditation, family gatherings, and such likes.

However, these might not be a permanent set-up at your hotel but can work as a promotional strategy to meet your expenses.

6. Host events and upsell services

Host events like music gigs, concerts, festivals, and parties, or collaborate with influencers. This can be a win-win strategy for both – your hotel and its fame.

Influencers often have a huge fan base that attracts more guests to your property through their presence. 

Besides, these events allow you to upsell your hotel services like hotel rooms, dine-in facilities, bars, etc. 

You can also offer combo deals at relatively low costs to draw your guests’ attention and thereby meet your business revenue.

7. Make use of social media presence

It is always advisable to follow the trend and stay active on social media platforms. This helps you to increase your bookings and engage more followers.

Besides, these days your guests are more active on social media, exploring every single thing they are looking for.

That is why regular posting, sharing updates, and adapting social media strategies would hugely benefit and promote your property. 

(You can also create a unique hashtag for your hotel.)

I have some ready-made social media post templates that would help you to start with this.

8. Promote cross-resource utilization

Cross-utilization of employees helps you to manage your resources in an effective and profitable way.

It is a method to build your staff with a secondary skillset and broader knowledge to perform activities of other departments as well.  

You may think this will need around the clock efforts from your staff. But, in reality, it will benefit them to know the in and out of your business.  

Besides, it will save you from the extra expense of hiring new staff by training your existing employees with new roles and responsibilities.

9. Run discounts that benefit your property

Discounts!! This word itself has a huge impact on your customer’s minds. It encourages them to make a booking with your property (if they find a good deal).

Running and promoting discounts often have several advantages - better branding, better sales, and better bookings.

That is why you need to be thoughtful and consider a wide range of parameters while offering the perfect deal.

Here’s a definitive guide to hotel discount strategies that will allow you to showcase the best discounts for your property and equally gain you good returns. 

10. Ensure your hotel software fulfills smooth operations

A hotel PMS is the heart and soul of your business. If you are not using an affordable cloud-based system, then you’re missing out on some solid perks.

An automated and streamlined system delivers a great guest experience by saving a lot of your time and effort.

Besides, when integrated with other systems, it reduces the to and fro between departments and boosts staff productivity.

Further, these systems include a mobile PMS that lets you track operations on the go and stay updated on everything.

11. Provide ultimate employee satisfaction

Employees are the right hand in your business. If you keep them happy, they’ll undoubtedly make your guests happy.

First things first, educate your staff and provide them training at regular intervals. Consider their views and in turn, share with them what are your future goals.

This will create a sense of trust and encourage them to serve your guests in the best way possible.

Also, focus on long-term employees by timely delivering rewards for their performances. This will help you to have an experienced set of team on board. 

12. Adapt to the changing trends

You can’t get ahead if you don’t know where the industry is going and what your guests’ expectations are. So make sure you’re aware of the upcoming hotel industry trends.

Being the first to offer new services, you are one step ahead of your competitors to gain more guests and business revenue.

You should also consider switching to modern practices from traditional ones and revamping your hotel premises (in case it requires an update).

Such changes will save your hotel business from failing, making it the #1 preferred destination for your guests. 

Thus, stay updated on what’s happening, how the industry is reshaping, and what can empower you to deliver a better guest experience.

13. Promote good hotel reviews

Reviews are a great way to attract guests and boost your hotel’s reputation. If you notice a guest is happy with their stay, never miss a chance to take their feedback on public platforms.

(Let me tell you, mouth-to-mouth advertising works the best!)

Highlight excellent reviews on the right channels, like a website, social media, Google, etc. It will give you a chance to showcase the uniqueness of your property.

To mention,  93% of people check hotel reviews before booking a room.

And, not only taking reviews but also its timely response (irrespective of whether it is a negative review); plays an essential role in your business.

I have some really useful review response templates (for free) that might help you.

Turning around an underperforming hotel is quite challenging, but not impossible. By far, I hope I was able to give you a solution to save your hotel business from failing. 

Let’s clear a few of your doubts now.

FAQs

Half information is always harmful. Therefore, I have listed a few questions that might have popped into your head by now.

The post 13 Strategies to Turn Around A Failing Hotel Business appeared first on eZee Absolute.

Whether planning or on a trip, travelers turn to TripAdvisor to compare prices of hotels, flights, and cruises. They also visit the site to book popular tours and attractions, as well as reserve tables at great restaurants. 

For that reason, TripAdvisor for hotels has proved to be the largest and most profitable channel.

So, in this blog, I am bringing the best ways to help you make the most of TripAdvisor.

Right from setting up your listing to acquiring bookings from it; I have covered A-Z of TripAdvisor for hotels.

Let’s begin with,

Why should hotels have a listing on TripAdvisor?

Well, before I start, let me give you some shocking highlights:

Source: Travel Media Group

Along with this, by the year 2020, the site draws

Source: TripAdvisor Media Centre

Now, the website is also available in nearly 50 countries and in dozens of languages.

TripAdvisor is known for its Popularity Ranking. This ranks hotel based on their scores from travelers.

• A survey carried out by Forrester states, a massive 81% of those surveyed said reviews are important, with just 3% saying they are not.

• Statistics by MGHworld suggest that over two-thirds of customers will avoid booking a hotel after reading one to three negative reviews.

Well, all these statistics sustain the fact that your target audience literally TRUST TripAdvisor.

Hence, neglecting TripAdvisor listing can turn out to be a significant mistake for your business. 

Having known the importance, let us understand,

Steps to claim your TripAdvisor business listing

You’d be surprised to know that nearly every hotel in the world is on TripAdvisor. 

Since a TripAdvisor Business Listing already exists for your hotel; you can either claim the existing listing or create a new one for yourself. 

By claiming your listing, you can access the tools needed to improve your reputation. This helps to get you more exposure and opportunities to build your brand.

You can check if the hotel is listed by visiting – Tripadvisor Listing.

If your business appears in the search results, it means your listing already exists on TripAdvisor. 

To claim, click on your business name and click the “Claim Your Business” option to sign up for TripAdvisor’s Management Center.

On the other hand, if you don’t find your business in the search results, here’s how you can add your TripAdvisor listing.

You can start creating a new listing by visiting – List your business on Tripadvisor.

On this web page, select your business type from – Hotels, Restaurants, Attractions, or Vacation Rentals. 

The process for adding your business and creating a listing on TripAdvisor is quite easy.

Following are the steps to create a new or claim an existing listing:

Step 1: Fill out the basic information about you and your business

Make sure that this information is correct and updated. Because TripAdvisor will send a message to the email address listed here, once the listing is published.

Step 2: Pin your business’ location on a map

TripAdvisor recommends you to drop the marker as close as possible to the entrance of the business. If it doesn’t have an entrance, drop the marker at its “geographic center.”

Step 3: Provide property details such as:

• Total number of rooms
• Price range
• Minimum stay requirements
• If you have on-site staff and security
• Details on front desk staffing
• If bathrooms are en suite
• Included amenities

Step 4: Describe your property

Add a property description. This helps users learn more about the business. It must be written in the local language, and it shouldn’t contain HTML code, contact information, or text in all caps.

Step 5: Add your profile photo

Firstly, you need to upload your business profile photo. This image will be displayed on the listing and serves as the first impression for users.

TripAdvisor guidelines state that the photo should be in a JPG or GIF file format and a maximum file size of 100 KB. (Without any borders or logos.)

Step 6: Hit “Submit”

After performing all these steps, all you have to do is submit the application. Verify that you are a representative of the business by clicking on the box at the bottom of the form. Then click the “Submit” button to send the application.

Once everything is done, TripAdvisor editors will then verify the details and send you a confirmation email.

This part of the process takes about five business days to complete.

Now let’s see,

Ways to optimize your listing on TripAdvisor

Along with having a listing, you need to optimize it in order to yield better results. Here are a few ways to do that:

1. Verify your information

Confirm that all the details on your listing are correct. 

Once you’ve registered, double-check that your business’ name, address, phone number, links to your website, and email is correct. 

You can make any edits in the Management Center by clicking "Profile" in the top menu and selecting "Manage Listing”. 

This will allow you to update or add information. As an official representative of the business, your edits will override any existing content.

Further, add a description of your property. Make sure that your property’s description content is rich, attractive, and helps you stand ahead of your competitors. 

In addition, include information about opening times, seasonal activities, suitability for children, or groups; everything that will help travelers select your attraction.

In this way, you can add a brand new listing on TripAdvisor.

2. Upload photos

The photos as well as videos of your property and your surroundings help travelers to set an expectation of their stay beforehand. 

The more the photos, the better will be the engagement.

As TripAdvisor says, businesses with 30 or more photos have 41% better engagement than those with 10 or fewer.

You are entitled to upload an unlimited number of images. Make sure you let travelers see what they can look forward to, whether it’s an adventurous walking tour or a beautiful outdoor park.  

Once you have a few pictures, select one as your primary photo to create a strong first impression amongst travelers.

3. Add booking links to your listing

TripAdvisor has partnered with external companies to allow travelers to make bookings directly from your listing. 

If you would like to get a ‘Book Now’ link on your listing, register your business on Viator. If you’re already a Viator supply partner, add more products here (sites available in English only).

Within each listing, TripAdvisor shows rates of other hotel booking sites like Booking.com and Priceline. However, you can set your own rate on TripAdvisor.

With the ‘Book Now’ button, customers can reserve a stay through TripAdvisor instead of going to another travel site. 

In addition to the button, there’s an ability to show live rates and overall availability on the listing page.

4. Add attractions in your listing

Attractions are to be added to the “Things to Do” section on TripAdvisor. 

To join this list, attractions must meet the following requirements:

• Shall be interesting to travelers
• Should meet TripAdvisor’s animal welfare policy
• Must be open or taking reservations for a future opening date
• Have an official name and permanent address
• Must be open to the public for at least 12 consecutive weeks

The sole exception to these requirements is “Performances”; such as specialty shops, museums, or nature areas that are at one venue for at least 24 consecutive weeks.

You can sign up as an attraction by following the same process on TripAdvisor Owners page. The only difference is that you select “Attractions” as the listing type.

After having your listing optimized, let us find ways on,

Ways to improve your TripAdvisor ranking

Your hotel’s ranking on TripAdvisor plays an important role to enhance online presence and get more bookings.

Popularity Ranking is based on user reviews and reflects your standing against other businesses within your geographical location. 

In addition, your property’s popularity ranking is important because it helps you appear higher in the search results.

TripAdvisor ranks your property based on these three main factors:

IMPORTANT: Asking customers to leave reviews is a great idea, but offering incentives is against TripAdvisor’s policy.

In con, along with quality and quantity, you need to ensure a consistent flow of strong and positive reviews. 

Remember,

More reviews help build confidence faster.

Moving ahead, let’s understand, 

How to drive more bookings from TripAdvisor?

The ultimate aim of your listing is to GET MORE BOOKINGS. So, here are some ways through which you can get more bookings from TripAdvisor:

1. Optimize your ranking in search results 

Search results pages are instrumental in helping travelers sort through all the accommodation options available and find the one that’s right for them. 

When travelers land on a search page, they’ve chosen their destination — or narrowed it down — and they’ve started to build a list of hotels that will become their consideration set. 

Below are a few examples of common pages a traveler may land on.

To sum up, your goal is to get noticed on any of these pages according to your property type.

2. Review Management 

The way you manage your reviews has a great impact on your presence and plays an important role to get you more bookings. 

With 100s of reviews written every minute, it’s easy to fall behind. 

More than half of TripAdvisor users will not book a property that does not receive any reviews. 

Lastly, to compete on TripAdvisor, you MUST earn positive reviews on a regular basis. Let me tell you how you can get a consistent review: 

a. Ask for reviews

Well, it is obvious, if you don’t ask, you don’t get it. Ask your guests to leave a review or feedback. Begin asking happy guests to leave a review.

Also, after they check out, you can send a thankyou email and in that, you can ask them to review you. 

b. Get along with TripAdvisor Review Express Program

One most important benefit of TripAdvisor for hotels is the Review Express Program. It is a free, powerful email-based review collection program that makes it easy for hotels to invite recent guests to submit reviews on TripAdvisor.

TripAdvisor has recognized several booking engines and hotel software vendors, as TripConnect Premium partners (which by the way, eZee is).

If you enroll in this program with a premium partner, TripAdvisor itself sends emails to collect feedback automatically from your hotel software or booking engine.

In the same vein, you can track the performance of your different email campaigns on the Review Express Dashboard. You’ll see valuable metrics from each campaign such as the number of total opens, clicks, and reviews received from the email.

c. Custom Reminder Cards

Another great way to get more TripAdvisor reviews is by creating reminder cards that you can print and distribute to guests at the front desk.

TripAdvisor itself offers these types of cards. Here’s how to get them:

• Under the “Marketing Tools” tab in your Management Center select “Promotional Tools”
• Click on “Order Now” under Business Cards
• Choose “Business Cards” in our promotional shop
• Click on the reminder cards that fit your business. You can customize it as well.

Important Tip: Distribute these cards at checkout, the end of a meal, or when the tour comes to an end to remind guests to write a review when they return home. 

d. Reminder Flyer

Ask your guests to write about their experience by giving TripAdvisor’s downloadable flyer.

The downloadable flyer can also be found in your Management Center, under “Marketing Tools”.

The flyer is available in many languages, for your guests visiting from all over the world.

Important Tip: Hang this flyer in a high traffic area as an effortless reminder to your guests as they pass. 

Now, in these different ways, you will be able to collect enough reviews.

But, is that all?

Not really! Because collecting reviews is just a part of the whole shebang.

Further, another significant aspect is to RESPOND to them regularly.

Responding to reviews is a vital element of managing TripAdvisor listings. It tells customers that their opinions are vital and you care about every piece of feedback regardless of its sentiment.

In fact, 45 percent of consumers say they are more likely to visit a business that responds to its reviews.

TripAdvisor alerts you when you receive a review. So, you can respond to those reviews ASAP.

When done well, responding reviews can enable higher bookings for your property.

Here are some review response templates that might help you to respond quickly and correctly.

3. Add TripAdvisor Widgets on your website

Include the free widgets on your own website which TripAdvisor offers. These help you to showcase a TripAdvisor rating and encourage customers to leave reviews on the listing page.

Above all, review widgets can increase conversions on your site and provide social proof that your business is trusted by other consumers.

You can check out the Widget Center to see which widgets are available for a listing.

Besides, you can have the following widgets on your website:

• Rated on TripAdvisor Badges: There are three variations of this widget, which shows the listing’s overall rating and review count.
• Review Snippet Widget: This displays the listing’s rating and snippets of recent reviews.
• Write-A-Review Widgets: These widgets encourage customers to review the business on the website.
• Review Widgets: A “scrolling showcase,” that features your recent best review.

4. Participate (and win) in Travellers’ choice awards

TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence award is one of the most desired badges for businesses in the travel sector. 

It can set your business apart from your competitors and give you more visibility.

They have been handing out the Certificate of Excellence since 2011 to honor hospitality businesses, that deliver consistently great service across the world.

An average of only 10% of businesses listed on TripAdvisor receive this Certificate of Excellence. 

Since there is no specific application process for this; the achievement is earned by businesses that are able to collect great reviews and high ratings on TripAdvisor.

To get the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, you must:

• Maintain an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars
• Have a minimum number of reviews (TripAdvisor doesn’t specify the actual number)
• Must be listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months

The award winners are announced every year by the end of May. This means that your business should be listed onTripAdvisor for the entire 12 months between 1st April and 31st March, to be eligible for the award.

Note: The certificate validity is for one year from the issue.

5. Join the different TripAdvisor Programs

This travel giant offers a wide range of programs for the business to help them showcase the best of their property. 

a. TripAdvisor Instant Booking Program: 

With TripAdvisor Instant Booking, travelers can reserve hotels and accommodations directly on the site. 

This is indeed a great way for TripAdvisor businesses to capitalize on the website’s traffic. (After all, travelers are more willing to book when they don’t have to leave a trusted site like TripAdvisor.)

As a paid feature, TripAdvisor Instant Booking:

• Lets potential guests see your live rates and availability on the site.
• Allows travelers to click on “Book on TripAdvisor” from your listing.
• Gets you bookings directly through your trusted connectivity partner.

Above all, TripAdvisor Instant Booking brings reservations to hotels by working with several certified connectivity partners.

Furthermore, connectivity partners include booking engines, channel managers, and property management systems. (You may view TripAdvisor’s list of connectivity partners here.)

Well, it is based on a “Pay for Stays” commission model. This means that you need to pay TripAdvisor only for the bookings that turn into stays.

There is no upfront investment and no long-term commitment required to sign up.

b. TripAdvisor Affiliate Program: 

The affiliate program allows you to leverage the TripAdvisor brand to enhance your content. Additionally, it helps you to earn a steady revenue stream on hotel traffic.

It provide users, access to content covering 795 million reviews and 1.4 million places to stay.

c. Start a Sponsored Placements campaign:

Put your listing above search results with Sponsored Placements.

It is a new advertising solution that puts your property in front of potential guests on key pages. 

Besides, most of the properties think, that the only way to influence TripAdvisor search rankings is to maintain a large number of excellent reviews.

But, the Sponsored Placements now help low-ranking hotels appear at the top of the search results.

However, the new ads are only differentiated from the rest of TripAdvisor’s listings by a grey ‘Sponsored’ label next to the name of the hotel. Apart from the grey label, the ads look the same as the organic listings beneath. This enables them to target consumers searching for hotels in their destinations and gain bookings.

Therefore, Sponsored Placements present an excellent opportunity for hotels to increase their visibility on this hugely influential website.

So, this is what all I could share about benefits of TripAdvisor for hotels.

FAQs

In conclusion

TripAdvisor for hotels is a huge advantage for the entire hospitality industry. Make the most of it. Share positive reviews on social media and marketing materials.

In short, when used effectively, TripAdvisor can help you reach more customers.

So, create a solid plan and leverage TripAdvisor to grow your business.

The post What are The Benefits of TripAdvisor for Hotels? [End-to-end Guidebook] appeared first on eZee Absolute.

And as the entire hotel industry is gearing up with new plans and strategies, meanwhile; we thought to lend you a hand by sharing our top 10 blogs that hotels loved in 2018.

With topics ranging from hotel management tips and tricks to the best revenue management strategies; the versatility of our blogs has garnered plenty of reads, recommendation, and credibility.

Let’s have a flashback to our best blogs of 2018

1. Top techniques to follow to increase your hotel’s RevPAR

RevPAR- A very important and inseparable segment of revenue management. Revenue per available room(RevPAR), ADR, occupancy percentage and other such terms are the key metrics to analyze your hotel’s performance and a significant part of revenue management. Each and every parameter has its individual importance.

So this a blog that explains all about the RevPar right from the scratch to the core. A piece of comprehensive information on how RevPar is calculated, why it is important, and some best techniques to increase your hotel’s RevPAR. This blog will surely assist you to increase your RevPAR in 2019.

2. Benefits of TripAdvisor: How TripAdvisor listing and reviews help grow your hotel business?

The Google for us is TripAdvisor for hotels. This metasearch engine poses significant importance for the hotels and is been ruling the hotel industry from past 18 years.

Merely listing your hotel on this travel giant is not enough. With more than 9 million hotels listed on this metasearch engine, how to make your hotel discoverable or reach to the right audience? Apart from the listing, TripAdvisor bestows hotels with many other benefits that can bring more revenue and business to your door.

This blog encompasses some useful tips and tricks that will help hotels increase its credibility on TripAdvisor, how to make the optimum use of various features of Tripadvisor and how it benefits your hotel.

Read our second most loved blog and boost your ranking, reservations, and reviews on this most favored travel website.

3. Duties of a hotel manager to focus on to increase hotel’s business

Do you know a hotel manager is the second most important thing that can help you increase your hotel business? (First is obviously a hotel software!)

The entire management of a hotel is in hand of the hotel manager and only a smart hotel manager can handle an abundance of operations to the max.

Here’s a blog that tells you the core and important duties of a hotel manager. If you are a hotel manager you can read and gauge if you ’re missing any one of your duty or not. If you are a hotelier you can check whether your hotel manager is performing his duties well or not.

Besides, if you’re planning to appoint a new manager, then definitely this blog is a must-read.

4. Hotel Revenue Management strategies you need to adopt in 2018

One of the most important blog to read before entering the new year.

Revenue management is at the core of any hotel business. We know that the hotel industry is one of the most competitive industry and being a part of it is intensive and thrilling at the same time. But all of it can be one of your best rides if you plan your revenue management strategies on beforehand.

The strategies listed in this blog would not only define your smartest move but will also prepare to for all the possible business adversities. For having yourself as one of the wisest hoteliers and making the best business out of all situations, this is a must-read blog.

5. Mistakes to avoid in your hotel distribution strategy

Online travel agents or more commonly known as OTAs have their unique significance in the hotel industry. One of the key reason is that OTAs control approximately 2/3rd of all online hotel bookings. Beyond that, they bestow hotels with ample benefits such as – more bookings, increased traffic, wider exposure, and the list continues.

As a result, a proper inventory distribution on the these OTAs is a must-have for the hoteliers. But often in spite of distributing inventories on the OTAs, the hotels suffer from overbookings and under bookings.

Ever wondered why?

So, here’s a blog that defines some of the top mistakes that hoteliers usually make while distributing their inventories on the OTAs. The blog clearly defines the solutions to avoid those mistakes as we. So that the hotels can yield the most of these OTAs.

This is a must-read for the hoteliers, as it will help you analyze whether you are not doing any mistakes. On the same lines, the solutions given will also help you to formulate the best distribution strategies.

6. How to deal with challenges in the hotel industry

As a matter of fact, challenges are an inseparable part of the hospitality industry. However, to overcome these challenges along with a better business is itself a big challenge.

On the other hand, the challenges coming your way are unpredictable and non-steady. So how to deal with all these challenges successfully and bring home the bacon.

Well, this blog portrays some of the common yet important challenges that are mainly faced by hoteliers. This blog briefs you on the challenges of the hospitality industry, why you should know these challenges and how to overcome them. Besides,

“Challenges are gifts in disguise”

Having said that, read ahead the blog and know the most common challenges of hotel industry as well as their solutions.

7. Yield Management in Hotel Industry: Key Factor of Revenue Generation

Yield management is a term used for variable pricing. The main idea of yield management is to sell a product or service to the right customer, at the right time, and at the right price.

The hotel industry, being a dynamic one; faces a lot of ups and downs in revenue generation throughout the year. Yield management is one such practice which pulls hotels out of this jumble, all the while ensuring that they don’t face any loss. This blog explains all the hows and whys of the yield management in the hotel industry. It has encircled some of the best yield management strategies to increase a hotel’s revenue and business.

Moreover, it also distinguishes clearly between yield management and revenue management. Right from how to put yield management into practice to its benefits for the hotel, the blog has covered all the essentials of yield management. Read ahead and get fully acquainted with yield management in the hotel industry to the core.

8. 9 latest hotel industry trends to focus on for your hotel’s growth

In this tech-era, when the technology can help you remember where you have kept your passport in your luggage, don’t you think you too have to walk hand in hand with this advancing technology?

Moreover, These days the guests are using multiple digital platforms for and expect to engage with the hotels seamlessly across all of them.

But how to stay updated with the latest trends of hotel industry?

So this blog has all the latest hotel industry trends that you need to focus on for your hotel growth. 9 hotel industry trends to modernize your hotel management and get along with the latest trends for a better business. Implementing these trends in your hotel management you can deliver a stellar guest experience.

9. How to use business insights to increase your hotel revenue

Well, how you measure your hotel’s performance? Besides, While planning the strategies to expand your business and increase your revenue, what are the different parameters you take into consideration?

All these questions are so daunting, but to strive in this rat race, it is very important for you to look into such aspects for a better business and enlarged revenue.

This is a blog that explains in detail about how you can take up different decisions after inspecting your revenue reports. Read further to get completely acquainted with the usage of the revenue reports.

10. 17 best hotel promotion ideas you can use

Marketing and promoting your hotel is as important as adding salt to the stew. Having said that the blog has 17 best hotel promotion ideas to put into practice for getting the best results.

These 17 ideas include the out-of-date as well as up-to-date hotel marketing strategies for you. Each and every strategy is explained thoroughly with definitive examples to assist you in the best way.

This extensive blog containing 17 hotel promotion ideas, is less of a blog and more of a hotel marketing manual. Read the manual and get started with the best hotel promotion ideas for your business today.

The post Our 10 Blogs That Hotels Loved in 2018 appeared first on eZee Absolute.

 

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The hospitality industry keeps on changing its dynamic. And this is both a challenge and a blessing for hotels worldwide.

Now, just like every other aspect of the industry, the revenue management landscape has also gone through a transformation lately. Meaning? The revenue techniques of the past have just flown out of the window.

But has it become difficult to determine the right strategies? Not at all!

So lately, if you have been Googling “how to increase revenue in hotel business”, you’re at the right place.

In this blog, I will cover all the legit revenue management strategies in the hotel industry that you MUST implement in 2024 to succeed.

What is Revenue Management in the Hotel Industry?

Revenue management is at the core of a profitable hotel business. It is the process of analyzing customer demand and configuring the best rates to maximize hotel revenue.

Simply put, revenue management in the hospitality industry is all about selling,

• the right room;
• to the right guest;
• at the right moment;
• at the right price;
• and on the right platform.

Why is Revenue Management Important for Hotels? 

In our blog section, there are various revenue management articles. However, many still have this question – “what is the purpose of revenue optimization in the hotel business?”

The answer is actually quite simple. Revenue management helps hotels to drive more revenue from their stagnant source of income (i.e. their rooms). By applying the revenue and marketing management strategies, hotels can:

1. Understand the guest’s demands (and booking pattern)
2. Apply the right room rates
3. Expand the hotel business
4. Win against competition

Despite such benefits, most of the hotels ignore managing their revenue. It’s high time that you all should realize that —

A profitable hotel business is not high occupancy, rather it is more REVENUE. 

Now that you know what revenue management is and its importance, you might be worried about how to increase hotel revenue.

So, let’s dig in with a GOOD answer.

Best Hotel Revenue Management Strategies to Apply

Now, let’s address the burning question – how to maximize hotel revenue? 

If you search online, you’ll find a gazillion hotel revenue management tips. However, most of them are superficial and don’t cover the nitty-gritty.

Which is why I am presenting you with the 17 solid hotel revenue management strategies that you can apply right away and milk benefits.

1. Budget and forecast

Budget planning is a critical part of a hotel’s success, any day. Doesn’t matter what’s the size of your hotel, a robust and mindfully created budget can keep your property profitable, attractive, and functioning properly.

Further, you need to top up hotel budgeting with forecasting. If you aren’t forecasting it is a systematic estimation of guests’ demand and future preferences.

Not to mention, budgeting and forecasting are a brilliant combination that will always help you refrain from exhausting your financial reserves.

Also, do read out hotel budgeting article to learn more about it.

2. Do competition analysis 

The concept of revenue management for the hospitality industry cannot be covered without touching base with competitor analysis. After all, competition analysis is one of the fundamentals of creating robust hotel revenue management strategies.

Basically, with competition analysis, you can understand your and your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses. You can know your position in the market and eventually work to stand out. 

But first things first, not every hotel next door is your competitor. You have to define your competition set (AKA compset). There are certain parameters that you should consider before considering any property as your competitor. Some of them are:

1. No.of rooms
2. Room types
3. Accommodation type
4. Size of property
5. No. of OTA connections
6. Number of services
7. Average ratings and  reviews

Once the RIGHT compset is defined, you can analyze their rates via tools like Rate Shopper. You can check and compare their current pricing strategy and update your rates accordingly.

This will not only help you strategize and manage revenue, but it will also provide you with proper forecasting. As a result, you can attract the right kind of guests at the right time and maintain the revenue you earn.

3. Load rates and inventory

Travelling is spiking, and you, as a hotelier, should definitely not miss out on the bookings.

Further, looking at the current scenario, the travel numbers in 2024 are likely to surpass the numbers in 2023. The industry is going to witness a good amount of people travelling to various places.

When we talk about hotel revenue management best practices, loading your room rates and inventory on all the channels is certainly the first and foremost thing to do.

If you haven’t done so yet, this is certainly the right time.

4. Check the calendar

Now, this point is one of the prominent revenue management strategies. Talking about checking the calendar, it is about listing down all the events when people are likely to travel and stay.

What could be those events? Weekends, holidays, concerts, festivals etc.

When you’re done listing, try to come up with strategies to attract your guests to your hotel. Maybe you could try offering a discount.

So, if you’re a pro hotelier, you will never even think of skipping this part.

Pro Tip: When you’re listing holidays and festivals, do include holidays from neighbouring states and provinces. Because it might be a working Tuesday in your town, but a holiday in some other place. So, make the most out of it.

Also, many people are now not travelling faraway distances, rather exploring nearby places. So, catering to your neighbouring guests is certainly a great idea.

5. Perform demand forecasting

Analyzing your past and present data is important to channelize your marketing efforts and is one of the top strategies to increase hotel revenue. 

But extracting the right data and actually going through them in detail is quite hectic. Then how to figure out which strategy is working for you? 

This is where demand forecasting comes into the picture. It is the prediction of future business performance. In which, data is of utmost importance.

This is how you can perform demand forecasting:

1. Data Collection: Gather data such as peak and weak seasons, long weekends, festivals and so on.
2. Analysis: Find out how you’ve performed on these occasions. Then predict how you’ll be able to perform in the coming year.

In that case, a comprehensive hotel management system helps you get detailed reports and business insights that include the revenue you earned, your best-selling factors, your ADR, and more. These reports will help you make precise decisions in your hotel revenue strategy.

In the end, data analysis will help you come up with better revenue management techniques to implement.

6. Think again about OTA connections

When it comes to hotel revenue optimization, you need to have the right DISTRIBUTION of the rooms to sell the right room at the right prices. For that reason, you have to give fresh thought to your OTA connections: 

1. Select the regional as well as international OTAs
2. Consider your property type and your target audience
3. Last but not least, OTAs that fall into your budget. 

Let me give you an example to have a better idea:

If you’re a B&B in Europe, then you should connect to regional OTAs like eDreams Odigeo and global OTAs like Expedia, and Booking.com. Since you are a B&B, you also need to consider OTAs such as Airbnb and bedandbreakfast.com that help you target your potential guests.

However, when you zero in your distribution method, keep in mind that they should be light on your pocket.

Moreover, you should not limit yourself to 2-3 OTAs. The more the OTA connections, the wider the exposure is. In turn, more bookings and revenue.

7. Adopt a uniform distribution method 

Besides selecting the right OTAs, it is equally important to select the right distribution method as well.

Now, many of you still prefer the allocated inventory distribution method in which you allocate a fixed inventory to a particular channel. However, you may lose potential booking opportunities in this scenario. 

Instead, you should apply a uniform inventory distribution method and list all your inventories on all channels. As a result, you get bookings from all the possible channels and your inventory is utilized to the fullest. 

#ProTip: Use technology like channel manager to practice this method effectively.

8. Perform guest segmentation 

Segmentation is a key element of hotel revenue management. Targeting all types of customers for your hotel is a waste of time and money. Therefore, segmenting and pitching the right set of guests is important.

One of the best ways to segment your audience is by their reason for travel. It could be a family holiday, wedding, tourist event, adventure, relaxation, business, etc. 

Not only that, identifying your guests and evaluating their habits; for example, the kind of rooms, hotel facilities and location they’re looking for. Of course, several other factors will help you optimize your room rates and showcase your services accordingly.

Besides, you can analyze and drill down the segment that is giving you more business. In this way, you can strategize to make more revenue from them. 

Hence, knowing your target audience is important to plan and execute your hotel’s revenue management strategies.

Furthermore, you can also tap into guest personas. If you aren’t aware of it, a guest persona is a fictional character that a hotel creates to describe its ideal guests. Meaning, it is the representation of a guest demographic that is likely to stay at the property.
Talking about its prominence, guest personas help hotels in delivering personalised experiences to their guests and gain their trust, loyalty and increase repeat bookings.

9. Make a responsive hotel website

As the facts stand in 2019,

1/3rd of the total bookings are made through mobile. And this percentage is going to increase in the upcoming years. 

Pegasus

Having said that, you have to focus on your hotel’s website. And get one made if you do not own a brand website.

Ensure the following characteristics of your website:

1. Is responsive and easily navigable
2. Has attractive photos and videos
3. Is optimized using different SEO strategies
   (If you’re clueless about hotel SEO, here’s our step-by-step guide to hotel SEO. Optimize your hotel website, rank higher, and get more bookings.)
4. Has an integrated booking engine to gain direct bookings 
5. Provides all the required information about your hotel and your offerings

If your website doesn’t have these parameters, there are chances of losing significant bookings and revenue. So having a full-fledged hotel website will pose as an assured revenue management strategy for hotels every year.

We have a blog where we have mentioned some of the top elements you need to have on your hotel website. Do give it a read to learn more about it.

The Must-Have Hotel Website Features

Also, we hope you don’t have these myths about owning a hotel website in your mind.

10. Emphasize getting more direct bookings

Needless to say, OTAs are a great platform to advertise your hotel and services. However, a significant chunk of your revenue is deducted as a part of their commissions. 

That is why you should get a booking engine that allows your guests to book with you directly from your website. Certainly, that means you get commission-free bookings. 

Here are some of the  actions you can take to increase direct bookings:

1. Get listed on metasearch engines like TripAdvisor and Trivago
2. Give discounts on direct booking
3. Showcase your online reviews
4. Have a chatbot to attend to all your guests’ inquiries
5. Highlight your amenities

…and there are many other ways to increase your direct bookings. You can find out more from here. 

11. Use metasearch to your advantage

When people like a property, they look it up on Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago, etc. to get more information about it. 

This can be an excellent opportunity for you. Therefore, you should add your hotel website to the Google My Business listing so that a customer can go to your website and explore the options of booking directly with you.

Furthermore, Google has also a program called Free Hotel Booking Links that allows you to display your real-time rates for free. Meaning, you can drive more direct bookings without any hassles. You can enrol on this program through an authorised partner. 

TripAdvisor, on the other hand, allows hoteliers to connect the hotel booking engine with their search engines so that a guest can book directly from the hotel website.

You can take advantage of this and provide add-ons, which you generally do not offer via OTAs because of hefty commissions. This way you can save on some commission and guests would get more value for money.

12. Practice yield management

Yield management is an inseparable part of revenue management for hotels.

However, there is a common misconception that revenue management is the same as yield management. 

But, that’s not the case. Yield management for hotels encompasses the revenue generated through room charges or occupancy. Whereas revenue management in the hospitality industry involves a whole lot more than just occupancy.

Basically, it is all about demand and supply.

You have to set different rates for different occupancy levels. 

You can define different occupancy slabs and set different rates for each slab. And as the occupancy increases, there is a percentage or amount increase in the basic room rates. 

On top of this, it is considered the most important tool to balance the revenue that you earn, especially when the demand is less. Hence, yield management proves to be the most practical way to increase your revenue.

Here’s how you can practice yield management strategies to get more revenue. 

13. Try multiple pricing strategies

Pricing strategies play an important role in hotel revenue management. There are different pricing strategies, some of them are as mentioned:

Segmented rates

In this strategy, segment your customers and offer different rates to each customer segment.

For example:

• Following the rate parity strategy, the rates for the open market should be the same.
• On the other hand, offer negotiated rates to the corporate segment and in return ask them to commit a certain number of rooms for the negotiated rates.
• Connect with a tour operator and sell them some rooms at special rates.

Rates as per the length of stay (LOS)

Adjust your prices based on your guests’ length of stay.

For example

Mandate the length of your guest’s stay by offering them good prices. Get a 3N/2D stay at Avalanche Resort and at 200 USD only.

Offer packages

A package is a room rate clustered together with other products and services.

For example

Offer a free meal package. If your guests have selected a European plan, then offer a free meal for the first day as a package.

Here are top-performing pricing strategies for hotels explained in detail.

14. Partner with local businesses

You may have not considered it important enough, but partnering with local businesses can actually be a great catalyst for your revenue management strategy for hotels.

Following rooms and amenities, activities make up the next largest revenue source for hotels.

Local partnerships can expand your revenue streams and provide authentic experiences to your guests.

If you are located in a place with scenic destinations, offer your guests a city tour. If you are nearby an amusement park then you can tie up with them, and offer tickets at some discounted rates to your guests.  

Likewise, you can explore many such additional avenues of extra revenue.

Further, not to forget, chances are that those businesses around your property are also open for such partnerships. So, ensure that you do reach out to them.

15. Adopt the latest technology solutions 

Now if you look around, technology is everywhere. It’s in the payments you make (digital you know), the shopping you do, the services you consume, etc. 

Further, the current and future generations are tilting toward innovative technology.

Do you know why? Simple – the ease of use.

Hence, providing quick service through the latest technology is key to increasing bookings and hotel revenue. However, the question is: which technology solution you will use to streamline your operations and increase productivity?

I’d say a complete suite of seamlessly integrated solutions can be a shot to your arm. With automated solutions, you can provide quick and better services.

Besides, these days technology such as a hotel chatbot is being used to assist with basic operations and information and improve guests’ experience. 

Hotels can also perform the quick operation at their voice command with a digital assistant, thus reducing their time and effort in getting a task done. 

Moreover, these days, a few hotels have started practising the Internet of Things (IoT). For example, there are IoT solutions that adjust room temperature depending on room occupancy, energy management systems, in-room concierge and whatnot. 

Here’s how the next-gen technology like IoT can increase your hotel revenue and expand your business.

16. Manage your reviews

The first thing guests check before visiting a hotel is its reviews. With the increasing number of online platforms, guests often communicate and interact online to share the experiences they had.

That’s why hotels these days need to focus on their hotel reviews and reputation. This also forms an essential part of your hotel revenue management strategies.

You see,

Customer ratings affect hotel revenue.

How? Well, today people can search and find all the travel and hotel information provided by different sites. Let’s take TripAdvisor for example. TripAdvisor provides information and reviews written by the guests about the particular hotel and its services.

And this ultimately influences the guest’s final decision to book a hotel. This way, hotel reviews have a greater impact on the current and future guests that you may welcome at your hotel.

Therefore, to ensure that none of the reviews are left unresponded, hotels use review management software like Critique. Here’s how it works:

Thus, you must respond to all the reviews (especially, the negative ones). You can utilize our free and ready-to-use review response templates to regulate your review management. 

17. Redesign your loyalty programs 

Guests often need to travel to the same location again. Mostly these kinds of guests are business travellers who prefer to utilize services from trusted hotel brands. Hotels need to face this fact as soon as possible and make good use of it by running some good loyalty programs.

Now, don’t you think guests will prefer hotels that offer discounts or rewards to value their frequent guests? Well, hotel loyalty programs are the best way to do that and increase repeat guests as well as direct guests. This makes them an undeniable aspect of your hotel revenue management strategies.

The sad thing is – only a few hotels consider loyalty programs as an important part of their marketing strategy. But the truth is loyalty programs can be a key factor in the guests’ decision-making process. Especially, those who frequently visit your hotel. Employing a stable hotel loyalty program software can strengthen a hotel’s reward programs.

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Bonus: Expense management

We’ve discussed several strategies to drive more revenue. But if you look carefully, one important aspect of effective revenue management is EXPENSE CONTROL.

Because, if you don’t control your expenses, you’ll be stuck with the same or limited profit margin. 

While you are handling numerous activities, you may not realize when the routine expenses become UNCONTROLLABLE.

For that reason, you have to scrutinize your expenses and try to optimize them. Here are the 9 best cost-saving ideas for hotels. Explore them, reduce your expenses and consequently increase your profit margin.

FAQs

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