Here's what you hotel owners and general managers must do to endure in the current economy.
Thursday, April 02, 2009 - Mr. Steven Belmonte - Íntegra AQUI.
It’s tough out there nowadays and there’s no denying it. This miserable economic climate that prevails has caused most hoteliers to write off 2009 with only hope that 2010 will be much better. But we can’t afford to keep our heads in the sand for a year and expect to pop it out and have everything will be fine and dandy as though we are waking up from a bad dream. That type of fairy-dust just doesn’t occur in the real world. Hoteliers need to do more than tread water; they need to find tools to build a proverbial raft to stay afloat.
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Here are a few examples hoteliers can employ to maintain a competitive status:
- Stay ahead of the marketing curve by creating a strong presence in social networking sites. If you have a presence in a blog, Twitter, and Facebook sites, it shows the younger consumers that you have your finger on the pulse and are in-the-know of the latest technological and communication tools. Hoteliers should be showing off their properties and taking ownership of their local area as the hotel of their city. When consumers search for a certain city’s name in Facebook, for example, your hotel’s name should show up.
- Research what local competitors are offering and one-up those promotions. Be bold and creative. Caribou Coffee nailed this recently after their competitor, Starbucks, announced they were going to stop brewing decaffeinated coffee in the afternoons. Caribou shot back with a promotion announcing that coffee drinkers deserved better and offered a free decaffeinated coffee on certain days during a limited time window. They took advantage of the market’s affect on a direct competitor to win new consumers. I’m not stating that hoteliers should offer free nights but they should have their eyes open for unique attention-getting opportunities.
- Engage your guests in word-of-mouth grassroots marketing techniques through customer rating sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Hotels.com. It’s a no- brainer that consumers have turned to the Internet for inside-track information about properties and they are relying on the other guest’s experiences to judge whether to book a stay. Whereas good reviews are worth more than an elaborate ad in a national magazine, bad reviews are a guaranteed business killer.
- Strengthen personalized service. In order to ensure good word-of-mouth recommendations, your property needs to offer top-notch customer service to guests.
Thursday, April 02, 2009 - Mr. Steven Belmonte - Íntegra AQUI.
It’s tough out there nowadays and there’s no denying it. This miserable economic climate that prevails has caused most hoteliers to write off 2009 with only hope that 2010 will be much better. But we can’t afford to keep our heads in the sand for a year and expect to pop it out and have everything will be fine and dandy as though we are waking up from a bad dream. That type of fairy-dust just doesn’t occur in the real world. Hoteliers need to do more than tread water; they need to find tools to build a proverbial raft to stay afloat.
...
Here are a few examples hoteliers can employ to maintain a competitive status:
- Stay ahead of the marketing curve by creating a strong presence in social networking sites. If you have a presence in a blog, Twitter, and Facebook sites, it shows the younger consumers that you have your finger on the pulse and are in-the-know of the latest technological and communication tools. Hoteliers should be showing off their properties and taking ownership of their local area as the hotel of their city. When consumers search for a certain city’s name in Facebook, for example, your hotel’s name should show up.
- Research what local competitors are offering and one-up those promotions. Be bold and creative. Caribou Coffee nailed this recently after their competitor, Starbucks, announced they were going to stop brewing decaffeinated coffee in the afternoons. Caribou shot back with a promotion announcing that coffee drinkers deserved better and offered a free decaffeinated coffee on certain days during a limited time window. They took advantage of the market’s affect on a direct competitor to win new consumers. I’m not stating that hoteliers should offer free nights but they should have their eyes open for unique attention-getting opportunities.
- Engage your guests in word-of-mouth grassroots marketing techniques through customer rating sites such as Expedia, Orbitz, Travelocity, and Hotels.com. It’s a no- brainer that consumers have turned to the Internet for inside-track information about properties and they are relying on the other guest’s experiences to judge whether to book a stay. Whereas good reviews are worth more than an elaborate ad in a national magazine, bad reviews are a guaranteed business killer.
- Strengthen personalized service. In order to ensure good word-of-mouth recommendations, your property needs to offer top-notch customer service to guests.
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