Light at the End of the Hospitality Tunnel

Left: The Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley Hotel & Towers: My local hotel, office, gym, bar, restaurant... Well, everything really! The Sheraton brand of hotels is an industry leader when it comes to innovation and resourceful marketing.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Whether you are in the hospitality industry and trying to ensure your hotel or motel keeps its head above water, or in the software development industry and desperately searching for hotels and motels to purchase your booking system, there looks to be light at the end of the tunnel! It may only be a small and flickering light, but at least it’s no longer a never ending pitch black tunnel of doom.

Now is the time to withdraw your ostrich-like head from the hole you have created in the sand and take stock of your current situation and take charge of your future opportunities. It appears that the upside of our current economic downturn is not too far off and you want to be (read ‘need to be’) the first hospitality business to switch from ‘survival mode’ to ‘all stations are go’.

A changed market

As you step into the sunlight, you will see that your market has changed considerably; and with it, your competition. Your prospective customers have a new attitude to spending, and the companies they work for are still holding on tightly to the spending reins; their values have altered; they now expect the best value, complete price transparency and uncompromised honesty.

No longer will they pay slightly above the odds purely for the convenience or to save time. No longer will they put up with receiving slightly less than they’d expected purely because it’s time-consuming to complain.

Also, many of your less market-savvy competitors have disappeared never to return; so, now is the time to embrace your new market and the new ideals of your customers and expand your market by adapting to these changes.

Rewarding loyalty

Start by rewarding your loyal customers; those that stayed in your hotel or bought your booking system during difficult times. Any marketing initiatives or reward schemes that were put on hold because of the recession; now is the time to put them into action. Ask for feedback, listen intently, and respond promptly; make them feel special and make them feel appreciated.

Let customers know you've done more than survive

You also need to increase advertising, once again. Let previous customers and prospective customers know what your plans are for the future, and how you have changed. Do you have an upgrade to your software package? Have you renovated your rooms? Now is the time to spread the word. Tell the world that not only have you survived these difficult times, but you’ve improved and grown! Tell the world before your competitors do; don’t blend in; be one step ahead. Shout about your achievements.

Train, train, train

Finally, if you didn’t continue to do so during the downturn (which I hope you did!) invest again in employee Training and Development. Your employees will be unsure about the market and even more unsure about their future; they need to be reassured and motivated. Without the reassurance that you are investing in their future, they are likely to head for the hills, or worse, your competitor. You need highly motivated staff to deliver your message to the market and promote your excellence; with lack of motivation and training, this just will not happen.

Be one step ahead

After so many months of cutting costs, putting initiatives on hold, freezing marketing budgets, and improving resourcefulness, it feels irresponsible and risky to start expanding and adapting to an improving market; but do it. You must stay two steps ahead of your competition in order to survive, and they are only one step behind you in firing on full cylinders… So, put your foot down and see where this exciting new road might take you.

In my next post, I will be providing you with more detailed findings from my booking system research. Watch this space for more information.

Best of luck!

Emma

If you are a small to medium sized hotel, motel or guest house, or a hotel booking system developer, in need of independent advice from an industry expert, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk. Even if I’m unable to offer you the exact advice you need, I can put you in contact with a company that can.

Hotel Booking System Results - Now In!

On Monday April 13th, I posted an article titled, “A New Dawn?” which mentioned my customer research involving fifty owners and GMs of small to medium sized hotels, motels and guest houses. Since I posted the article, a further ten people have come forward offering their thoughts and expertise, which has boosted the validity of my data immensely.

Thank you very much to those of you who took part; your participation was invaluable.

I am pleased to announce that the data has now been collected and analyzed and the results will be published here over the following days and weeks.

I will start today by offering you the top ten requirements of hotel, motel and guest house owners when looking for a hotel booking system:

1) Accessibility
2) Ease of use – Intuitive flow through
3) Customer support – 24 hours
4) Software customization and upgrades – Regular upgrades and ad-hoc customization upon demand
5) Required functionality
6) Value for money
7) Positive company reputation
8) Real time updates on internet availability searches
9) Recommendations from previous buyers – Reliable and trustworthy sources
10) Company longevity – One or two years just isn’t enough

As I predicted, ‘software customization and upgrades’ is close to the top of the list. However, I have rarely met a hotel owner that hasn’t wanted to customize their software in some way, shape, or form, so I am surprised that this was not in the top three.

I am positive that number eight, ‘real time updates on internet availability searches’ would not have appeared in the top ten a year a go, which proves that the need for software developers to be constantly evolving their hotel booking systems is vital.

I have A LOT more data and information to bombard you with over the coming months, and hope that it is useful for both developers and hotel owners searching for the perfect system.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Off Peak Discounts

Offering an ‘off-season’ discount is a concept that I’m sure you, as a hotel owner or GM, are all too familiar with. In fact, as you’re clawing your way out of a difficult off-season right now, I’m sure you’re keen never to return to such depths. You know your product is first class and your service top rate, so why should you have to lure guests with huge discounts and extra perks?

Well, I believe that off-seasons are a thing of the past. Off-seasons are the times when prospective customers least like to travel and therefore are much less likely to stay in your hotel, motel, or guest house. To entice these customers, hoteliers have turned to internet booking agents to offer unbeatable discounts as a last-ditch attempt to improve occupancy levels, but this has done little good for RevPAR.

So, what if you use your marketing skills to ensure that potential guests want to travel and yearn for a stay in your hotel. Sounds difficult? It doesn’t have to be…

It’s all about targeting; targeting exactly what within your hotel or surrounding area will attract your prospective guests; and targeting the correct words to use on your website and advertising to optimize your visibility within search engines.

Let’s start with the former marketing skill: targeting what amenities you can take advantage of in order to attract guests…

I’m searching on the internet for a guest house during the summer; a beautiful little cottage appears. I look at the amenities and discover that it is close to the beach, has a swimming pool, and is within easy walking distance of the local town, which has outside terraces and beachside bars. Perfect!

I’m searching on the internet for a guest house later that year. It’s snowing outside. I discover the same little guest house and check out the amenities. I’m told once again that there’s a beach, a pool, and outside catering. No thank you very much! It’s far too cold; I’d rather stay at home.

Actually, the guesthouse was close to a mountain with great winter sports and hiking available. There are lodges nearby with spas, which serve good hearty winter roasts, and the guesthouse has a great indoor sauna area… But I wasn’t told any of this. The guesthouse owners have marketed themselves as a great summer getaway and in the process have marketed themselves an off-season.

Your marketing must be constantly evolving in order to attract guests through each ‘high-season’ available to you. This might mean finding seasonal activities for every season and highlighting the benefits of avoiding the crowds, but no matter how you do it, you’ve got to give them a reason to want to travel off-peak.

Next, we’ll tackle the second marketing skill: optimizing your visibility in search engines to attract the right guests for the right seasons; another ever-evolving task.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click Ads (PPC) are vital tools if you’re going to attract guests all year round. And, there is no excuse for hit and miss website marketing anymore. With analysis tools, such as Google Analytics, it is easy to see which key words generate the most traffic to your site and pinpoint consumer trends during certain times of the year.

Once you have analyzed the data and know what consumers are looking for, it becomes easier for you to emphasize your unique selling points (USP) during each season and give your guests exactly what they want, not just what you think they want.

To summarize, it is possible to manipulate seasonality in order to gain conversions, and if you use your website marketing strategically, you can make the concept of an ‘off-season’ completely obsolete. Just don’t expect to build a website and be able to leave it untouched for a year… As the market evolves, you need to as well.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Photosynth for Hospitality Industry

Ensuring that your hotel, motel, or guest house is enticing to prospective guests is vital. I know of a number of occasions when a hotel has been well situated and has received rave reviews, but guests have been reluctant to book due to the terrible photographs on the hotel website. The photographs make the bedrooms look small and dingy, the carpet grimy, and the bathroom moldy. Would I like to stay there? No thank you!

However, it is also important to be realistic. How many times have you looked forward to the bright blue, luxurious, fifty meter pool only to discover a ten meter bathtub upon arrival?

When consulting a small to medium sized establishment on marketing and customer service, one of the first items on the agenda is the website, and most importantly the way in which the hotel or guest house is portrayed by the website.

If the photographs do not tell the real story, I source a photographer to provide the hotel with the shots they need to advertise their product and services, and to entice guests with ease. However, this can be expensive; the shots can still be unsuccessful, and the true story is rarely ever told. Whether we like it or not, photography has its limitations.

Until now…

I have been playing with a gem of an idea called Photosynth by Microsoft Live Labs. It allows you to share places and things using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control of a video game, and the detail of the real world. With a collection of photos, Photosynth creates an amazing new experience for your prospective guests.

Photosynth provides the ability to reconstruct a scene or object from flat photographs, and then uses technology to bring that experience to virtually anyone over the Internet.

The Photosynth website says,

“Using techniques from the field of computer vision, Photosynth examines images for similarities to each other and uses that information to estimate the shape of the subject and the vantage point each photo was taken from. With this information, we recreate the space and use it as a canvas to display and navigate through the photos.”

At the moment the technology still feels somewhat infantile, and I’d love to hear if there is more advanced software out there, but I really do believe that this could be the answer to a hotel marketers prayers.

Take a look for yourself here!

Best regards

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

A New Dawn?

I’d like to start by acknowledging the increasing stream of emails I have received over the past two months requesting advice on ‘what clients want’ from their hotel booking systems. Thank you very much for your thoughts and comments; your emails have not gone unnoticed! As I type, a further wash of emails are flooding my inbox; emails from the exact clients you have spoken of; hotel, motel, and guest house owners.

I have contacted fifty previous customers, friends, peers, and acquaintances to gather the exact information software developers are looking for, and 75% have been returned already; within three days… I’m both amazed and grateful.

I am filled with a sense of optimism at the thought that system developers actually want to know what their buyers want and need. I have seen too many badly developed systems over the last three years and although I have seen a steady improvement (not usually from the industry leaders) I am ecstatic that this might be about to change.

If you are a hotel, motel, or guest house owner and would like to participate in this survey, please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk for further information. Thank you.

In my opinion, the option of customizing the system and upgrading regularly is of optimum importance. I’ll be interested to see whether the information I collect from these surveys will correlate with my beliefs.

I would also like to acknowledge the other end of the spectrum. A steady backlog of emails from hotel and motel owners / managers is building up. Emails requesting further information about what they should be looking for and where to find the best systems on the market. If I am yet to reply, please accept my apologies; I will be replying to everyone this week and plan to offer the same advice within this blog at a later date.

Thanks again for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Why Do We Read Blogs?

Today’s post is going to differ slightly from previous posts. I have spent a great deal of time over the last few days, reading other business and hospitality blogs, making comments, and generally getting involved in the blogging stratosphere. It has been both fun and informative.

However, when making a judgment about a blog and deciding whether or not to bookmark the site, I discovered that my thoughts were heavily related to whether or not I liked the writing style AND whether I liked the person doing the writing.

As I have become more involved in conversation with business blog peers, I have formed definite opinions on whose ideas I trust, who can provide me with useful information, and which writers I think are genuinely decent people. It’s a blog that ticks all three boxes that gets bookmarked, commented on, and reviewed.

Take, for example, The Happy Hotelier…

The Happy Hotelier, also known as Guido J. van den Elshout, operates something between a luxurious B&B and the suite floor of a luxurious hotel called Haagsche Suites (i.e. Suites of The Hague). Guido writes a blog that entertains, informs and guides, whilst driving traffic to his hotel site. He updates his blog regularly, is the CEO of another company, runs the aforementioned hotel, and still had time to reply (within a day) to my comment on his site:

“Hi Emma,
Thank you for coming by.
I know your site.
Wanna know how? because of your comment to the Vibeagent blog shout out to my version of the T-List
As a matter of fact you are researching an area that I’m interested in as well.
As every hotelier knows, finding the right software is always of importance to enhance your business. Go on and enlighten us please.
Greetings!”

I cannot recommend The Happy Hotelier enough, and it is for this reason that I have bookmarked his site and would like to urge others to do the same.

It is also for this reason that I’ve decided to share a little more of myself with you HERE.

I hope by finding out a little more about me you’ll be motivated to read my blog and leave your comments.

Once again, thanks for reading!

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

Can Your Lobby Replace the Common Shopping Mall?

Today, I read a fascinating article in The Week, titled The Vanishing Shopping Mall. I won’t ruin it for you by quoting large sections; instead you should give it a read yourself.

The article discusses the idea that malls, which were once blamed for killing high streets and downtown shopping districts, are quickly becoming an endangered species. Even before the economic crisis set in, shoppers were spending less time in malls and more of their free time in places where there are options other than shopping. Now, during this downturn, shoppers are not spending money on discretionary items… And, unfortunately, it’s only discretionary items that are sold in shopping malls.

Instead, shoppers are choosing to spend their time in places where there are alternatives to shopping. Shoppers are visiting places that The Week describes as “lifestyle centers”. They say that the amenities “draw the consumer in for reasons other than to just purchase items.”

So, is the failing of the shopping mall an opportunity for hoteliers? Is it possible to develop your hotel to entice the newly evolved general public? Is this your chance to drive traffic from outside the hotel into your lobby?

Starwood, once again, are ahead of the game in this respect. Their W boutique hotels have built their brand entirely around this concept. Starwood say,

“W Hotels are unique and individual expressions of modern living, reflected in the brand’s sensibility to a holistic lifestyle experience with cutting-edge design, contemporary restaurant concepts, glamorous nightlife experiences, and signature spas.”

Hotels that are able to lure the general public to their lobby for food, a few drinks, a coffee, a lunch meeting, or a party, whilst being able to purchase tickets or have their hair cut, are the hotels which will survive this recession.

Personally, I have a meeting every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, which never takes place in my office. Every week I meet my business associate in a Starwood hotel. Why? The answer is simple; the convenience! The convenience of being able to order any train tickets or flights I need from their travel centre before heading for a spot of lunch. After lunch I can grab a coffee from their lobby bar to drink during the meeting. I can use their free wi-fi after the meeting to complete my emails and write this blog before heading back down to collect my tickets. By then it’s six o’clock and I can head to the bar for a couple of after work drinks during happy hour. It really is a “lifestyle centre”.

In parts of Asia and the Middle East, hotel lobbies with a number of bars and restaurants are not uncommon. So, is it not conceivable that lobbies will (or at least can) become the recreation spot of choice throughout the West also?

Large hotels need to create an outdoor element to their hotel if possible. Is there a barbeque area or a place for patrons to walk? Could you introduce a band to bring life to your lobby bar in the evening? Is it possible to create a technologically advanced open area for patrons to plug in their laptops and charge their iPods whilst enjoying a martini?

This concept was bought home to me by the GM of the Sheraton Nanjing Kingsley a week a go. I have never actually stayed in the hotel, but after bumping into her for the fourth time that week, she asked, “do you live here?” In truth, the answer is almost yes; it’s a place to work and relax even though I am not staying in the hotel.

Think about your hotel, motel, or guest house. It may be small, but is there an opportunity for you to open it up to non-guests? Do you have a restaurant that you could advertise to the surrounding community? Could you open up your gym facilities to the outside world? How about massages or a coffee shop? Find a way to become the new centre of your community.

There is a world of opportunity out there. It’s up to you to seize it!

Thanks for reading,

Emma

I am still on a search for the best hotel booking system for small to medium sized hotels. If you know of hotel booking software that can beat HotelSystems.co.uk for ease of use and functionality then please contact me on eharradine@hotmail.co.uk

How to Succeed in a Difficult Economy

Hotel occupancy is suffering...

In my last entry, I discussed the current trends in RevPAR and HPI. Occupancy is suffering, and this deterioration looks determined to continue for some time. In fact, I read on Travel Daily News last month that,

“PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates 2009 average U.S. hotel occupancy will fall to 56.5% - a decline of 5.2% from 2008 and the lowest in more than 20 years. More importantly PwC projects RevPAR to decline 11.2% this year. It is hard to imagine any hotel getting through this year unscathed.”

Therefore, now is the time to ensure that your hotel stays one step ahead of the competition. The economic situation will hurt your competitors as well, and they may not ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. You need to guarantee that you do; but how will you accomplish this?

It’s all to do with your internal and external marketing…

Many hotels have begun to slash room rates in an attempt to fill rooms. However, you must remember that this tactic can be easily copied by the competition. If you and your five competing hotels all slash prices, or even offer additional nights for free, the impact on RevPAR will be significant. Plus, once you have dropped your room rates, it will be difficult to restore them once the economy improves.

So, don’t slash your prices for dramatic effect; increase price flexibility and be prepared to add value to your guest’s stay. Consider working with outside businesses, such as car rental or day trip companies, to create packages that will ‘wow’ your guests.

In the same way that many companies have cut training, a large number of hotels are now slashing advertising. Ensure that you have a large online presence by improving your hotel’s website and conducting search engine optimization; you need to be listed on the first page for any keyword searches related to your hotel and your area.

Make sure that every page of your website and every word of your hotel blog communicates value. Your prospective guests need to know that they are getting maximum value from every pound they spend. Remember that comfortable surroundings during difficult times make your hotel worth every penny your guests spend.

Customer Relationship Management...

Managing your relationship with your customers is extremely important right now; you need to establish loyalty. Hotels with the most loyal customers are also the most profitable.

Your competitors will most likely focus on attracting new customers. You need to have a more balanced approach toward customer acquisition and retention and actively manage your customer relationships to build loyalty.

However, managing customer relationships has become sophisticated and requires a remarkable amount of coordination. It is all about the movement of prospective guests through the customer lifecycle from awareness to loyalty. This can start with your hotel website, blog, and any other form of advertising you use, all the way through to the up-selling used by employees and the hotel booking system that you use to store guest information.

Remember that loyalty comes as a result of:

1) Using advanced CRM and Hotel Booking Software which has become extremely affordable, even if you are running a small hotel, motel, or guest house.

2) Ensuring your advertising and added value are highly personalized and individually targeted. Remember that your message must be relevant to your stressed and financially-burdened guests.

3) Creating a strong emotional bond with your guests. There may be years between visits but loyal guests do return and give you referrals. Everything from the first view of your website, through the moment they make a booking, to the moment they check out must feel personal. Guests want to feel wanted.

If you take this advice on board, you stand a greater chance of staying ahead of your competitor. Now is the time to implement the new CRM and booking system that you’ve been considering. If you properly implement these systems you will significantly enhance your chance of success during difficult times.

Don’t forget that loyalty is the key to success!

Good luck to you all,

Emma