96 – Spring Workshop Takeaways

Episode Transcript

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Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot wherever hoteliers verify-in and we check out what’s trending in hotel advertising. I’m your host, Ryan Embree.

Ryan Embree:
Howdy most people and welcome to one more episode of the Suite Place. This is your host, as constantly, Ryan Embree, Director of Internet marketing at Travel Media Team. And we’ve bought a terrific episode for you currently. We do these episodes four times a year because we essentially conduct 4 occupancy workshops for hoteliers. And this season’s workshop is titled “Business is Blooming: How to Increase Occupancy this Spring.” So this is our spring occupancy workshop. It is one particular of my favorites due to the fact we are coming out of the winter season, which is generally a slower time for the sector. And we’re finally beginning to see that growth and occupancy. Now the springs the earlier couple decades have of course been a small bit distinctive with the pandemic and coming out of that. But with these workshops, we are speaking about positioning your lodge digitally for good results when vacationers are seeking and they’re performing quite a little bit of hunting, which we’ll speak about in this article in next.

Ryan Embree:
So all over again, these are occupancy workshops where we fulfill one particular-on-one particular with hoteliers in about a 15 to 20 minute session chatting about the hotel’s digital existence. How are they positioning them selves coming into the time of spring break, holiday seasons, Might, Memorial day, a ton of great matters in the spring and truly placing ourselves up also for the summer months wherever occupancy genuinely heats up. So with these episodes, what we like to do is, ordinarily when I perform these workshops, we get some genuinely superior takeaways and insights from the hoteliers that we discuss about some popular themes and threads. So in the previous, clearly we’ve talked about the staffing lack proper now, which has been hurting a great deal of people. This is our third time carrying out a spring occupancy workshop. Yet again in 2020 and 2021, there have been extremely unique conversations, which potential customers me to our to start with trend that we observed this workshop vs . others, which was the positivity of the hoteliers that we were being conversing to. The optimism that was out there, that journey is returning.

Ryan Embree:
And as I communicate about these tourists executing searches, you know, I have bought a actually remarkable stat that we came throughout, where by it claims U.S. organic Google look for take a look at advancement by industry in Q4 of 2021 compared to Q4 in 2020. And the proportion change for travel was at 41%. So that is a good deal of eyes hunting and organizing and staying motivated to travel when all over again. But as I warning the hoteliers that I spoke to on this workshop, they are gonna be wanting at your hotel’s electronic existence a lot differently than they did pre-COVID-19 and pre-pandemic. But pattern number one, occupancy is growing. It’s listed here. No matter if we like it or not, transient leisure has generally been there the past few yrs and has been major the pack in restoration, but we’re also looking at business enterprise, weddings come back again. So we’ll talk a very little bit about that later on, but the next pattern that I recognized on these conversations that I was acquiring is, you know, we have been as an marketplace operating all around, it feels like, seeking to figure out what to do to alter to this pandemic, this new regular that COVID has variety of ushered into our industry.

Ryan Embree:
And then on leading of that, you have this staffing lack, ideal? Inflation now starting up to strike dwelling as perfectly, but we’re setting up to see factors variety of slow down and hoteliers definitely eventually checking matters like their social media, their opinions, evaluation responses. And a lot of the hoteliers I talked to when we took 15 minutes to truly sit down and get a search have been really shocked with what they observed. They maybe experienced a front desk supervisor or a DOS that had remaining through these earlier two several years that was in charge of this things. And now it is kinda laid dormant there. So I would really encourage you if you are listening to this, look at your Facebook, examine your hotel’s Instagram, LinkedIn, hopefully you’re on these web pages, but examine and see when the final time you posted, mainly because time has been flying by right now and prior to, you know, it, a large amount of these posts that we were being viewing ended up back in 2021 and vacationers are hunting now a lot more than ever for pertinent details.

Ryan Embree:
So if they see some thing back in, in 2021 or even 2020, it is not gonna be relevant to them. And it could mean a destructive connotation, damaging perception for the tourists that are doing investigation. They’re lastly sitting down and checking things like their assessment web pages and looking at on web pages like TripAdvisor, OTAs, Google, areas in which vacationers are creating booking selections that the final overview that they received was 6 months ago. We know ideal now that all the things is relocating so fast. Omicron arrived in November and swept by the country. And that altered the way that people today perceive touring and the level of basic safety of what that was. So once again, check like your hotel, social media, your track record and review responses. That was yet another point we ended up speaking about, is discovering the time to reply to testimonials. And I know for a great deal of hoteliers listening to this, it may possibly be one particular of all those factors at the base of our precedence list, but it is so vital right now when we communicate about our following trend, which is environment expectations compared to conference anticipations. And I’ll make clear the big difference.

Ryan Embree:
So conference expectations is, assume about a traveler going for walks into an economy hotel and anticipating Ritz-Carlton provider at an overall economy stage cost. People anticipations are a minor little bit also higher, and it could be hard to meet up with these anticipations. Placing expectations is a completely unique conversation. Feel of environment expectations as a person strolling into your resort in the summer months and expecting to get pleasure from that attractive pool that you have, and your pool’s closed for renovations. And they experienced no notion that that was the circumstance. That is a failure to set anticipations from a hotelier standpoint. So there’s a really one of a kind difference there. And when we discuss about evaluation reaction is 1 of the most potent spots that we can established expectations for our upcoming traveler.

Ryan Embree:
Certainly, it’s extremely important to reply to the comments that is in front of you and to that traveler that took time outta their working day to go away you a review for your organization. But it’s also setting the anticipations for that future traveler. So much has adjusted over the previous two several years from breakfast, amenities, even hotel procedures, the way we’re cleansing rooms, the way we’re interacting with friends. There could be tourists that when they come onto your residence have a absolutely various expectation. So if you’re not location those people prior to their keep, then you’re failing to set their expectations. And that is really the quantity just one motive that we are seeing detrimental testimonials on-line. As a whole lot of you know, that listen to this, Vacation Media Team has a React and Solve solution exactly where we respond to guest reviews. We’ve now hit the unbelievable benchmark of responding to in excess of 750,000 testimonials for our lodge partners and are at present responding to a thousand guest lodge assessments a day correct now in our headquarters.

Ryan Embree:
And the quantity one particular cause, the selection 1 cause that we are seeing these unfavorable evaluations occur in is simply because right anticipations are not set. So if we can use assessment reaction as a way to talk and information to potential vacationers, which is gonna give us the chance to established those proper anticipations. And I’ll give you a fast instance if you’re pursuing me. So one particular of the items that has totally changed and I suspect will choose a minimal bit for a longer time transition to get again to ordinary or pre-COVID is breakfast for our home, right? With the staffing scarcity, with individuals interacting, breakfast buffets, we ended up advised to keep away from all those through the thick of the pandemic. Now we are at a spot in which lodges could be at fully distinct spectrums of breakfast. Some could be suitable back to where they had been in 2019 with a giant incredibly hot breakfast buffet.

Ryan Embree:
Other people are nevertheless currently being conservative, breakfast on the go. If your guest walks into your lodge and does not know what they’re heading to get in the early morning, that is a failure to set anticipations. And we’re viewing that at times in these assessments. So overview reaction is a good way to set that. Social media, also. Fb, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, you wanna make certain that you’re placing these good visitor anticipations, mainly because we’re observing that once again, genuinely impacting hotels’ reputations that we’re working with. And then eventually, the past craze that we talked about with hoteliers throughout these workshops is just altering to the new normal. Seeing these teams arrive back again and what it’s going to choose in order to make their company. Weddings, last episode, if you are pursuing me the prospect correct now for weddings and marriage blocks for our attributes is unbelievable profits probable out there.

Ryan Embree:
So what are you executing to consider to capture that and market your hotel, taking benefit of the bleisure journey trend, suitable? The business traveler that now operates from house all 7 days and would like to start their getaway early. They want to come out to the home on Wednesday, Thursday, or on Wednesday with their family members so that the loved ones can delight in some of the facilities or sights in your place. And they perform from the hotel, extending their holiday vacation, extending the space evenings for each stay. So how are we attracting? How are we adapting our internet marketing strategy to seize this new usual traveler that we’re gonna see? And as I wrap up this episode in this article, I will say, it is been a quite challenging couple decades to do this variety of spring workshop. And I have experienced to dig very, quite deep in study to attempt to obtain some beneficial information in the field as it relates to occupancy and ADR, but knock on wooden, if every little thing goes proper, this spring, we are in for a monster spring and an even more substantial summer season.

Ryan Embree:
So the occupancy is heading to be there from tourists. But the issue I want you to talk to yourself is how do you want to be selected? Do you wanna be preferred since that traveler experienced initially desired to remain at the hotel upcoming doorway and they ended up all booked or their rate was way way too superior and they selected your resort due to the fact you have been possibility B or do you want to be possibility A, do you want your traveler to be enthusiastic about the continue to be that they’re gonna come on assets? Do you want them to turn out to be an advocate of your lodge after they keep on home? Have you established appropriate anticipations for this traveler when they phase in via your foyer and technique the entrance desk, these are the style of questions that you want to be asking, due to the fact all over again, the occupancy will be there.

Ryan Embree:
But the big difference among traveler A that I just defined and traveler B is working day and night. And the moment you get that kind of snowball impact of occupancy and advocates for your house, it just furthers your reach and electronic marketing and puts you at a aggressive gain for increasing your occupancy. So if you have not participated in these workshops, as I described just before, we do them each solitary year. It is one particular of my favourite areas of my job in this article at Vacation Media Team. I would adore to communicate with you about your property, about your area. We know each single lodge is different. So that is what I love about these workshops. If you’re interested in acquiring a dialogue about that, certainly you can achieve out to us anytime at travelmediagroup.com and we’d appreciate to talk with you or subsequent time we’ve got it in the summertime coming up. If you see that email run across your inbox, plan a meeting with me, enjoy to talk to you, but I am absolutely sure the upcoming time we do these insights, we ideally, fingers crossed, will have some wonderful, wonderful news to share. So thank you for all the hoteliers that participated in the workshop. Thank you for all for listening. And we’ll talk to you next time on the Suite Spot.

Ryan Embree:
To sign up for our loyalty software, be certain to subscribe and give us a 5 star rating on iTunes. Suite Location is manufactured by Vacation Media Team with protect artwork by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree and we hope you enjoyed your keep.