96 – Spring Workshop Takeaways

Episode Transcript

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Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Location wherever hoteliers check out-in and we verify out what is trending in lodge marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree.

Ryan Embree:
Howdy all people and welcome to a further episode of the Suite Spot. This is your host, as always, Ryan Embree, Director of Internet marketing at Vacation Media Team. And we have got a good episode for you currently. We do these episodes four occasions a year for the reason that we basically perform 4 occupancy workshops for hoteliers. And this season’s workshop is titled “Business is Blooming: How to Develop Occupancy this Spring.” So this is our spring occupancy workshop. It’s one of my favorites due to the fact we are coming out of the winter, which is typically a slower time for the business. And we’re lastly setting up to see that progress and occupancy. Now the springs the earlier few a long time have of course been a minor bit unique with the pandemic and coming out of that. But with these workshops, we are conversing about positioning your resort digitally for good results when travelers are exploring and they’re doing quite a little bit of browsing, which we’ll communicate about here in next.

Ryan Embree:
So once more, these are occupancy workshops where we fulfill a single-on-one particular with hoteliers in about a 15 to 20 minute session talking about the hotel’s electronic existence. How are they positioning them selves coming into the season of spring crack, vacations, Might, Memorial working day, a great deal of wonderful items in the spring and truly location ourselves up also for the summer time exactly where occupancy genuinely heats up. So with these episodes, what we like to do is, generally when I perform these workshops, we get some truly very good takeaways and insights from the hoteliers that we speak about some frequent themes and threads. So in the past, naturally we’ve talked about the staffing lack proper now, which has been hurting a ton of men and women. This is our third time doing a spring occupancy workshop. Again in 2020 and 2021, there were incredibly distinctive discussions, which leads me to our 1st pattern that we discovered this workshop as opposed to many others, which was the positivity of the hoteliers that we were being speaking to. The optimism that was out there, that vacation is returning.

Ryan Embree:
And as I communicate about these travelers undertaking lookups, you know, I have received a really wonderful stat that we arrived throughout, wherever it says U.S. natural and organic Google look for take a look at advancement by marketplace in Q4 of 2021 vs . Q4 in 2020. And the percentage improve for travel was at 41%. So that is a lot of eyes searching and organizing and getting influenced to vacation the moment once more. But as I warning the hoteliers that I spoke to on this workshop, they are gonna be seeking at your hotel’s digital existence a great deal in different ways than they did pre-COVID-19 and pre-pandemic. But craze amount 1, occupancy is developing. It’s right here. No matter whether we like it or not, transient leisure has always been there the past couple several years and has been leading the pack in recovery, but we’re also viewing enterprise, weddings occur back. So we’ll converse a minimal little bit about that later, but the second craze that I seen on these conversations that I was owning is, you know, we have been as an field jogging all-around, it feels like, attempting to figure out what to do to alter to this pandemic, this new ordinary that COVID has type of ushered into our sector.

Ryan Embree:
And then on prime of that, you have this staffing shortage, appropriate? Inflation now starting to hit household as very well, but we’re starting to see things variety of sluggish down and hoteliers actually last but not least examining matters like their social media, their assessments, assessment responses. And a lot of the hoteliers I talked to when we took 15 minutes to truly sit down and just take a seem were being actually amazed with what they observed. They probably experienced a front desk supervisor or a DOS that had left all through these earlier two a long time that was in cost of this stuff. And now it’s kinda laid dormant there. So I would motivate you if you are listening to this, test your Facebook, check your hotel’s Instagram, LinkedIn, hopefully you’re on these web pages, but test and see when the very last time you posted, because time has been flying by appropriate now and before, you know, it, a whole lot of these posts that we had been seeing had been back in 2021 and vacationers are looking now much more than at any time for applicable info.

Ryan Embree:
So if they see a thing again in, in 2021 or even 2020, it’s not gonna be pertinent to them. And it could imply a detrimental connotation, adverse impact for the travelers that are performing study. They’re last but not least sitting down and checking items like their evaluate websites and viewing on internet sites like TripAdvisor, OTAs, Google, areas where by vacationers are building scheduling selections that the past critique that they received was six months back. We know appropriate now that every little thing is relocating so quickly. Omicron arrived in November and swept via the country. And that transformed the way that men and women perceive traveling and the stage of protection of what that was. So once again, examine like your resort, social media, your name and assessment responses. That was one more factor we have been chatting about, is discovering the time to respond to testimonials. And I know for a good deal of hoteliers listening to this, it may well be a single of individuals points at the base of our precedence listing, but it is so critical ideal now when we talk about our following craze, which is location expectations compared to assembly anticipations. And I’ll explain the difference.

Ryan Embree:
So meeting expectations is, believe about a traveler walking into an financial state resort and expecting Ritz-Carlton service at an economic system level value. Those people anticipations are a very little bit far too high, and it could be tricky to meet people expectations. Environment expectations is a totally distinctive conversation. Consider of environment expectations as someone walking into your resort in the summer season and expecting to appreciate that attractive pool that you have, and your pool’s shut for renovations. And they had no plan that that was the situation. That is a failure to established anticipations from a hotelier standpoint. So there is a really one of a kind difference there. And when we communicate about critique response is a person of the most strong areas that we can set anticipations for our foreseeable future traveler.

Ryan Embree:
Of course, it’s incredibly crucial to respond to the suggestions that is in front of you and to that traveler that took time outta their working day to depart you a evaluate for your company. But it is also environment the anticipations for that long run traveler. So a great deal has adjusted in excess of the past two a long time from breakfast, amenities, even resort policies, the way we’re cleansing rooms, the way we’re interacting with company. There could be tourists that when they appear onto your house have a fully distinctive expectation. So if you are not placing those prior to their continue to be, then you’re failing to established their expectations. And that is essentially the range one motive that we are seeing detrimental testimonials on-line. As a whole lot of you know, that hear to this, Vacation Media Team has a Respond and Resolve alternative in which we reply to guest critiques. We have now hit the unbelievable benchmark of responding to above 750,000 critiques for our resort associates and are at the moment responding to a thousand guest resort testimonials a working day right now in our headquarters.

Ryan Embree:
And the amount a person motive, the range a person motive that we are observing these adverse reviews come in is because correct anticipations are not set. So if we can use evaluation reaction as a way to connect and information to long term tourists, that is gonna give us the chance to established those people suitable expectations. And I’ll give you a fast example if you’re following me. So 1 of the factors that has entirely improved and I suspect will get a small bit more time changeover to get back to normal or pre-COVID is breakfast for our property, proper? With the staffing scarcity, with individuals interacting, breakfast buffets, we had been informed to continue to be away from those people for the duration of the thick of the pandemic. Now we are at a place where by accommodations could be at completely unique spectrums of breakfast. Some could be proper back again to the place they were being in 2019 with a big sizzling breakfast buffet.

Ryan Embree:
Other folks are nevertheless staying conservative, breakfast on the go. If your guest walks into your hotel and does not know what they are going to get in the morning, that is a failure to set expectations. And we’re looking at that at times in these opinions. So overview reaction is a good way to set that. Social media, also. Fb, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, you wanna make absolutely sure that you’re setting these proper visitor expectations, due to the fact we’re seeing that once more, really impacting hotels’ reputations that we’re doing the job with. And then ultimately, the last pattern that we talked about with hoteliers throughout these workshops is just changing to the new usual. Seeing these groups appear back and what it’s going to consider in purchase to gain their enterprise. Weddings, very last episode, if you are subsequent me the possibility suitable now for weddings and wedding day blocks for our homes is unbelievable profits prospective out there.

Ryan Embree:
So what are you accomplishing to consider to capture that and marketplace your hotel, having gain of the bleisure travel pattern, ideal? The company traveler that now operates from dwelling all week and wishes to commence their trip early. They want to occur out to the house on Wednesday, Thursday, or on Wednesday with their loved ones so that the relatives can appreciate some of the facilities or sights in your space. And they perform from the lodge, extending their holiday, extending the space evenings for every remain. So how are we attracting? How are we adapting our advertising approach to capture this new typical traveler that we’re gonna see? And as I wrap up this episode right here, I will say, it’s been a really tough pair yrs to do this variety of spring workshop. And I have experienced to dig quite, quite deep in investigation to try out to come across some favourable news in the market as it relates to occupancy and ADR, but knock on wooden, if everything goes right, this spring, we are in for a monster spring and an even bigger summer.

Ryan Embree:
So the occupancy is likely to be there from tourists. But the dilemma I want you to inquire oneself is how do you want to be picked? Do you wanna be picked simply because that traveler had to begin with required to remain at the hotel up coming doorway and they ended up all booked or their amount was way much too large and they selected your lodge simply because you were selection B or do you want to be alternative A, do you want your traveler to be thrilled about the keep that they’re gonna appear on home? Do you want them to become an advocate of your resort just after they remain on property? Have you established proper expectations for this traveler when they action in by way of your foyer and approach the front desk, these are the type of questions that you want to be inquiring, due to the fact once again, the occupancy will be there.

Ryan Embree:
But the big difference involving traveler A that I just explained and traveler B is day and evening. And as soon as you get that variety of snowball impact of occupancy and advocates for your residence, it just furthers your reach and digital promoting and places you at a competitive advantage for rising your occupancy. So if you haven’t participated in these workshops, as I pointed out right before, we do them each individual single season. It’s one of my favorite parts of my occupation in this article at Vacation Media Group. I would adore to converse with you about your residence, about your area. We know every solitary resort is unique. So that’s what I adore about these workshops. If you are intrigued in having a dialogue about that, naturally you can attain out to us at any time at travelmediagroup.com and we’d adore to communicate with you or up coming time we have got it in the summertime coming up. If you see that e mail run across your inbox, schedule a conference with me, enjoy to chat to you, but I am sure the next time we do these insights, we hopefully, fingers crossed, will have some excellent, great news to share. So thank you for all the hoteliers that participated in the workshop. Thank you for all for listening. And we’ll communicate to you future time on the Suite Spot.

Ryan Embree:
To be part of our loyalty software, be guaranteed to subscribe and give us a 5 star rating on iTunes. Suite Place is manufactured by Journey Media Group with include art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree and we hope you appreciated your remain.