96 – Spring Workshop Takeaways

Episode Transcript

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Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Spot the place hoteliers test-in and we test out what’s trending in lodge marketing and advertising. I’m your host, Ryan Embree.

Ryan Embree:
Hi there everybody and welcome to a further episode of the Suite Place. This is your host, as normally, Ryan Embree, Director of Marketing at Vacation Media Group. And we’ve acquired a wonderful episode for you nowadays. We do these episodes four periods a 12 months because we in fact perform 4 occupancy workshops for hoteliers. And this season’s workshop is titled “Business is Blooming: How to Expand Occupancy this Spring.” So this is our spring occupancy workshop. It’s a person of my favorites simply because we are coming out of the winter season, which is ordinarily a slower time for the field. And we’re finally beginning to see that development and occupancy. Now the springs the past few several years have certainly been a small little bit distinct with the pandemic and coming out of that. But with these workshops, we are conversing about positioning your hotel digitally for good results when travelers are hunting and they are performing quite a bit of seeking, which we’ll speak about here in next.

Ryan Embree:
So all over again, these are occupancy workshops exactly where we meet one-on-a person with hoteliers in about a 15 to 20 moment session speaking about the hotel’s digital presence. How are they positioning on their own coming into the period of spring break, holidays, May well, Memorial day, a ton of great items in the spring and actually environment ourselves up also for the summer exactly where occupancy actually heats up. So with these episodes, what we like to do is, generally when I perform these workshops, we get some definitely good takeaways and insights from the hoteliers that we converse about some popular themes and threads. So in the previous, naturally we’ve talked about the staffing lack proper now, which has been hurting a good deal of men and women. This is our third time doing a spring occupancy workshop. All over again in 2020 and 2021, there ended up really unique discussions, which leads me to our initial craze that we seen this workshop versus other individuals, which was the positivity of the hoteliers that we had been conversing to. The optimism that was out there, that journey is returning.

Ryan Embree:
And as I chat about these travelers doing searches, you know, I have received a really remarkable stat that we arrived throughout, exactly where it claims U.S. organic and natural Google search pay a visit to progress by industry in Q4 of 2021 compared to Q4 in 2020. And the percentage alter for travel was at 41%. So that is a great deal of eyes looking and organizing and being motivated to travel after all over again. But as I caution the hoteliers that I spoke to on this workshop, they’re gonna be hunting at your hotel’s electronic presence a lot in different ways than they did pre-COVID-19 and pre-pandemic. But development amount one, occupancy is escalating. It’s below. Regardless of whether we like it or not, transient leisure has normally been there the past few yrs and has been foremost the pack in restoration, but we’re also seeing small business, weddings occur again. So we’ll talk a minor bit about that afterwards, but the 2nd development that I observed on these conversations that I was having is, you know, we have been as an industry operating about, it feels like, striving to figure out what to do to modify to this pandemic, this new standard that COVID has form of ushered into our marketplace.

Ryan Embree:
And then on prime of that, you have this staffing scarcity, appropriate? Inflation now commencing to hit dwelling as nicely, but we’re starting off to see factors sort of slow down and hoteliers seriously at last examining factors like their social media, their testimonials, overview responses. And a whole lot of the hoteliers I talked to when we took 15 minutes to really sit down and just take a glance ended up genuinely stunned with what they noticed. They perhaps had a front desk manager or a DOS that experienced still left all through these previous two several years that was in charge of this stuff. And now it is kinda laid dormant there. So I would inspire you if you are listening to this, check out your Facebook, examine your hotel’s Instagram, LinkedIn, with any luck , you are on these web-sites, but check and see when the last time you posted, for the reason that time has been traveling by ideal now and just before, you know, it, a whole lot of these posts that we had been seeing ended up again in 2021 and tourists are looking now far more than ever for relevant information.

Ryan Embree:
So if they see anything again in, in 2021 or even 2020, it’s not gonna be suitable to them. And it could signify a destructive connotation, destructive impression for the travelers that are executing analysis. They are last but not least sitting down and checking matters like their evaluate web sites and seeing on sites like TripAdvisor, OTAs, Google, spots exactly where vacationers are making booking selections that the past critique that they received was six months in the past. We know proper now that almost everything is relocating so quickly. Omicron came in November and swept by the nation. And that modified the way that people perceive traveling and the amount of safety of what that was. So all over again, verify like your lodge, social media, your track record and review responses. That was another thing we ended up chatting about, is acquiring the time to react to critiques. And I know for a lot of hoteliers listening to this, it could possibly be just one of those people items at the bottom of our priority checklist, but it is so vital ideal now when we speak about our next craze, which is environment expectations as opposed to meeting anticipations. And I’ll clarify the variation.

Ryan Embree:
So assembly expectations is, believe about a traveler walking into an financial system lodge and expecting Ritz-Carlton services at an overall economy degree rate. These anticipations are a tiny little bit as well superior, and it could be hard to meet up with those people expectations. Location anticipations is a completely various discussion. Feel of placing expectations as somebody walking into your lodge in the summertime and anticipating to appreciate that attractive pool that you have, and your pool’s shut for renovations. And they had no notion that that was the situation. That is a failure to established anticipations from a hotelier standpoint. So there’s a quite one of a kind change there. And when we discuss about critique response is just one of the most impressive places that we can set anticipations for our long run traveler.

Ryan Embree:
Yes, it’s very crucial to reply to the comments that is in entrance of you and to that traveler that took time outta their working day to leave you a evaluation for your business enterprise. But it is also location the expectations for that future traveler. So substantially has altered in excess of the previous two several years from breakfast, facilities, even hotel policies, the way we’re cleansing rooms, the way we’re interacting with company. There could be vacationers that when they appear onto your assets have a entirely different expectation. So if you’re not location those people prior to their remain, then you’re failing to set their anticipations. And that is actually the range a single cause that we are looking at adverse assessments on-line. As a good deal of you know, that listen to this, Vacation Media Team has a Respond and Take care of option the place we reply to visitor opinions. We’ve now hit the unbelievable benchmark of responding to over 750,000 evaluations for our hotel partners and are now responding to a thousand guest lodge testimonials a day suitable now in our headquarters.

Ryan Embree:
And the amount just one reason, the amount 1 cause that we are viewing these damaging opinions come in is mainly because suitable anticipations are not set. So if we can use overview response as a way to connect and message to potential travelers, which is gonna give us the option to established these suitable anticipations. And I’ll give you a quick illustration if you are pursuing me. So a single of the points that has totally transformed and I suspect will get a minor bit extended changeover to get back to normal or pre-COVID is breakfast for our property, suitable? With the staffing shortage, with individuals interacting, breakfast buffets, we have been instructed to continue to be away from all those throughout the thick of the pandemic. Now we are at a put where by lodges could be at fully diverse spectrums of breakfast. Some could be correct again to where they were in 2019 with a large sizzling breakfast buffet.

Ryan Embree:
Others are nonetheless staying conservative, breakfast on the go. If your guest walks into your lodge and does not know what they’re heading to get in the morning, that is a failure to established expectations. And we’re viewing that at times in these assessments. So assessment response is a good way to established that. Social media, also. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, you wanna make positive that you are environment these suitable visitor expectations, because we’re observing that yet again, truly impacting hotels’ reputations that we’re doing the job with. And then ultimately, the very last pattern that we talked about with hoteliers all through these workshops is just adjusting to the new standard. Looking at these teams appear back and what it’s heading to get in purchase to get paid their business. Weddings, previous episode, if you are pursuing me the chance suitable now for weddings and wedding blocks for our attributes is unbelievable profits potential out there.

Ryan Embree:
So what are you undertaking to check out to seize that and industry your resort, using edge of the bleisure vacation pattern, correct? The small business traveler that now operates from property all 7 days and desires to commence their vacation early. They want to occur out to the home on Wednesday, Thursday, or on Wednesday with their family members so that the household can get pleasure from some of the facilities or points of interest in your location. And they get the job done from the lodge, extending their holiday vacation, extending the home nights for each remain. So how are we attracting? How are we adapting our marketing strategy to seize this new ordinary traveler that we’re gonna see? And as I wrap up this episode listed here, I will say, it is been a very difficult pair many years to do this type of spring workshop. And I have experienced to dig very, incredibly deep in analysis to check out to discover some good news in the business as it relates to occupancy and ADR, but knock on wood, if all the things goes suitable, this spring, we are in for a monster spring and an even even bigger summer time.

Ryan Embree:
So the occupancy is going to be there from travelers. But the issue I want you to talk to oneself is how do you want to be chosen? Do you wanna be selected due to the fact that traveler experienced to begin with preferred to remain at the resort next doorway and they ended up all booked or their rate was way much too substantial and they chose your lodge because you were being option B or do you want to be solution A, do you want your traveler to be enthusiastic about the remain that they’re gonna arrive on residence? Do you want them to grow to be an advocate of your hotel after they continue to be on house? Have you set good expectations for this traveler when they phase in through your foyer and approach the entrance desk, these are the style of inquiries that you want to be inquiring, due to the fact again, the occupancy will be there.

Ryan Embree:
But the big difference among traveler A that I just explained and traveler B is day and evening. And after you get that kind of snowball outcome of occupancy and advocates for your residence, it just furthers your arrive at and digital marketing and advertising and puts you at a competitive benefit for growing your occupancy. So if you have not participated in these workshops, as I outlined prior to, we do them each individual single year. It’s a person of my favorite areas of my occupation here at Vacation Media Team. I would appreciate to discuss with you about your home, about your location. We know every single one resort is distinctive. So that’s what I love about these workshops. If you’re fascinated in owning a conversation about that, naturally you can arrive at out to us anytime at travelmediagroup.com and we’d adore to converse with you or upcoming time we’ve got it in the summer time coming up. If you see that e-mail operate throughout your inbox, timetable a assembly with me, like to discuss to you, but I am absolutely sure the up coming time we do these insights, we with any luck ,, fingers crossed, will have some good, good information 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 Place.

Ryan Embree:
To sign up for our loyalty method, be certain to subscribe and give us a 5 star rating on iTunes. Suite Place is generated by Journey Media Group with address art by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree and we hope you relished your continue to be.