Filling rooms during slower travel times is important to ensure your business’s long-term success and relevancy.
NB: This is an article from WebRezPro
Contrary to instinct, drastically reducing room rates won’t guarantee midweek bookings. In fact, it eats into your profits and undermines your hotel’s credibility. While price is a major factor in planning travel (especially with current inflation and for millennial and Gen Z consumers), guests also want the best value for their money.
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Implement the following strategies to make your hotel the obvious choice any day of the week.
Identify Your Typical Midweek Booker
Who travels midweek, and what do they seek in a hotel? Midweek travelers are likely people who are retired, travel for business, or work unconventional hours. Hoteliers can look to their property management system to find out who books with them, when they stay (weekends or midweek), the rates they like, and how far in advance they book, for example. This information is key to effectively marketing to typical midweek guests and their expectations and needs.
Attract business travelers by providing comfortable co-working spaces and work-conducive amenities like strong Wi-Fi, desks, and full-length mirrors to prepare for big meetings. Appeal to retirees and people who do their jobs outside a typical work week (think workationers) by highlighting opportunities for adventure and relaxation, such as bus tours of the area, couples’ spa packages, and discounts on local attractions and events. Identify what pulls in your midweek bookers and emphasize it in your marketing.
Promote Value-added Packages
Knowing your guests enables you to create and offer value-added packages tailored to their preferences. Retired people are likely empty nesters with financial freedom looking for new experiences. And those whose “weekends” occur midweek could include remote workers, freelancers, or hospitality workers like yourself looking to de-stress. Use your hotel’s strengths and your imagination to implement different combinations of services, amenities, and activities that appeal to these types of travel bookers.
Showcase Your Local Culture & Community
Today’s travelers want to experience a destination like a local. Hoteliers can capitalize on this trend by collaborating with surrounding businesses and individuals to offer authentic, immersive experiences that may otherwise be unknown to tourists. Additionally, many of these events may take place midweek. Make your business stand out by showing guests that your finger is on the pulse of local culture. Train staff to stay informed on what’s happening around town so they can share their knowledge with interested guests and perhaps inspire an extended stay or repeat visit!
Here are some opportunities for hoteliers to watch for:
