According to a 2017 report by Phocuswright, the global travel activity market is projected to reach $183 billion by 2020. This figure stood at $135 billion in 2016, with hotel industry’s share marked at 33%. Hotel industry is a crucial stakeholder in the travel ecosystem and its share is going to grow as the global travel market is also expected to expand. And as a hotelier, you must do everything possible to attract more international hotel guests to your property.
In the United States, where hotels across categories face fierce competition, attracting and satisfying foreign guests becomes quite a task. However, with a bit of insights on foreign guests’ demands and expectation and with a bit of a practical approach in place, hotels in the U.S. can attract international tourists to their properties.
Here are some tips on how to attract international guests –
Most importantly, first identify your target audience
You must know the kind of foreign tourists visiting your region. Try to understand their nationality, age group, their stay patterns and how they spend during their stay in a hotel and the time of their visit, etc. Once you get to know your target guest, it becomes easier for you to have a strategy to attract them to your property.
Then comes –
Branding – think about your hotel brand’s niche
A well-thought-out branding strategy will give your hotel the much-needed brand value and will also help you in many ways to attract travellers. Most importantly, a consistent branding is an operational necessity as it helps your target audience in distinguishing your hotel. Your hotel website should have all the required information a guest might look for.
Be very cohesive while projecting your brand’s niche. Why and how your property is in a better position to serve those foreign guests? What edge you have over others? In simple words, give your potential guest some solid reasons to book with you. And yes, use your website to offer them a virtual tour of your hotel. If they (guests) get to see how the room and other amenities will look like, it might prompt them to book with you.
