For most hotel marketing calendars, Valentine’s Day is the first big event of 2022. This holiday is a great time to promote special packages and offers for your guests to treat their significant other.
NB: This is an article from Hotelchamp
Promotion of Valentine’s offers can start as early as the beginning of the year in some places—and it’s not surprising why. Searches on Google for Valentine’s Day start the day after Christmas, steadily increasing throughout January and then finally peaking on the 11th to 15th of February.
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Spending is also estimated to be increasing, with the average amount spent between 2009 and 2019 rising by $60. This is a holiday where people are searching and spending. It’s the perfect opportunity for hotels to create themed offers to make the most of this increased demand.
Here are our 6 hotel marketing tips for creating Valentine’s Day offers that drive revenue:
1. Promote gift vouchers
If your hotel offers gift vouchers, now is the perfect time to promote these. Vouchers make a great Valentine’s Day gift as receivers can choose the gift and dates that suit them. Make sure to highlight the benefits as well as terms for your gift vouchers, including the length of validity and what the voucher can be redeemed for, such as specific rates, spa treatments, restaurant credit etc.
2. Offer dining packages
A romantic brunch or dinner on Valentine’s Day can go down a treat. If you have a special Valentine’s Day menu or dining arrangements, including cocktail specials or romantic desserts, highlight these on your website with a call to action to make a booking. Start promoting these early to capture the forward planners and to get spaces booked in advance.
3. Target mobile gift shoppers
Searches for Valentine’s Day peak from the 11th to the 15th of February, so even for this holiday, expect last-minute gift shoppers. Typically, most last-minute gift buying happens on mobile so make sure whatever offers you have for this holiday are promoted on mobile devices as well as desktop. Even just one message on mobile makes a big difference, especially if like most other hotels these days, your mobile traffic is over half of all of your website traffic. This is a big audience to get in front of for this holiday.
4. Create Staycations and bundled offers
A romantic night away is a classic Valentine’s Day gift and pairing this with a Staycation package or bundled offer with spa treatments, breakfast or a complimentary bottle of wine can take this to the next level. Bundled offers are a much better alternative to heavily discounting rates. They still provide a great experience and value to your guests—and often additional revenue to you as the hotel.
5. Personalise with date targeting
Date targeting can be used in a couple of clever ways to maximise your Valentine’s Day sales. The first way is to target people who are searching for dates over and around Valentine’s Day—including the weekend before and after. Messages for this audience should highlight your Valentine’s Day offers, like packages, menus or upsells, so that they can book or add them as add-ons to their booking to make it extra special. The second way is to target people who are visiting your website in the days leading up to Valentine’s Day. You’re likely to have some last-minute gift shoppers who you can show your Valentine’s Day specials while emphasising the urgency around the last-minute gift giving too.
6. Think outside the box with pet-friendly Valentine’s stays
Google has reported that people are also increasingly looking for Valentine’s Day gifts for their pets. This combined with the increased demand for pet-friendly travel is a great opportunity to create some Pet-friendly Valentine’s Day offers. This could include special treats for pets, like customised hotel merchandise or pet grooming.
When it comes to events, creating a different approach for these compared with your normal promotions is important. These events can help your hotel to stand out but also offer unique experiences that your guests are looking for. By understanding what your guests want and how to get your messages in front of them, you can create a successful holiday promotion. A combination of the tips and pushing these out on your hotel’s channels will help you to achieve great results.
