As we continue to monitor travel trends and occupancy approaching the new year, a number of questions hang in the air: what pace of recovery can we expect in 2021? How will a vaccine affect traveler confidence? How do we continue to attract travelers to our hotels?
NB: This is an article from Travel Media Group
While some answers remain to be seen, we can acquire some direction – Booking.com has shared industry insights regarding the five different types of travel that they project will emerge in 2021. They list these emerging travel types as the following:
- Solo Solace
- Relaxury
- Breakaway Bubble
- Brief Weekend Getaway
- Food Fanatic Trip
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Breaking each group into the goals of their experience will help hoteliers create and curate better posts for their social profiles, attracting these travelers during the early stages of their travel journey. If you’re successful in capturing the attention of travelers planning each type of trip, you’ll widen your audience and strengthen your messaging. Travelers love to see content that feels made for them. They’ll be even more likely to book if you show them precisely why your hotel is ideal for their trip (because your hotel is ideal for every trip).
Solo: Making Up for Time Lost
Travelers are still hesitant to make plans for large group outings, as they’re still concerned for their safety. Despite this, they’re still feeling restless: 30% of travelers reported wanting to take a solo trip in order to make up for lost time.
The social media posts that cater to these solo travelers are ones that highlight safe, socially-distanced activities for them to partake in during their getaway. Solo travelers don’t want to be cooped up in a hotel room, as it’s possible many of them live alone. They crave safe social interaction to help break up the monotony of their everyday lives.
Posts about local restaurants that deliver or offer safe outdoor seating, or posts about local activities such as hiking will do well to attract solo travelers. However, advertising your own comfortable amenities like a pool alongside what safety measures you’re implementing can help build up their confidence and drive them to book with you.
Relaxury: Relaxing as a Luxury
Amid the global health crisis, one thing became certain: nobody is going to take vacation for granted again. Dozens of travelers want to be sure they make the most of every trip moving forward. Interestingly, however, only 15% of travelers have reported choosing luxury 5-star hotels and villas for their vacations. Relaxing has become a rare commodity, and travelers are now choosing to look at the chance to relax as the luxury.
Since these travelers want to make the most of their trip, showcase it all: take a walk-through video of your property to share on Instagram. Use fun GIFs to quickly draw users’ attention to your posts. Share multiple images per post on every platform to highlight all of your amenities. For this group, relaxing is the highest quality commodity you can offer, so the more at-ease you can present yourself, the better.
Breakaway Bubbles: Family and Friends
Loneliness has increased as a result of COVID-19, and the effects have left many without the ability to spend time with their loved ones. Booking.com’s data continues to report that 61% of travelers plan to use vacation time as an opportunity to reconnect and spend valuable time with their families.
Travelers visiting the area may need a space to stay away from their families’ homes, so you can highlight your safety measures and cleanliness practices. Travelers will get an added boost to their comfort level and feel even more confident trusting you with their safety.
The other pool of guests in this category are those who are choosing to take small trips with their whole family – whoever that may include. Again, safety precautions are critical to these visitors. You may also want to share your amenities and opportunities for local take-out, delivery, or restaurant partnerships, since planning meals on the go can be stressful.
Weekend Travelers: A Quick Getaway
Another trip type Booking.com covers is the weekend traveler crowd. These travelers are going to be looking primarily at a drive-to destination – somewhere they can visit for the weekend and get back home with time to prepare themselves for the work week ahead. They don’t have a lot of time to spend in the area, so their desires will fall into a couple of different categories.
Weekend travelers who want to see as much as they can of the area will delight in posts about local attractions, socially-distanced activities, and sightseeing opportunities. Bright, colorful videos and photos will help draw their attention to what your hotel is close to, giving them all the more reason to stay.
The other group of weekend travelers will want to stay in and make the most of your amenities – focus your posts around your pool, fitness center, or lounge area along with the appropriate safety precautions you have in place. Regardless of which type of weekend getaway you’re trying to attract, make sure to showcase how they can make the most of their time in the area.
Food Fanatics: Keeping It Local
The fifth emerging trip type comes from the 38% of travelers who promised themselves they’d eat out more, using the money saved from not traveling. Booking.com followed this statistic up by mentioning that 36% of travelers want to experience local cuisine when they travel, and this is where your expertise will excel. Creating and designing attractive posts about unique food items or fun local restaurants will easily grab the attention of these travelers. If there are local restaurants in your area offering unique food options, you can opt to partner with them for additional cross-promotion opportunities! Travelers will be inclined to stay with you – the closest space to the restaurant – and you’ll help boost the sales of a local business.
If you offer front desk food pick-up, you may be able to partner with restaurants and set up a delivery system, as well. This helps those who may be more hesitant to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions by helping them feel safer about the availability of meals.
Understanding the reason guests may be traveling to your hotel is crucial when you’re designing your social media content calendar. By trying to cater posts to each specific travel type, your posts will most likely perform better – because they’re diverse – which ultimately leads to more booking opportunities. You can fill a content calendar for an entire month with various posts aimed at each group, making the process a simple, once-a-month venture.
