Let’s face it. The desire to come back to where we used to be is strong, in all of us. It’s what we expect to happen, it always have been like this. Each time big world crisis has brought us back to our usual state. But was it really?
NB: This is an article by Aizhana Zhantuarov of Hotelperformance
We got so overwhelmed by the routine of our everyday life, that each year any change seems so drastic and worrisome.
Working in Hospitality, now we feel more exposed than ever, and the worst fears that our jobs represented to others, seemed to be true.
Lets unpack this gloomy vision, and see the so much brighter reality of our situation.
In the last 20 years the travel industry gained more success than any other. Traveling became the norm, and the social media popularization made it crucial for everyone to visit places.
If the strategy was about choosing the right room category, and propose it to the right consumer, now, after COVID-19, we need to implement something more.
As first step, even before the crisis, is analyzing your distribution mix, where you lack and where are you too present, without any reward back.
Noticing how all channels work for you, and which are actively giving you an income will be surprising, in a positive way.
It is time for Hotels to go beyond simple distribution and start to try every opportunity to “engage with the customer”, including metasearch, and convert him on your own hotel/brand/loyalty site. The truth is our customers today are even more aware of the brands that are making changes. Showing all the ways we are bettering and adapting to the situation is so much better, and it gives a more personal reason for the guest to come to us.
Give a prompt to your clients, they already want to choose you! As hoteliers, we are used to give the impossible, without showing how we did it, but today the reassurance is so needed. So don’t be afraid to manage content, image and relationship in line with your strategic market position so price consistently and transparent to customer.
The pride of being always impeccable, should bring us forward, as the solution makers. We know how much we mean for the world economy, and we know how much our ability to adapt would be crucial to survive and become stronger as society.
Doing a 180, after COVID, would mean to close the eyes to all the problems and play as if this never existed.
Making 360, and showing in real life the solutions we came up with, the fails that we encounter, and share again the new things, will lead our customers to see that we are not only trying, but we are solving all the before problems.
Social media is a tool, that we should not use to recreate office life in our homes, but to grow new, less strained work habits. Let’s not fall into the “it could’ve been a mail” situation, and use the tools to create a better bond with our final customers.
