Let’s take a look at exactly how to boost your hotel’s revenue from meetings.
NB: This is an article from Mews
When executed correctly, meetings can be an important source of revenue that can decrease your reliance on room rates since meetings tend to take place in low season or during the week when occupancy is lower. Plus, business clients tend to be more long-term.
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It’s all about maximizing your property’s full potential. You have a series of fixed costs that you can’t escape as a hotelier, and the only way to ensure profitability is to take advantage of all potential revenue streams.
Let’s take a closer look at some strategies.
Have a clear action plan
No strategy can be complete without a clear action plan. This means you must also start by having a clear understanding of the costs associated with meetings so that you know how much you need to charge to be profitable. Once you know your bottom line, you should create a series of steps that will help you offer the best meetings offering possible.
Think about distribution and promotion
The next step is to start thinking of your distribution channels, and how you will better promote your meetings. It may be advisable to start by contacting existing corporate clients, setting up meetings with them to explain your unique offer. You may also invest in targeted paid marketing campaigns that will help get the word out there. With targeted campaigns, a little investment may go a long way.
Another potentially worthwhile investment could be going to tourism fairs, especially those related to corporate travel or MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions). You pay a substantial fee to attend, but often the contacts result in more clients, and there is indeed power in numbers.
Take the time to optimize your website for SEO
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is not a race but a marathon that will have a lasting impact on your business. That means you should take the time to do some competitor research and understand what keywords your competition is targeting relating to MICE.
Once you have figured this out, make sure the meetings section on your website is optimized for all these important keywords, and from there create a series of blog posts. Blogs will help position your content better on search engines, and the more attractive you can make your hotel become as a destination for meetings and events, the more business you will bring in.
Focus on your hotel’s unique value
There’s a lot of competition in the MICE sector due to the fact that there’s a lot of money in business travel, and business clients are not only more profitable but tend to be repeat customers.
If you want your hotel to excel at promoting meetings, you need to set your hotel apart from the competition. To do this, you must understand what your unique selling propositions (USPs) are compared to the competition. For example, does your hotel stand out because of the location? Does your hotel offer services like a spa, restaurant, and bar? Is your staff multicultural and can serve multilingual audiences?
There are many ways you can position your hotel to stand out from the competition, but you need to be clear on what you want to be known for or what makes you different. This will help with brand positioning and have a clearer idea of what audience to target with your marketing efforts.
