Host Ryan Embree discusses insights and takeaways from Vacation Media Group’s recent Spring Workshops where by he talked just one-on-a person with hoteliers about their hotel’s digital existence. Uncover tendencies in hospitality and study how you can place your property for achievement through review response, social media, and track record management.
Episode Transcript
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Ryan Embree:
Welcome to Suite Location where by hoteliers test-in and we examine out what is trending in hotel marketing. I’m your host, Ryan Embree.
Ryan Embree:
Hi every person and welcome to yet another episode of the Suite Spot. This is your host, as constantly, Ryan Embree, Director of Marketing at Travel Media Team. And we have received a fantastic episode for you currently. We do these episodes four occasions a calendar year for the reason that we in fact conduct four occupancy workshops for hoteliers. And this season’s workshop is titled “Business is Blooming: How to Expand Occupancy this Spring.” So this is our spring occupancy workshop. It is just one of my favorites due to the fact we are coming out of the winter season, which is ordinarily a slower time for the marketplace. And we’re lastly beginning to see that expansion and occupancy. Now the springs the previous few several years have clearly been a minor little bit distinct with the pandemic and coming out of that. But with these workshops, we are talking about positioning your resort digitally for success when travelers are browsing and they’re doing really a bit of exploring, which we’ll talk about here in next.
Ryan Embree:
So again, these are occupancy workshops wherever we fulfill one particular-on-one particular with hoteliers in about a 15 to 20 minute session talking about the hotel’s electronic presence. How are they positioning by themselves coming into the time of spring crack, vacations, May well, Memorial day, a ton of great matters in the spring and really placing ourselves up also for the summer wherever occupancy truly heats up. So with these episodes, what we like to do is, usually when I carry out these workshops, we get some genuinely excellent takeaways and insights from the hoteliers that we communicate about some common themes and threads. So in the previous, obviously we’ve talked about the staffing scarcity appropriate now, which has been hurting a great deal of persons. This is our 3rd time undertaking a spring occupancy workshop. Yet again in 2020 and 2021, there were really distinct conversations, which qualified prospects me to our to start with pattern that we noticed this workshop compared to other individuals, which was the positivity of the hoteliers that we have been talking to. The optimism that was out there, that travel is returning.
Ryan Embree:
And as I converse about these travelers accomplishing lookups, you know, I have acquired a actually wonderful stat that we arrived throughout, in which it suggests U.S. natural Google search check out progress by field in Q4 of 2021 compared to Q4 in 2020. And the proportion change for travel was at 41%. So that is a large amount of eyes seeking and organizing and getting motivated to vacation at the time yet again. But as I warning the hoteliers that I spoke to on this workshop, they’re gonna be wanting at your hotel’s digital existence a ton in a different way than they did pre-COVID-19 and pre-pandemic. But pattern range one particular, occupancy is expanding. It is right here. Irrespective of whether we like it or not, transient leisure has constantly been there the previous pair a long time and has been major the pack in recovery, but we’re also observing business, weddings arrive back. So we’ll discuss a tiny little bit about that afterwards, but the 2nd pattern that I found on these discussions that I was owning is, you know, we have been as an sector working about, it feels like, trying to figure out what to do to change to this pandemic, this new standard that COVID has type of ushered into our field.
Ryan Embree:
And then on best of that, you have this staffing lack, appropriate? Inflation now starting up to strike house as very well, but we’re starting to see points sort of gradual down and hoteliers really last but not least examining issues like their social media, their assessments, assessment responses. And a good deal of the hoteliers I talked to when we took 15 minutes to really sit down and take a appear have been definitely shocked with what they observed. They maybe experienced a entrance desk manager or a DOS that had still left throughout these past two many years that was in charge of this things. And now it is kinda laid dormant there. So I would really encourage you if you are listening to this, check your Fb, test your hotel’s Instagram, LinkedIn, hopefully you’re on these internet sites, but examine and see when the previous time you posted, since time has been flying by suitable now and right before, you know, it, a large amount of these posts that we had been looking at were again in 2021 and vacationers are looking now a lot more than ever for related information.
Ryan Embree:
So if they see a little something back again in, in 2021 or even 2020, it’s not gonna be related to them. And it could signify a adverse connotation, damaging perception for the tourists that are undertaking analysis. They are lastly sitting down and examining matters like their review internet sites and seeing on internet sites like TripAdvisor, OTAs, Google, sites wherever tourists are producing scheduling decisions that the previous evaluate that they bought was six months back. We know right now that anything is going so quickly. Omicron arrived in November and swept via the country. And that adjusted the way that people today understand touring and the degree of security of what that was. So again, check like your lodge, social media, your status and assessment responses. That was yet another matter we have been talking about, is discovering the time to answer to evaluations. And I know for a great deal of hoteliers listening to this, it may possibly be one of people points at the bottom of our precedence record, but it is so important appropriate now when we converse about our following trend, which is environment expectations compared to meeting expectations. And I’ll explain the change.
Ryan Embree:
So conference anticipations is, think about a traveler walking into an financial system resort and anticipating Ritz-Carlton support at an financial state stage value. All those expectations are a tiny little bit way too significant, and it could be complicated to fulfill those expectations. Environment anticipations is a absolutely distinctive discussion. Imagine of environment anticipations as an individual strolling into your lodge in the summer and expecting to delight in that gorgeous pool that you have, and your pool’s closed for renovations. And they experienced no notion that that was the circumstance. That is a failure to established expectations from a hotelier standpoint. So there’s a really exclusive big difference there. And when we speak about assessment reaction is just one of the most powerful destinations that we can established anticipations for our potential traveler.
Ryan Embree:
Certainly, it’s pretty vital to respond to the responses that is in front of you and to that traveler that took time outta their working day to depart you a critique for your business. But it’s also environment the anticipations for that potential traveler. So substantially has changed more than the earlier two many years from breakfast, facilities, even hotel procedures, the way we’re cleaning rooms, the way we’re interacting with friends. There could be tourists that when they come on to your property have a fully different expectation. So if you are not environment those prior to their continue to be, then you’re failing to set their expectations. And that is really the quantity a single cause that we are looking at damaging assessments on the internet. As a lot of you know, that listen to this, Vacation Media Team has a Respond and Resolve alternative where by we answer to visitor evaluations. We have now hit the unbelievable benchmark of responding to about 750,000 assessments for our lodge companions and are now responding to a thousand guest lodge testimonials a day ideal now in our headquarters.
Ryan Embree:
And the range one rationale, the range a single rationale that we are seeing these damaging assessments arrive in is due to the fact suitable expectations are not established. So if we can use evaluate response as a way to talk and information to foreseeable future travelers, that’s gonna give us the opportunity to set individuals good anticipations. And I’ll give you a rapid case in point if you’re subsequent me. So 1 of the issues that has completely modified and I suspect will consider a minor little bit extended transition to get again to usual or pre-COVID is breakfast for our home, ideal? With the staffing scarcity, with people interacting, breakfast buffets, we were being informed to remain away from those people in the course of the thick of the pandemic. Now we are at a location exactly where accommodations could be at totally various spectrums of breakfast. Some could be ideal back to the place they have been in 2019 with a large incredibly hot breakfast buffet.
Ryan Embree:
Some others are nevertheless getting conservative, breakfast on the go. If your visitor walks into your hotel and does not know what they are heading to get in the morning, that is a failure to established anticipations. And we’re looking at that from time to time in these evaluations. So overview response is a wonderful way to established that. Social media, also. Fb, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, you wanna make sure that you’re environment these correct visitor anticipations, simply because we’re observing that once more, genuinely impacting hotels’ reputations that we’re performing with. And then finally, the very last craze that we talked about with hoteliers during these workshops is just changing to the new usual. Seeing these groups appear back and what it’s heading to get in purchase to receive their business. Weddings, last episode, if you are following me the option ideal now for weddings and wedding day blocks for our houses is unbelievable revenue opportunity out there.
Ryan Embree:
So what are you performing to check out to capture that and market place your hotel, taking advantage of the bleisure journey development, suitable? The business traveler that now works from residence all week and needs to commence their holiday vacation early. They want to come out to the residence on Wednesday, Thursday, or on Wednesday with their relatives so that the spouse and children can appreciate some of the features or attractions in your location. And they get the job done from the hotel, extending their vacation, extending the room evenings for every stay. So how are we attracting? How are we adapting our marketing strategy to capture this new regular traveler that we’re gonna see? And as I wrap up this episode below, I will say, it’s been a pretty tough couple years to do this form of spring workshop. And I’ve experienced to dig quite, quite deep in investigate to check out to find some positive information in the sector as it relates to occupancy and ADR, but knock on wood, if anything goes proper, this spring, we are in for a monster spring and an even bigger summer time.
Ryan Embree:
So the occupancy is likely to be there from vacationers. But the concern I want you to inquire on your own is how do you want to be preferred? Do you wanna be selected since that traveler experienced to begin with preferred to remain at the resort up coming door and they had been all booked or their level was way also higher and they chose your lodge due to the fact you had been choice B or do you want to be selection A, do you want your traveler to be fired up about the keep that they’re gonna arrive on house? Do you want them to turn into an advocate of your resort after they keep on home? Have you set suitable anticipations for this traveler when they move in by way of your foyer and strategy the entrance desk, these are the form of queries that you want to be asking, for the reason that all over again, the occupancy will be there.
Ryan Embree:
But the big difference among traveler A that I just explained and traveler B is working day and night time. And the moment you get that kind of snowball result of occupancy and advocates for your residence, it just furthers your reach and digital marketing and puts you at a aggressive gain for expanding your occupancy. So if you have not participated in these workshops, as I pointed out in advance of, we do them each solitary season. It is a single of my favorite areas of my occupation below at Vacation Media Group. I would like to speak with you about your residence, about your area. We know each one resort is diverse. So that is what I appreciate about these workshops. If you are intrigued in possessing a discussion about that, certainly you can arrive at out to us whenever at travelmediagroup.com and we’d like to speak with you or subsequent time we’ve got it in the summer season coming up. If you see that electronic mail run throughout your inbox, routine a assembly with me, really like to discuss to you, but I am absolutely sure the following time we do these insights, we with any luck ,, fingers crossed, will have some wonderful, fantastic news to share. So thank you for all the hoteliers that participated in the workshop. Thank you for all for listening. And we’ll discuss to you upcoming time on the Suite Place.
Ryan Embree:
To be part of our loyalty application, be absolutely sure to subscribe and give us a five star ranking on iTunes. Suite Location is manufactured by Travel Media Group with cover artwork by Bary Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree and we hope you liked your stay.