3 Key focus areas to sell hotels in 2021

To sell hotels in 2021 is a newer and formidable challenge. The hospitality industry has seen stupendous changes in the years leading to COVID-19 already. To add insult to the injury, the pandemic has ambushed the industry in ways beyond comprehension. While the other industries are reeling to make an immediate short-term recovery, the hotel industry has the burden to survive the short-term balance sheet. In addition, it must also act now to secure its long-term place in the newer expectations of the customer. 

The pandemic has not created a new set of customers. It has only given a push to the already fully grown millennial Z, sitting at a brink of explosion. Therefore, following the standard protocols of selling is redundant and impractical going into 2021.  

The first thing the hotel leader will do is cut on “unnecessary costs that do not add any immediate value to the bottom line”. As obvious as it may sound, cutting down on costs is not the key to a successful onboarding to the new customer bandwagon. The hotel leader should make realignment and minor tweaks in the overall hotel strategy. Here are the 3 focus areas to sell hotels in 2021.     

Inbound Marketing 

Marketing budgets are easy targets when organizations face a financial crunch. After all, why spend, when any way, the year had been a total flush? An adaptive leader will realign their hotel marketing strategy into an overhaul.  

Now is a good time to redo the website, following the proverbial AED (attract-engage and delight) model. To sell hotels in 2021, focus on de-cluttering the non-essentials. Lean on content marketing covering the WHY extensively. Why should a guest visit your hotel post-pandemic? Highlight the safety protocols, create short invitational videos using the hotel leaders as hosts. In addition, focus on the new technological features and advancement. 

Organic media creates the most impact. It is also an actual report card of how one is faring in their marketing efforts. However, leaders should take advantage of paid media, especially up until June 2021. This will boost website visits in a big way. It will tell guests to book directly, more so when one is trying to create a personalized and custom package for the customer, which is impractical to sell via any OTA anyway. 

Technology 2.0 

Contactless is not new to this industry. Even before COVID, advancements had been made to use digital means to make services efficient and more personal. The entire guest cycle needs to be incorporated digitally via an app or interface that interacts with the PMS. The sales teams need to incorporate these talking points on their sales calls and use them as USPs. 

Virtual tours of the public areas, rooms, dining, business & recreation centres are no longer a cherry on the cake. Rather they are a mandatory obligation. What it means for the sales teams is to make sure that they carry with them, on their mobile phones (and not tablets necessarily), event space renderings, layouts, re-worked space snapshots. He should incorporate the social distancing factors. 

If hotel leaders want to sell hotels in 2021, they will work on upselling and cross-selling packages that can be made available to their sales teams on every client meeting they go to. The focus should be on non-room revenue streams mostly as this is where one can expect traction in 2021. 

The Bleisure segment 

Neither the transient nor the group segment is set to revive immediately. What has emerged as an aftermath of the pandemic though, is the hybrid mix of local business and leisure segments, creatively coined as “bleisure”. The customers are raring to travel as things get eased out. Although, they are stuck in their cities for reasons known to everyone. Targeting this group locally first is what will bring immediate occupancy and revenue, even into 2021.  

The key features that will sell hotels in 2021 and attract this segment especially are space-sharing packages, topped up with other value benefits coming from F&B, recreational services. Re-targeting this same group of customers (online and offline) and offering standardised packages across cluster brands, across geography will gain their trust. In addition, it will make them come back again and again.  

Conclusion 

Hotel leaders need to constantly keep an eye on month-on-month trends. Look at occupancy, customer taste & preferences or their receptiveness to trial-and-error offers made that were never thought conceivable earlier. 

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