We are bombarded every day with new data and statistics about how the hotel industry landscape is changing around the world. So, when you develop your marketing plan and budget for next year, do you expect to write the same thing and get different results? Hoteliers need to embrace change and shake things up a bit when planning. Leveraging staff and resources is key for maximizing revenues and profits for the next year.
Here a few things to think about while planning for 2016:
1. How can you better optimize this “golden age of travel?” And, maybe more importantly, are you prepared for the downturn that will inevitably occur?
2. Are you prepared for the change in customer demographics that will continue with the global growth we’re seeing? Will currency fluctuations help or hurt your business?
3. Are you managing distribution channels and leveraging technology, so that your customer acquisition costs are reasonable? Make sure you know what your real total customer acquisition costs are including all fees and commissions. They’re probably hidden in various lines of your financial statement.
4. Have you broadened your competitive landscape to include new definitions of lodging? It’s not just time share and vacation rentals anymore. New lodging options are attracting millennials, convention attendees, and even corporate travelers. How could this impact you and your market and how do you pre-empt it?
5. Are your direct sales resources deployed effectively to capture attention of our target customers? Or are you still operating your sales office – and traditional methods of sales the same way the industry did twenty years ago? Don’t forget the importance of reservation sales. If customers are trying to book direct, get excited about it.
6. Have you leveraged your loyalty program and assessed the impact of changing customer behavior on it?
7. Are you prepared, or at least preparing, for the convergence of sales, revenue management and IT? Integration is where it’s at. It’s the only way to spot trends and manage them.
8. Pace and speed are critical in this market. Do you have strategy contingencies – or a process for developing them – in place to help you spot trends and adapt quickly to changes in the market?
9. Are your training resources deployed toward the new ways people learn today? Different generations of the workforce learn differently.
10. Don’t forget to make sure all of your guests are getting the best experience possible during their stay. If not, you know social media will help them tell your story.
Contributed by Bob Gilbert, HSMAI, McLean, Virginia