Did you finally schedule the trip to Greece or the flight home to visit family? McConnell Marketing has got you covered with two lists of must-have travel essentials for any trip and airport tricks that will ease your pre-flight anxiety and prepare you for your travels. Read more
It’s officially budget season again, and the growing list of priorities and considerations for a successful 2022 is currently top of mind. Budgeting for the upcoming year can be a tedious process but is a crucial opportunity to reassess goals and look to the future. Contact us for project estimates and plan for a profitable 2022 with these six smart hotel sales and marketing strategies.
Create a budget that works best for your company. A detailed and realistic budget is one of the most important tools for guiding your business. A budget provides essential information for operating within your means, managing unexpected challenges and turning a profit.
Creating a database for email promotion is incredibly helpful for future promotional events and will save your business time in the future when sending out material. Building an email list is crucial because it’s the best way to build a relationship with potential customers in an intimate way. It is also an excellent way to measure what is working and what isn’t, based on the data from each email promotion to evaluate what your audience likes.
The saying quality over quantity has never been more accurate than in today’s current climate, where we digitally overwhelm ourselves with media from the moment we wake up. Social media rules the day with its potential to engage in meaningful conversations with a loyal fan base and potential clients alike. In a study done by Forbes, “Research reveals the average consumer may see as many as 5,000 or more ads daily, and of 590 total media minutes spent, they note 153 ads. What is the average number of ads that engage the consumer? The answer is 12.” Focus on making your messaging count over pushing out content for the sake of it.
In an effort to learn more about your industry and what others are doing, simply check out your competitors. Take an on-site tour of each business, establish a referral program and coordinate a market review with your brand marketing manager. It is also an excellent way to see if you have any sort of leg up, competitively, with your competition.
Meeting with your local conventions and visitor’s bureau or chamber of commerce will not only help you establish a relationship with community leaders but may help you gain insight into local business opportunities. Obtain a list of trade show opportunities for budgeting as they are putting their plans together now, if not already done. Also, you can qualify key companies and individuals to create or update your own emailing list.
Trend analysis can improve your business by helping you identify areas within your organization that are doing well and areas that are not doing well. In this way, it provides valuable evidence to help inform better decision making around your longer-term strategy as well as ways to futureproof your business. If done correctly, it can help show where and what your business should be doing and how much money it should be putting in those ideas.
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With over one billion monthly users on Instagram, it’s one of the leading social media platforms with no signs of slowing down. Travel is on the rise and snapping Instagram-worthy pictures to share with friends is more exciting than ever before. Take a look at these four instagrammable hotels that will make your profile pop this summer!
Mandarin Oriental, New York offers a picturesque bird’s eye view of the city. Overlooking the Hudson River, Central Park and the famous Manhattan skyline, this Five-Star hotel boasts breathtaking views and offers the ultimate in service, comfort and style. For a sneak peek into this luxurious must-see hotel, visit their Instagram.
Hutton Hotel is located in the city’s lively West End neighborhood and steps from the heart of Music Row, the perfect place to stay for aspiring musicians. Hutton Hotel is home to the Writers Studios, conceptualized by Dierks Bentley and Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic and ideal for capturing music and creative pictures whenever inspiration strikes. Hutton also hosts a live music and entertainment venue, Analog, which invites guests for a uniquely intimate music experience. Curating the perfect Instagram post is easy to do at the Hutton Hotel.
Situated in the heart of downtown Portland and adjacent to the Willamette River, The Porter Hotel provides travelers with the opportunity to capture city skyline views in sophisticated luxury and modern comforts. The Porter Hotel’s Xport Bar & Lounge is known for its delectable dishes, innovative hand-crafted cocktails and sweeping mountain views! Step out onto one of the spacious decks and snap away.
Located on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, The Gwen evokes the glamour and energy of the 1930s and is poised to bring luxury to a future generation of worldly travelers. Join a Tipsy Tea Party and sip from antique teapots or cozy up by a fire pit and watch classics on the terrace. The Gwen also offers the city’s first urban glamping experience, residing on the private terrace of the Gwen Lux Suite overlooking the Chicago skyline. The amount of Instagram content (and fun!) is endless.
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Warm weather is finally upon us, and summer is closer than ever! As hundreds of millions of people start to travel this spring, hotels are ramping up their marketing efforts to attract bookings and optimize revenue. From safety and hygiene communications to hands-free technology, staying on top of hotel marketing trends will play a key role in the upcoming months.
One of the most prominent trends hotels are embracing is linked to the increased need to highlight safety and hygiene measures. Updated marketing content and communications will make guests feel at ease. Hygiene measures and safety policies are at the forefront of travelers’ minds when booking. How well hotels communicate the steps they’ve taken can easily be the difference between generating sales and failing to do so. Efforts should be communicated on all marketing platforms, from check-in and in-room materials to digital marketing applications, including email, social and website.
Minimizing touchpoints will continue to be a primary goal across the travel sector this spring. Hotels, airports and restaurants have turned to mobile apps and QR codes to help reduce the spread of harmful germs. “In 2021, hotels will increase their adoption of technology that reduces the number of touchpoints. Abilities such as online check-ins and check-outs, mobile keys and room settings controlled by the Internet of Things (IoT) technology will become much more commonplace,” says GlobalData Travel & Tourism Analyst Ralph Hollister. “Using IoT to control room settings also allows hotels to gather more data on guests, creating a more personalized experience when they return next.”
Successful hotels will offer guests added flexibility by adding 100 percent refunds for last-minute cancellations and other risk-reducing policies. “Having a flexible cancellation policy on a hotel website will be vital in ensuring direct bookings, and these relaxed policies will continue in 2021. For example, Marriott International has just extended its 24-hour global cancellation policy,” Hollister stated. Plans change at the drop of a hat, and in a world full of uncertainty, it’s better to be understanding of those changes. Demonstrating an understanding through a flexible cancellation policy can go a long way towards encouraging bookings and also help avoid negative press.
As guests pursue longer stays, hotels and resorts will promote marketing communications for extended stay programs and packages. “Travelers will be looking to take fewer trips, but those that do travel are expected to also stay for longer,” says Hollister. “Uncertainty is strife and it may lead to people going ‘all out’ on one big trip, rather than risking several smaller ones that could be canceled.” After a year of being locked away, we can emphasize not wanting to leave paradise!
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For the past two decades, a giant digital display in Manhattan’s Union Square has clocked the accumulation of days, hours, minutes and seconds for the thousands of New Yorkers who hurry past it each day. Now, for the first time, it’s counting down. Revealing just how little time we have left to tackle the climate crisis before the planet is past a tipping point of irreversible change. Currently, that number is 7 years, 98 days, 15 hours… and counting. One of the largest areas of concern in sustainability is the hospitality industry. Hotels currently create over 1.9 billion pounds of waste each year. How is your hotel reducing its carbon footprint? For a few ideas, keep diving into this article.
A clear understanding of energy usage allows leaders to identify areas for improvement. What location of your hotel is using the most energy? Are there ways to reduce energy use in that area without negatively affecting guest experience? Additionally, leaders can routinely evaluate their energy use, seeking out energy-saving practices like having smart thermostat technology in each room that allows guests to customize temperatures. Recycling options in guest rooms also enable guests to maintain their green habits while away from home to improve efficiency and ultimately cut costs.
Hospitality leaders can incorporate current trends into their sustainability strategies, such as:
Every aspect of a business can adopt practices that take sustainability into account, considering water and waste management, the use of organic products that do not contain harmful chemicals, and reuse and recycling. In this way, sustainability can become a part of an organization’s culture. Letting employees be a part of the movement is a great way to make them feel more included and boost their overall opinion of sustainability, making your company greener. These behaviors can range from turning off lights to changing the settings on washing machines and adjusting thermostats appropriately.
The federal government, along with states and some local governments, have enacted several programs to promote “green” business. Using renewable energy, reducing waste and implementing measures that enable reuse and recycling can add up to more than just energy conservation. Incentive programs reward businesses with tax write-offs, discounted insurance premiums, financial grants and faster regulatory permitting. In addition, innovative environmentally friendly technology can result in long-term cost savings. Though sustainable practices can require initial spending, the combined effects of energy efficiency and waste reduction lead to spending less money in the long run.
Contact us for ideas on how your hotel can implement digital applications in rooms, restaurants and collaborative spaces. For more tips and tricks for navigating the current hospitality trends, join our mailing list!
