By Larry Mogelonsky, MBA, P. Eng. (www.hotelmogel.com)
Part of the new normal after the coronavirus has died off
will be a great reshuffling of customer behaviors including the reasons for why
people choose one property or form of accommodation over another. While this
might mean that more guests are naturally attracted to your hotel brand, it
might also result in a destructive erosion as more travelers come to prefer
home sharing providers.
Importantly for hoteliers, there are three main reasons
behind this latter conversion worth describing so that you can do your best to
prevent them from happening.
First is social distancing and any lingering anxieties over
public spaces. While hotels all over the world should be commended for rapidly
setting up new cleaning SOPs to help prevent the transmission of viruses within
their walls, this still cannot fully alleviate the fears that people now have
of being amongst so many other strangers.
Home-sharing platforms like Airbnb have the advantage in
that their listings inherently suggest less human-to-human contact. Hoteliers
must fight this perception by becoming staunch impresarios for all the new and
improved sanitization protocols that have been implemented. Hotels should also
adopt an attitude of ‘cleanliness theater’ whereby it’s not just about these
advanced cleaning SOPs but also making a show of it to give guests peace of
mind.
Second is straight-up costs. Sharing economy accommodations
are largely seen by the average consumer as cheaper than traditional hotels in
an apples-to-apples comparison. In a post-pandemic world where the biggest
casualty (besides those who have tragically fallen to the disease) is the
amount of disposable income one has, travelers, will be looking to penny-pinch
wherever possible.
Knowing that money is going to be tight for potentially
years to come, the role of the revenue manager becomes all the more insurmountable
for success. You need someone to accurately assess what your rates must be in
order to keep in step with market demands. To accomplish this, you must enable
these executives by giving them the latest marketplace intelligence software so
that they have the data to know exactly what rates will get eyeballs.
Similarly, revenue managers will be instrumental in devising good packages
with alluring price tags.
Third and lastly is branding with companies like Airbnb
presenting themselves to the public with a clean and simple message about where
they stand during this ever-evolving crisis. Your hotel must also adopt a
similar mentality. Present yourselves empathetically to your guests during this
time when no travel is taking place, but then once the restrictions are lifted
you must pick your battles. You cannot be everything to everyone; instead of focusing your efforts on the demographics and psychographics for which your
brand is most meaningful.
Understanding the three causes – social distancing, personal
finances and clear messaging – will help your hotel to prosper in the months
ahead. By knowing is not even anywhere close to half the battle, and my final
recommendation is that you spend this downtime working diligently to align your
sales and marketing efforts so that you can ready to capitalize upon all the
post-pandemic travel opportunities as well as prevent any attrition of guests
choosing other forms of accommodations because they are no longer confident in
your product.
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| Larry Mogelonsky |
About Larry Mogelsonsky
One of the world’s most published writers in hospitality, Larry Mogelonsky is the principal of Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited, a Toronto-based consulting practice. His experience encompasses hotel properties around the world, both branded and independent, and ranging from luxury and boutique to select-service. Larry is also on several boards for companies focused on hotel technology. His work includes five books “Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012), “Llamas Rule” (2013), “Hotel Llama” (2015), “The Llama is Inn” (2017), and “The Hotel Mogel” (2018). You can reach Larry at larry@hotelmogel.com to discuss hotel business challenges or to book speaking engagements.
One of the world’s most published writers in hospitality, Larry Mogelonsky is the principal of Hotel Mogel Consulting Limited, a Toronto-based consulting practice. His experience encompasses hotel properties around the world, both branded and independent, and ranging from luxury and boutique to select-service. Larry is also on several boards for companies focused on hotel technology. His work includes five books “Are You an Ostrich or a Llama?” (2012), “Llamas Rule” (2013), “Hotel Llama” (2015), “The Llama is Inn” (2017), and “The Hotel Mogel” (2018). You can reach Larry at larry@hotelmogel.com to discuss hotel business challenges or to book speaking engagements.
Media Contact:
Larry Mogelonsky
Email: larry@hotelmogel.com
Website: http://hotelmogel.com/
