Hotel Internet Marketing In Recession

[Oliver Ryan]

The hotel business is one of the most cut throat and competitive
businesses in the world. Nowadays, more travel is sold over the
Internet than any other consumer product. In entire world Internet-
booked rooms is the fastest-growing segment of hotel reservations in
part because the Internet is a perfect medium for selling travel as it
brings a vast network of suppliers and a widely dispersed customer
pool together into a centralized market place.

Revenues are down, or flat at best, and you're now looking for ways to
cut expenses, this is where the minds of hoteliers turn from driving
profit to basic survival. Now understand how difficult it is to
operate a hotel in times like this. While this may seem like a
sensible course of action, it has the potential to harm your business
in the long term. Making those decisions, what to cut, what to keep,
is one of the hardest parts of your job. The best way to convince
yourself to continue spending in a recession is by understanding that
hotel marketing requires a sustained effort and results are cumulative
and tend to compound. When the economy turns around (and it will),
your hotel will be in a much better position.

The performance of the hotel industry can be either enhanced or
limited by the way in which hotel business is conceptualized.
This article presents two concepts that could offer opportunities for
the industry if hotels are willing to take a few steps away from the
traditional business models.

o The Catwalk Concept
A model to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the
proliferation of international brands

o The Sanctuary Concept
A model to capitalize on the opportunities presented by a particular
aspect of globalization

A lot has been said about the global meltdown and ways for companies
to hold out during these trying times. Given the current business
environment, marketing specialists are trying their best to come up
with the most feasible marketing mix as well as strategies that could
help their companies reap the most benefit while keeping a lead on
spending.

The current economic environment can prove both exciting and
challenging for online marketers. Being almost totally measurable,
Online Marketing allows for quick evaluation and continual adjustments
to improve results. This is a good time to hone your skills in revenue
management. Even in a recession, there will be business spikes, which
will give sharp operators the opportunity to boost average rate and
maximize occupancy.

Top 5 online marketing tips for surviving the recession.

o Start focusing on campaigns. Offering late deals for meetings /
private dining and office parties.

o Recognizing some days of the week of the year will be slower, it is
advantageous to warm up your rates on your online booking engine and
with Online Travel Agents (OTA’s) to suit these periods.

o Occupancy Marketing advise that you should offer the lowest or rates
online via your own online booking system or at worst have rate
parity, meaning you sell at the same rates via OTA’s.

o Your website is your shop window to leisure customers and some
corporate customer segments. It should be an accurate reflection of
your product.

o Your website should be optimized for brand and location searches at
a minimum. This means when someone Google’s your hotel name, it
appears first in Google.

Recessions always result in compressing the marketplace; that big-
box, full service hotel down the street will now be after your
business. Be smarter about what actually motivates people to choose a
hotel; it's value. Packaging and value-added programs are excellent
vehicles to appeal to travelers in tough times.

You can visit : http://www.hotelkortet.dk/