Jan
22
Valentines weekend is fast approaching.
So this means there are special offers popping up here and there for Valentine weekend breaks. Some hotels have put a lot of thought and effort into their packages. But it's important - as a marketer - to make sure that everyone in the team understands how important it is to take the bookings and have happy customers. Otherwise it can all go the way of the pear. Just like it did for the hotel in Oban, Scotland - where my brother-in-law booked...
Continue reading "You go to all that EFFORT - and then it all goes wrong"
Posted by HotelBlogger
Jan
11
This morning in the HotelSphere office, we were doing a bit of benchmarking.
It's good to look at the opposition and see what they're up to. It's also good to look at business practices of other operators to see what they do and try to figure out what works for them and what might work for you.
Copying isn't the goal - looking for ideas and different approaches is the objective. It also lets you see where you are relative to other players.
This morning we were looking at "award winning" websites. One in particular, caught our attention.
It's a website for a hotel business, which won an online marketing award.
It doesn't have any method to allow visitors to book online. No booking system at all. Nothing whatsoever.
So it can't automatically convert visitor traffic into bookings.
I wonder how it managed to win an award for online marketing?
Posted by HotelBlogger
Jan
5
It's an expression that never looks quite right to me.
"Hand picked".
At least, not when it's used in the context of a "specially selected" hotel.
It just looks wrong. When you think about all the things that can be hand picked: Mushrooms; daffodils; firing squads; noses...
Does that expression really send the right message out to your customers? Do they "hand pick" a hotel?
...they must have big hands...
I have a dilemma.
Continue reading "Is your hotel "hand picked"?"
Posted by HotelBlogger
Jan
4
Happy New Year!
Over the past few weeks, lots of emails have landed in my inbox from people offering their opinions on all sorts of subjects. From what trading conditions are going to be like for 2010, through to their top ten "do's" or "don'ts" depending on their point of view.
There's no reason why 2010 should be a bad year for your hotel business. You've just got to get a few fundamental things right -and one thing in particular...
Continue reading "It's 2010! What am I going to get?"
Posted by HotelBlogger
