How To Encourage Guests To Stay At Your Hotel During Slow Seasons
When your hotel hits one of its slumps for the season, it can be difficult to fill your rooms. Use these tips to encourage guests to stay at your hotel even when slow seasons threaten to make your vacancy worse than ever.
Advertise all your amenities
Having an indoor pool when it's frigid winter outside is an amenity that can make your hotel more more appealing, even in this slow time of year. In fact, all of your amenities can help you have great business during the slow seasons, because your guests know they are getting better value with your hotel than they will get anywhere else. If one of your perks is that you have 24-hour maid service, you should mention it. Advertise all your amenities, from your free breakfast to your kid's play area, so your hotel is hard to ignore even when times are slow.
Encourage repeat business
Repeat guests are guests that stay at your hotel 15 or more times a year, and this reliable revenue is worth everything to your company. You can encourage your guests to choose your hotel any time they are in the area for business or pleasure by doing the following:
- stock their room with desired items with each arrival
- try to give them the same room every stay
- give them gift packages after a certain number of stays
- enroll them in a loyalty program
Get to know your guests on a personal level and make their experience a wonderful one, and you can increase repeat guest occurrences. This makes your hotel more successful even as slow seasons threaten your monthly profits, since repeat guests visit several times a year.
Make your lobby more inviting
The first impression is always the most important one, and this is especially true for the hotel business. If a person walks into your lobby and it is cold, shabby, outdated, or uninviting, they will feel less confident in the quality and value of your rooms. Give your lobby ample lighting, staff the desk with knowledgeable and friendly people, and make sure the area is clean and stylish at all times. Guests who are wowed when they walk in will want to nab themselves a room, and will be less likely to walk out the door to seek lodging elsewhere. In a slow season, every person that stays as a guest is a valued plus.
Your hotel needs to encourage people to stay at your establishment at all times of the year. Use these tips to make your hotel a place people want to give their business to even when the slow season comes your way. For more information, contact another local hotel, such as North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce & Convention and Visitors Bureau.