TOURISM IS REACTIVATING
6 keys to boost your sales and adapt to the new normal
After a very difficult month, personally and professionally, the beginning of the so-called new normal is already being seen. Giving an impulse to the sector, the government has announced that Spain will be able to receive foreign tourism from July. It remains to be seen which corridors are established between the issuing markets and our country, and the volume of tourists that will choose to travel. In any case, we can now look to the future in the short and medium term with moderate optimism. Hotels that do not want to lose the path of profitability must adapt quickly, looking for formulas that generate demand and liquidity.
In this article we identify 6 keys that should be part of your hotel's de-escalate plan.
1. Adapt. Let your strategy adjust to the current times.
2. Google has great discounts! Invest in digital marketing.
3. Seek liquidity. Increase your profitability.
4. Think about loyalty. Communicate your differential values.
5. Communicate. Calm your customers.
6. Now or never, bet on digitalization.
Let’s get started…
1. Adapt. Let your strategy adjust to the current times.
Don’t forget local and national tourism
Despite the lifting of restrictions on international tourism, this year the local and national market will help you compensate for the undoubted decline of the foreign market. Because of its proximity, the local and national market is more likely to convert the reservation and, if the health situation and the authorities allow it, less likely to cancel.
Although your hotel has never had this market as a target, consider seriously changing your strategy:
- Offer weekend getaways, even for international markets.
- Remove night restrictions.
- Create discounts or added values for residents (early check-in, late check-out, F&B credits, etc.).
- Redirect marketing budgets for local markets.
- Make offers for health, security or essential services.
- Celebrate your opening dates by offering aggressive and exclusive offers.
The foreign market returns, though not in the same way.
The volume of arrivals will be more staggered, and the profile and nationality of the client will not necessarily be the same as before COVID-19, at least this summer. Focus on generating demand (in the form of discounts or added values) in the long run and adapt to new ways of traveling. These months have done a lot of damage to society morally, but also economically. The average stay may be reduced, and we may see a tendency to travel out of season. For this reason, many of the tactics you drive for the local and domestic market (remove night restrictions, special offers for health workers) can also be applied to international markets. If you combine them with a balanced marketing investment, the international market will give you results starting today, for arrivals from July, but also in autumn and even 2021.
2. Google has great disscounts! Invest in digital marketing.
Following the government's announcement of lifting restrictions on foreign tourism, reactivating your marketing campaigns has become indispensable. And the conditions for doing so are very conducive. Google Ads cost-per-click (CPC) has been reduced by 72% vs May 2019. It's never been so cheap, and probably will never be, to invest in paid campaigns again. But this situation won't last. Major advertisers (especially OTAs) will reactivate their investment. And this implies that investment costs will increase. The longer it takes to reactivate your campaigns, the higher your bids in Google Ads should be if you want to appear in a better position than the big OTAs and metasearchers. If you haven't already done so, we recommend that you reactivate the investment.
The opportunity deserves it. And remember not to neglect the basic elements to get good results on your direct channel:
- Offer exclusive conditions (prices or values) for your direct channel.
- Avoid disparities with the OTAs.
- Promote medium term sale, with arrivals from July, when the pace of sales is up, and cancellations are falling.
3. Seek liquidity. Increase your profitability.
Protecting liquidity, to ensure the long-term viability of the business, must be an indispensable element of any strategy you put in place for your hotel. The key is to keep reservations in your system – avoiding cancellations – and find new formulas to generate additional revenue. Here are several ways to do this:
Offer Gift Cards.
To avoid cancellations – offering future alternatives – or as an additional payment method, the Gift Card is a fundamental tool to get the already famous "Don't cancel. Postpone":
Here are its main advantages:
- Helps keep reservations in your system (for future arrivals).
- Ensures the customer's return in the near future (postponing the reservation instead of cancelling it).
- Improves the experience of your customers by offering flexibility and alternatives that will make them feel safer when making a reservation at your hotel.
In addition, the Gift Card allows you to bring a dose of creativity to your commercial strategy. For example, offering discounts or incentives to undecided customers from your Call Center or booking department: "15 euro voucher for your next booking," or as a booking multiplier, offering it as a gift (to a special person, family member or friend, or business incentives), to generate additional demand and create more income.
Recently, at Roiback we have announced our Gift Card, at no additional cost to our customers and with a wide variety of use cases.
Promote prepayments and fractional payments.
By having part of the reservation amount in advance, you will generate such long-awaited liquidity. And at the same time, you will offer more alternatives and flexibility to your customers. To incentivize prepayment, you can offer exclusive conditions (discounts or added values) that your customers can only find on your direct channel. The combination of liquidity and the lower cost of direct distribution will increase your profitability per reservation.
Other benefits offered by flexible payments include:
- Increase your conversion, offering flexible alternatives to your customers versus "book now, and pay now". Paying for an installment booking can be an attractive option for your customers, convincing them to book.
- Significantly streamline the operation of your hotel, launching collections on scheduled dates (paydays) and automating much of the collection management.
- Reduce the risk of fraud by automatically validating your credit card at the time of booking and adapt to PCI DSS credit card data security regulations and PSD2 payment services policy.
Prepaid bookings also help reduce the interaction between the guest and the reception. The collections management staff will not need to enter credit card details to launch each charge of a reservation. These are managed – through pre-payment or on arrival at the hotel – automatically through the tool. Everything counts when it comes to reducing unnecessary contact times and adapting to hygiene protocols.
4. Think about loyalty. Communicate your differential values.
If you still don't have a loyalty program…
Don't wait any longer. Create one, even if it's simple. The first step is to use your program tactically, with added prices and values that differentiate your direct channel. And of course, to help you convert more reservations. Communicate the differential values of your Loyalty program on the most visible touchpoints of your direct channel: website, email marketing and main marketing channels (SEM campaigns, social media and metasearchers). For example, in Google Hotel Ads - a channel very close to the purchase decision and with very high conversions - member-only conditions will make your conversions increase significantly. The comparison with OTAs will always be positive in your favor.
If you already have a loyalty program...
Exploit it to the fullest. Make your customers feel special. And make them feel safe. Many post-COVID-19 travelers will look for the tranquility and familiarity of a hotel they already know and trust.
Segment your customers – ideally by combining the loyalty program with a CRM platform – and launch communication campaigns to incentivize bookings of your repeat customers or increase new registered members, which is one of the great challenges of any loyalty program.
5. Communicate. Calm your customers.
In the current circumstances, it’s important that you generate the certainty that your hotel complies with hygiene protocols. Clearly communicate the measures you are implementing through all possible channels: social networks, newsletter to your contact list, landing page on the official website, confirmation voucher or pre-stay email. If you need advice on the best way to use the different communication touchpoints, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to help.
Offer travel insurances
Some of our customers already have travel insurance with specific coverage for COVID-19. The results, although with a reduced sample, are very positive to date. Health insurance will help you provide that extra coverage, and that added security, so your customers can travel with as little concern as possible. In addition, you will give your direct channel one more argument to boost your direct sales. Many of your intermediate channels – Tour operators, OTAs, Travel Agencies or Airlines already offer travel insurances. Why don't you offer them too?
6. Now or never, bet on digitalization.
The new reality will bring with it social estrangement, the limitation of capacity and the need to reduce contact between the hotel staff and the guest to what is strictly necessary. Digitizing is no longer an option, it’s a necessity.
Implement online check-in
Digitizing the check-in processes will avoid crowds at your reception, reducing unnecessary contact moments, facilitating social estrangement, and protecting both the health of the worker and the guest. In addition, online check-in will help you differentiate your brand, offering a reassuring element for many potential customers, which can mean the difference between converting or not converting a booking. If your hotel has a digital door-opening system, guests will not have to pick up the keys at reception and will be able to access their rooms via mobile.
Even without a digital door-opening system, waiting times at the hotel reception will be reduced by up to 85% as customers will avoid the pre-check-in procedure. You will have to identify them and hand them the key at the front desk. As we announced just over a year ago, Roiback's collaborating hotels have this solution with one of the best suppliers on the market, under special conditions.
Use Guest Service Apps to connect your guests to different areas of your hotel
Simple to implement and cheaper than you might think, Guest Service apps allow your guests to access general information about your hotel: room service, reservation at restaurants and services, excursions, and transfers. In addition, you could use them as a chatbot or live chat service with the different areas of your property.
Thanks to our strategic alliances with the best technology partners, Roiback can recommend and help you implement the best GuestService tools on the market.
To summarize. Remember:
- Adapt. Let your strategy adjust to the current times.
- Google has great discounts! Invest in digital marketing.
- Seek liquidity. Increase your profitability.
- Think about loyalty. Communicate your differential values.
- Communicate. Calm your customers.
- Now or never, bet on digitalization.