F & B : Kids ’ Programs
Marketer ’ s viewpoint
Tom Santora
Tom Santora , chief marketing officer at Omni Hotels , spearheads several programs to attract families with children to its hotels . This year oversaw the revamping of the hotel ’ s complimentary Omni kids ’ backpack in partnership with Chef Cheryl Forberg as part of the Omni Sensational Kids Program .
Designed for children form 4 to 7 years of age , the new Omni Kitchen Kids backpack aims to make eating well fun and easy through an activity book with recipes and food games , memory match-up cards with healthy food illustrations and a twisty tomato straw . Omni Hotels currently goes through about 90,000 complimentary kids backpacks a year .
HOTELS spoke to Santora , a 25-year industry veteran , about Omni ’ s kids program .
HOTELS : Should hotel marketers target parents or go directly to the kids when promoting a children ’ s F & B program ?
Tom Santora : We should be marketing to both parents and their children . Right now , we are spending more marketing dollars for kids based on the increase of families visiting our brand . I don ’ t think parents would necessarily book an Omni Hotel to get something like a backpack , but it definitely makes a lasting impression , especially since we are giving kids a tangible item to bring home .
H : Are you thinking about creating more F & B programs for kids ?
Santora : Yes . We are continuing our partnership with Cheryl Forberg and plan to build off the idea of teaching children more about nutrition and eating right . There is a tremendous opportunity in that area .
H : Since these backpacks are complimentary , is there an ROI ? How do you justify this added expense ?
Santora : The program definitely isn ’ t cheap . When you start to crunch the numbers , you realize that this is all quite expensive . However , we feel that it is worth making lasting positive impressions on parents and kids .
It still makes me very excited to see kids at the airport running around with their Omni backpacks . It ’ s a great feeling to see we have connected with the kids . They also may go home and tell their friends about their experiences at the Omni , who in turn will tell their parents that they want to come too , ultimately driving more guests to our hotels .
42 HOTELS January / February 2015 www . hotelsmag . com