Design for Different Types of Travelers
The work-from-anywhere movement is growing , especially in the U . S . As more companies become fully distributed or work toward creating a hybrid model to offer competitive flexibility to employees , travelers will be seeking out more than a standard desk workspace in their guest rooms and hotel public spaces . Designing , or in some cases , re-designing critical guest areas to be work-from-anywhere friendly will be a necessity for most hotels in the future .
Think about ways in which you can repurpose existing traditional meeting space or convention space . Is it possible to create attractive , flexible space to allow for day-use offices or short-term meeting rentals for virtual calls or small meetings ? In what ways can the space already designed for business travelers become more useful to all travelers ? Are you offering packages to encourage more of Thursday-Monday stays that may appeal to families ?
Maintaining a Competitive Edge as a Year-Round Leisure Market
One of the most important and unexpected outcomes of the early stages of recovery was the surge of consistent travel to historically seasonal leisure destinations . In many cases , travelers are discovering closer-tohome locations to enjoy . As many are driving to these locations , travelers will be more likely to spend more on their accommodations and experiences while saving on airfare .
Many hotels in these types of markets have become concerned with what may happen as a result of the return to more traditional commercial transient and group business mix , or when travelers feel more confident in traveling further away , requiring a longer trip by air . The key to maintaining the new popularity in these markets and destination types will be to focus on the emerging tourism attractions . Focus on and market for the draw of the location , whether that is travel driven by sports , adventure , culture , recreation , or even health / wellness and medical tourism , as well as the specific features and benefits of your property .
Staying Flexible and Updating Your Strategies
An additional concern for the potential shift away from secondary and tertiary markets is keeping hotels relevant and visible . A 2019 study of business listings by Search Engine Watch “ found that 96 % of all business locations fail to list their business information correctly .” 1 In some ways , the pandemic has spurred necessary attention to our business listings as hotels work to keep travelers updated on outlet hours of operation , mask and / or vaccination requirements or recommendations , as well as local updates .
Perhaps more importantly , the study found most businesses were not optimized for voice search . The cost of not being optimized for voice search will become greater each year as more and more of the population adopt and use voice search , with some studies suggesting that as many as a third of all U . S . adults would use a voice assistant or search monthly2 . This means that on top of keeping your business listing updated for physical search engines , you must also ensure it is optimized for voice search . Voice is not a dying channel of production .
Lastly , a trend that ’ s here to stay is having a library of working and easily adaptable strategies to adjust your business to the ever-evolving industry and traveler trends . We should not be quick to assume that we have experienced truly unique situations over the past several years , and we recommend that you keep track of the strategies that were deployed and their success rates , so that you can go back to them in the future to repurpose or redeploy them .
Remember that successful commercial strategy teams will deploy an operational framework , supported by a regularly updated playbook , that will ensure you and your team are prepared for what comes next .
About the author Jennifer is the VP , Commercial Strategy at Kalibri Labs , where she partners with clients to tailor plans for adoption and the effective utilization of Kalibri Labs ’ products to optimize revenue and profit generation capabilities . She can be reached at jennifer @ kalibrilabs . com
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