Summer is just around the corner.
And, with families, couples, and individuals dying to finally travel somewhere afar after all the turmoil last year due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, surely there would be an influx of resort guests this year. That is, of course, still adhering to CDC’s travel guidelines and vaccination requirements.
Before the longer days and warmer weather hits, it is time for your resort business to bring some changes to attract more guests.
Although it is a given fact that tourism peaks during the summer season, it would not hurt to enhance your resort’s appeal to reverberate with the mood of all vacationers wanting to get the most of the warm weather months.
With this in mind, here are some helpful suggestions to keep your guests happy, relaxed, and content during their summer-long stay.
Practical Ways to Boost Guest Numbers This Summer
1. Tell a Story
One of the key strategies in marketing your resort business is to define what makes it unique from competitors. There are plenty of ways to achieve it. You can highlight an interesting backstory, your extraordinary service, your unique architectural design, or your pricing strategy.
As Simon Sinek said in one of his TED talks, “It is not what you sell that people buy. Rather, it is the reason why you sell it that they buy.”
When marketing your resort, do not just settle with describing what your hotel is like or the type of services you offer. Go beyond that. Tell a story. It does not mean spending a lot on this marketing campaign. Simple things like your social media posts, website content, newsletters, and brochures would do.
2. Register With OTAs
These days, it is not uncommon for travelers to have booked their reservations through Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) such as Trivago, Booking.com, Hotel.com, and Kayak.
These agencies have invested a long time already in digital marketing and online advertising to attract more guests to their websites for flights, hotels, and other related services, unlike most independent hotels and resorts.
The reality is, if your hotel resort is not tied up with any of these OTAs, your website can’t show up on search engines.
In fact, most hotel reservations these days are done through OTAs.
Keep in mind that if you opt to invest in any of these agencies, you have to pay a booking fee. Typically, it ranges between 10 to 35 percent, basing on the location and type of property you have.
Nonetheless, if you have a good loyalty strategy, chances are your customers will skip the whole OTAs process and book to you directly.
3. Include Fun, Summer-friendly Games & Activities
Whether your guests are families, couples, or individuals taking a solo flight, they all surely love to spend more time outdoors.
If your resort is fronting the beach, why not offer a stand-up paddle boarding or a sea diving lesson? Biking and ATV trails are also excellent ideas, especially for younger, more adventurous guests.
Since your guests will be spending a lot of time basking under the heat of the sun, make sure you have water dispensers placed on various spots, readily visible for their use and convenience. Resort staff should also be visible throughout the premises just if your guests would need to request something.
4. Be Active On Your Socials
You can never discount the power of social media. In this day and age, when most of our lives revolve around what we see, watch, and read on any of these social networking sites, having clear visibility is a huge help for your business.
Write compelling marketing content — be it videos, stories, and interactive experiences. Good content subconsciously makes viewers eager to share it with their friends and followers.
Leverage your social media presence by sharing the experiences of real-life guests. But you have to keep in mind to ask for their permission beforehand as it might entail some drastic legal consequences if you do otherwise.
5. Manage Online Reviews
The majority of travelers do not push through with reservations until they actually read reviews and figure out what others think of the resort hotel they hope to book. Most travelers would check TripAdvisor reviews before finally choosing a hotel.
Considering these facts, your business must have a complete profile on this platform and manage reviews accordingly.
Though reviews can be a double-edged sword, you can always buttress the negative comments by responding politely. Based on a survey, users tend to have an improved impression of the hotel based on how well they respond to a negative review.
Final Take: Offer Value
Keep in mind to do away with simply promoting the monetary value offered by your resort. Go beyond that. Showcase local attractions, travel guides, and widely popular local dishes. Doing these and those above-mentioned tips will surely send a positive marketing message to your target audiences.