How People Choose Hotels
When it comes to hotels, knowing your target market is crucial to the success of your hotel. One aspect of your target market you must understand is hotel booking behavior. More specifically, how does your target market choose hotels? If you are familiar with the what, why, when, and how’s that people go through to choose a hotel, you can better equip your hotel to be the one chosen.
Reviews
People listen to other people… at least sometimes. Negative reviews on third-party sites like Yelp will influence potential guests, but so will positive reviews. Reviews play a huge role in guests choice. Take action, if you see negative reviews, respond to them, try to massage the situation, so the negative review goes away or is changed to a positive review. Encourage guests to leave reviews; your hotel will be more likely to get good reviews this way.
More guests booking a stay because they are convinced by other people’s positive reviews = more revenue.
Age
There’s the Margaritaville generation, and then there’s the boutique, eco-friendly, tech-savvy generation, for example. Those two generations are not looking for the same things in a hotel. Be aware of which age groups your hotel is targeting, and then ensure your offerings are in line with their needs and wants.
The more potential guests who notice your hotel’s style, amenities, and offerings that are in line with their needs and wants = the more bookings your hotel will have = more revenue.
Location
Typically the most important reason people choose hotels is location. It’s truly crucial that you are aware of the reasons why your hotel might be chosen for its location. Is your hotel near an airport? In the heart of the city? In an artistic neighborhood? Next to the sea? Whatever the reasons are, make it well-known to your prospective guests that you hotel exists and is the perfect choice for the given location. You can use your social channels, email marketing, and more to get this information to your future guests. If you can get your hotel to be the number one choice for your given location, your revenue will skyrocket!
Value
The cost will always be a major consideration for most groups of guests. Value is different than cost. If potential guests see the cost of a stay at your hotel and decide that the value accurately reflects the cost, then they will choose your hotel. Be sure to constantly assess that your cost and value are in accord. The more future guests that deem the cost of your hotel to reflect the value, the more revenue your hotel will rake in.
These are four of the most important reasons guests choose to stay at one hotel versus another. Not sure how your hotel is doing in one or more of the categories? Review! Take the time to fully assess how your hotel is doing in each category and then make any necessary changes!
Need assistance? Contact the experienced HMG Hospitality team today!