Automation of business in the hotel industry helps hoteliers not only increase income, but also gives them the opportunity to stay ahead of competitors. Now, when the high season is replaced by the low season, we suggest checking and making sure that your accommodation is ready to pass through it with dignity. Together with Bnovo and expert Natalia Babushnikova, revenue specialist, we will look at the key aspects of preparing for the projected seasonal decline in sales.
Checking the settings in the PMS
You should start by checking the settings in the hotel’s accounting system from the point of view of income management and tariff policy. What other steps should be taken?
- It is important to check the prices and availability of rooms for the entire period that you predict as low season. Regardless of the average booking window, which is now showing an increasing trend, it is worth remembering the guests who follow the offers of early hotel reservations and compare them.
- Sales restrictions and cancellation rules. In low season, it is better to use flexible fares and a minimum of restrictions — guests may be deterred by strict rules, especially after a pandemic, when a trip could be canceled suddenly due to illness or restrictions. Today, it is also necessary to take into account the factor of such unexpected cancellations for various reasons. Check the correctness of the restrictions and cancellation conditions in the booking module and on the online sales channels – on some OTA, the rules can only be changed on the extranet or through an account manager.
- Analytics for the past year. Check the statistics for the previous low season: on which dates the load was increased and decreased. The advanced reporting block in Bnovo PMS will help with this.
- Calendar of events. Find information about local events that may be of interest to your hotel’s guests. Do not forget about the November, February and March holidays — on these dates, you can make the booking and cancellation rules stricter.
- Competitor price analysis. Analyze the behavior of your competitors — what is their low-season sales pricing policy? You do not just need to copy the actions of competitors, it is important to have up-to-date data and check with the market. Rate Shopper helps you compare prices of up to 10 competitors in 1 report 60 days in advance.
- Building a price scheme for the low season. Adjust it daily for the next month (or more, depending on the depth of the reservation in your location). To clarify: you do not need to set high prices right away, it is better to start with the basic ones and increase tariffs as the load increases.
- Forecasting. Now you can make a more accurate forecast of revenue and workload for the low season. At the same time, it is important to take into account the overall demand and market load. If your location has an average load of 20% in low season, it is hardly worth predicting an occupancy rate of 80%.
We activate marketing and sales
After setting up the tariff policy, you need to move on to marketing. In the low season, it is very difficult to do without active sales and offers for guests. If the hotel does not have a sales department, the manager can prepare for the low season himself or delegate the task to other employees. In which directions should you look for ways to increase sales:
Corporate segment:
- An old, but still effective method is to walk around the surrounding neighborhoods and look at the signs and signs. These can be companies, medical institutions, educational institutions, etc. You can go in and talk, learn more about the company and its needs, take contacts, make a commercial offer and send it in writing.
- To study the bookings for the past year or two, sort the bookings from companies and legal entities and contact their representatives, offering personal conditions when booking.
- And, of course, OTA for business travelers. This is a must have for any hotels.
Working with regular guests
In low season, interaction with regular guests is especially important. Recall that it is much cheaper to retain a client and make him permanent than to attract a new one. Therefore, it is worth thinking about special rates, offers and loyalty programs for regular guests. It is not necessary to make standard discounts or points. These may be more lenient booking conditions, bonuses or gifts for guests, as well as personalized service — fortunately, there are many solutions on the market now.
Working with local guests
Think about how your hotel can be attractive to locals? For example, if the hotel facility is located in the center of a large city, you can invite citizens to stay as tourists and diversify their leisure time for the weekend. Often, residents do not know all the sights and interesting locations of their native region. Or, if you have rooms and infrastructure for romantic dates — use this!
A look at the hotel space from a different angle
- The pandemic taught us this, but many techniques are great in low season, when the load is low. Think about how else you can use the spaces and areas of your hotel? Not only the rooms, but also the hall and lobby.
- For example:
- Workplaces/offices for remote workers — it is difficult or unpleasant for many to work from home, coffee shops are noisy, and it is inconvenient to hold meetings and calls in coworking spaces. The hotel room is the perfect solution! A personal office that will give you a change of scenery and silence. At the same time, you can work both in bed and at the table, and no one will interfere.
- Photo shoots — if the hotel rooms have an interesting interior, or there is an opportunity to create a unique photo zone. There may be several options. The first is when the hotel organizes the room space itself, makes decorations, finds a photographer and offers guests a ready-made photo shoot. Another option, when the hotel offers hourly room rental as a studio, is an offer for photographers who are looking for new interesting locations, and well—known studios in the city are busy. With an interesting interior and loyal conditions for photographers, this will collect excellent content for the hotel and revive activity on social networks.
- Rent rooms for beauty artists: make-up artists, stylists, hairdressers, massage therapists and other specialists who do not need stationary bulky equipment. This offer is rather for beginners who do not have their own office, and for whom it is difficult to rent a place for long-term rent in salons.
- Kitchen rental for pastry chefs — if the kitchen space is not used all day. There are nuances in permits and medical documents, so you need to consult a lawyer.
Holding events — if there is a common area or a living room, then you can implement master classes, lectures, trainings, tastings – various events that do not need a conference room, but a small cozy space.
Author: Natalia Babushnikova, founder of Hotel Revenue Guru
English 
Russian 
German 
Polish