It is great to welcome vacationers and tourists, but hotels really need business travelers. More than the individual passing salesman, the big revenue stream is from the large corporate businesses who will often make bookings on behalf of their staff, or will arrange large block bookings for conferences and training events.
Research your market
Find out from your business visitors what they appreciate about your facilities, what they dislike, and what they would like to see added. Changing some things may be pipedreams, but other things like flexible check-ins can be dealt with and promoted accordingly.
Also find out from your current visitors about the sort of business they work for, and how their travel arrangements are made. You may discover a pattern you can exploit.
Decide what sort of business you are likely to appeal to, and which you are happier doing business with. A smaller independent hotel may be more suited to dealing with smaller or medium businesses with which you can develop a rapport, rather than huge corporations.
Develop your business traveler plan
Work out what sort of packages you can offer to business customers. You want to encourage repeat bookings, so you may want to devise some sort of loyalty program.
Find out what neighboring hotels in your town are offering, so that you know what you are competing with, but then focus on anything different you can offer that will make you stand out. Never offer anything you cannot supply—there is no surer way to discourage repeat visits.
You may find that there are physical changes you can make. If your business space needs a makeover research furniture in detail, using specialist suppliers such as TableLegsOnline.com.
Market your plan
There is a bewildering range of marketing options in the 21st century. You will want a combination of:-
Personal. Nothing is trusted better than a word-of-mouth recommendation. Without being ‘pushy,’ encourage your visitors to spread the word. Do what you can to link up with the person responsible for travel planning in their companies. Ask if you can quote favorable comments on your website or social media page.
Online. If your website is efficient and user-friendly, then it will convey that your service is the same. It is worth getting a good designer to keep at the front those things that your prospective business travelers are interested in: location, rooms, catering, communication, transport. Don’t neglect your presence on social media platforms, keeping it eye-catching, up-to-date, and accurate.
Co-operative. Work with other local businesses (car rental firms, restaurants, etc) to advertize each other’s services. A mutually beneficial arrangement can put you in contact with many potential clients. If one well-known company has used your hotel, ask if you can use their name in your own publicity—businesses can save valuable research time by looking for hotels used by well-respected and successful corporations.
A huge market
The business travel market is vast, hundred of billions of dollars every year. There is an insatiable demand for good hotels to cater for that market. With careful research and attention to your facilities, your hotel can have part of the proceeds.
Oliver Morgan has worked in the travel industry for years in various roles around the world. He loves his line of work and enjoys blogging about travel industry topics.