Hoteliers Embrace Social Media for New Marketing Opportunities

Hoteliers Market on Social Media
Hoteliers Market on Social Media

Technology can change people’s habits, leading to changes across an entire industry. In 2015, mobile search volume surpassed desktop search. In 2016, social media advertising spending outpaced TV ad spending for the first time.

The hotel industry stands in position to embrace social media as an exciting—and in fact, necessary—means of marketing. Especially to the younger generations.

For the hotel and hospitality industry, social media marketing is especially important because it lends itself toward converting sales immediately online.

Jimmy Quach of HVS Vancouver explains some tips for hotels using social media:

• Produce quality content about experiences, food and drink, destinations

• Encourage the use of branded or event-specific hashtags, which make it easier to track engagement

• Spend on influencer marketing to get your hashtags and links in front of specific demographics

• Use social media as a customer service tool

• Combine with new mobile wallet and online payment tools for seamless bookings

Embracing Technology to Grow a Hotel Business

When used smartly, technology can help your hotel deliver a better experience to a growing customer base. Social media and mobile engagement make it easy for guests to find and book. Technology, like our powered hospitality industry carts, can also improve the guest experience.

DJ Products has a lineup of motorized equipment for housekeeping carts, supply carts, waste bin hoppers, and more. Powered hospitality industry carts let your staff work more efficiently, which improves guest comfort, reduces customer service response times, and even prevents worker injuries to keep your best staff on the clock.

Contact DJ Products today for more info about powered hospitality industry carts such as our CartCaddyLite electric cart pusher.

Legendary Hotelier Considers Airbnb a Huge Threat to the Industry

Hospitality Becoming Less About the Money, More About The Experience
Hospitality Becoming Less About the Money, More About The Experience

In less than 10 years, Airbnb has grown to include more than 3,000,000 listings serving 150,000,000 customers. An iconic figure in the hospitality industry who introduced boutique hotels to the world is unveiling a new concept designed to fight back at the upstart service.

Hotels as Social Hubs

Ian Schrager, co-founder of legendary 70s nightclub Studio 54, went on to create Morgans, the first boutique hotel, which opened in Manhattan in 1984. Schrager’s new hotel, Public, located in New York’s Bowery district, offers a style of no-frills elegance referred to as “tough luxe.”

In a recent interview, Schrager stated that he feels the hotel industry is “in denial” about Airbnb, just as the sector originally dismissed online travel agencies such as Expedia and Travelocity. Public is designed to provide upscale lodging with a social atmosphere that’s missing from the Airbnb experience.

Enhancing the Social Experience of Travel

The rooms at Public are stark but sophisticated, and amenities such as bellmen and room service have been eliminated. In keeping with the emphasis on the social aspect of travel, the hotel features two restaurants, two interior bars and a rooftop terrace, and a performance space to accommodate film screenings, theater performances, readings, and art exhibits.

Schrager explained that the concept of luxury has become more about the experience than the cost. This idea led him to forgo unnecessary glitz in favor of ramping up the communal and entertainment features.

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Hotel Overbuilding Softens Several Metro Markets

With Hotel Overbuilding, You Can Cut Back on Costs with Our Products.
With Hotel Overbuilding, You Can Cut Back on Costs with Our Products.

More travelers, but even more empty rooms. That’s the dilemma facing many hotels around the country, even in some of the hottest markets. People are staying more nights than ever before, yet all the hotel overbuilding of recent years and today has flooded the market.

In typically slow markets like Oklahoma, overbuilding has brought overall occupancy and revenue per room down significantly. Meanwhile, in hotbeds like Austin, Nashville, and Miami, new hotel construction has managed to outpace these cities’ robust demand.

National Real Estate Investor examined the issue and estimates a record 1.2 billion guest nights in 2017 against 1.8 billion available rooms.

Effects of Hotel Overbuilding

Developers have targeted specific metro areas more than others. In the perennially healthy New York market, new construction has been largely matched by demand. Consumers get some relief on price and availability, while hoteliers in the Big Apple continue to see strong occupancy.

However, in many hot tourist markets like Miami and in convention-friendly hubs like Austin and Nashville, the overbuilt, saturated market spells lower revenue per room for the foreseeable future.

Elsewhere, hotels have overbuilt in remote areas like Wyoming due to temporary demand related to drilling and fracking. Such areas may be drowning in surplus demand for years.

Facing the 2017 Hotel Market Outlook

Hoteliers fighting against surplus rooms in their market can look to control costs elsewhere. Our hospitality industry powered carts are a form of automation that accelerates housekeeping while reducing worker injury claims and boosting productivity.

To keep expenses down and improve guest satisfaction in a competitive market, consider hospitality industry powered carts for housekeeping and maintenance staff.