5 Tips to Become a Brand in Hospitality

Parsa Mazaheri
September 18, 2021

Suppose you already have a hotel business up and running. Even if you're generating enough revenue relatively, you always have space to grow further. In this stage, you are ultimately looking to expand your business past a point that you're more of a "Brand in Hospitality" rather than just a hospitality property. In this article, we've gathered tips and tricks from the hospitality industry experts to help you grow in the hotel business past the point of "being just a hospitality property."

Before we jump into it, please bear in mind that nowadays, we live in a world where technology is growing faster than ever. It may not seem very easy to keep up with the newest innovations. We'd always suggest to anyone to follow hospitality blogs to learn more about the latest technologies and trends. Especially as a business owner or a property owner, it's best to keep up!

Increase your Visibility:

It feels like we've been saying it times and times now. But it matters! Increase your visibility to get more travelers choosing you. Good deal. Nowadays, surprisingly, it feels like Digital Marketing for Hotels is untouched ground. It costs very little and earns you a lot! Good deal.

How to become a brand in hospitality, increase your visibility

Keep an Eye Out for Direct Booking Platforms:

Direct booking platforms are known to almost all travelers nowadays. Very few people make calls or physically go to the hotels to reserve a room. Direct booking platforms enable hotels and hostels to flexibly offer accommodations to travelers all over the world without being overlooked! Nowadays, it's much easier to increase your property's online visibility on booking websites. Keep in mind: the more accurate information you put on your property's account, the more likely travelers choose your place over the others.

Assuming you are already familiar with booking platforms such as booking.comhostelworld.com, and Airbnb.com. It's now time to choose between the platforms. Keep in mind, most of these booking engines vary in features and in solutions they offer. Also, Airbnb has a very strict ruleset for properties that are listed on its app. We suggest reading the terms and conditions notes and studying the booking engines before listing your property on them. For example, you can refer to this page for Airbnb regulations for hotels/hostels.

Focus on Your Reviews Online:

Whether you're looking at your reviews on Google Map or your reviews on HostelworldTripadvisorGoki, or whatever platform, what you want to see is a clean high rating. Ask your happy customers to leave you a lovely review or make your property irresistible. Get creative. No matter how you get better reviews, it is an essential tool to grow in the hotel business and become a hospitality brand.

Target the Right Audience:

Ask yourself this, who are the people that stay at your property? What is a common trait between your guests? Have you ever thought about it? Business experts believe you can't find success when you're looking to provide services to everyone alike. Ultimately, you will find yourself choosing a distinguished group of people to be your primary audience. This is where you put the first brick.

Suppose you chose to create an environment for millennials strictly. Now you'll need to study millennials' behaviors. There are thousands of articles and studies out there on the internet you can refer to. And we assure you, everyone is right! Because there can't be one single answer to the question "how do millennials travel" in this case.

To make your hospitality brand viable to your target audience, you will need to provide solutions for the problems. Settle down and make a list of issues and concerns an average traveler may face on their trips. Then try your best to provide a solution for the problem. Keep in mind, even the way you greet your customers is tricky! Last, try to implement the fix on your property! For example: if millennials are looking for flexible prices and full-refund cancellations, think of ways to implement these two options in your property, and then you win the travelers' hearts. Then in no time, you will be a well-known hospitality brand among your target audience.

Target the right audience to rise in business

Streamline Your Solutions On-par With Technology

I've seen many people reluctant to surrender to technological changes in my years of work experience in the travel & hospitality industry. And especially in a world where technology upgrades day-to-day, the whole concept of being up to date at any given point in time becomes somewhat mandatory. We believe most old-school managers deny technology because they either refuse to learn new ideas or are simply more comfortable with their ways.

To resolve this issue with the managers and business owners, some companies provide onboarding and customer success solutions, which -to some degree- ensures everyone is on the same level technologically speaking!

Now, as to why being on par with the latest technological advancements is mandatory: your guests are looking for one thing only, which would be convenience. Countless companies - like us! - are actively trying their best to provide the best solutions for your business issues. As you are reading this article now, your job as a business owner, a hotelier, and a manager is to accept these changes with open arms. The whole concept of being on par with the latest technologies is one of the easiest ways to improve your business as a hospitality brand.

Bonus: Be the First!

In the history of business, many businesses and companies have succeeded for the sole reason of being the first to do something brand-new. Take the COVID hit, for example. We've all been there; many of us went out of business just because we couldn't find solutions to deal with the COVID outbreak financial hit. Many others, however, rose above the occasion and became the first - the frontiers - of the hospitality industry. We witnessed lots of people being very creative with the whole situation. For instance, some provided extra health and hygiene solutions to attract more travelers. These were the fortunate businesses that thrived during the COVID outbreak. 

The point here is: there's always a problem and an issue that misses a well-thought-out solution. If you're the first to provide an answer to an unanswered question, you will also be the one who becomes a brand in the hospitality industry.

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Parsa Mazaheri
Marketing/CS Specialist