Many of you tell me – “my packages just don’t sell so I am not going to put anything on this year”.
Let me assure you – you don’t want to miss these opportunities to sell!
You need to think of your hotel as a bottle of ketchup.
When you go to the supermarket and look for a bottle of ketchup in the condiments section, you have all different options…..Heinz, Hunt’s, the store brand ketchup, the generic brand ketchup, ketchup with pickle relish blended in….yada, yada, yada. You may know exactly what bottle you are going to buy from experience. But what if you don’t know what you want to buy? What if you have never had ketchup?
We need to think about selling our hotels in this frame of mind.
How many of our hotels blend in to the sea of other hotels with the same services, amenities, and offerings? All of us! So, if your hotel is not on ALL of the supermarket shelves, such as your brand website, third party websites, discount websites, partner websites, etc., then you might miss the one customer who wants to buy your kind of hotel!
Offering packages, deals, specials and promotions gives you an array of shelves to sell your hotel. Every hotel in our portfolio needs to have at least 3 LOCAL offerings on their website. National brand promotions are great – but every other hotel with the same brand as you offers these same packages. While national advertising and promotions are wonderful and may get a customer to your site, local promotions and packages give you an opportunity to reach a specific customer and interject your property identity and flavor.
Here are some package ideas for your hotels that hopefully will get you to think about what might work in your market:
- Day at the Beach – If your hotel is located near a beach or swimming area – offer a weekend beach package. You can pair your hotel room, breakfast with purchasable items such as buckets and shovels, beach balls, beach towels, etc., or you can just offer a “convenient location near XYZ Beach”.
- Hike/Bike – If your hotel is located near hiking or biking trails – offer an overnight stay package. You can pair your hotel room, breakfast with items such as trail maps, water bottles, and energizing snacks such as trail mix.
- Picnic Basket – If your hotel has food and beverage facilities, why not offer a picnic package. Package a lunch for 4 with your hotel room and box it up so that the customer can just grab and go with their lunch.
- More Heads Than Beds Package – Holiday are the perfect time to offer room packages. Market it to the local community and your corporate clients around the typical holidays when family may be visiting.
- Romance/Honeymoon/Wedding/Anniversary/Valentine Packages – Rooms plus romantic offerings such as chocolates and flowers.
- Sports Packages – Is your property located near a sporting venue? Package a room and event. You don’t have to purchase tickets! You just need to put together an attractive offer for these potential customers. Piggy back on tailgating.
- Partner with an attraction.
- Partner with a company.
- Partner with an event or festival.
What is your package idea?
Happy packaging!
Linda