How Hoteliers Can Prepare Their Travelers for the Post-Covid Hotel Stay
The pandemic has changed the world in more ways than one. While we reluctantly accept where it has brought us, we must realize that there is work to be done – to cope, to thrive, and to flourish. Hotel accommodations around the world are doing their best to address the growing concerns and meet the requirements of health and safety. A comfortable hotel stay, amenities in plenty, or a wide breakfast spread may have been areas of interest for guests pre-pandemic, however, it’s no longer the same. The focus has shifted and the precautionary measures a hotel puts in place are now crucial to building trust and lasting relationships. This trust is what has now become the benchmark on the basis of which a hotel gains the status of being the preferred choice.
The buzz in the air is apparent. Travelers around the world are gearing up for their journeys after staying cooped up within their homes for months due to the restraints placed by the pandemic. Hence, this is the time and the opportunity for hotels to implement practices that can give their guests a sense of relief from travel-related worries. Here’s a list of things you can do, as a hotelier, to prepare your travelers for their first hotel stay.
Optimize Programs Through Guest Feedback
The only way to get it right, each time you try, is to do what pleases your guests. And the best way to know what they’d like is to lend an ear to them. Yes, listen attentively, it’s as simple as that. A PMS software like AxisRooms helps you read and respond to the reviews that your guests leave online. If your hotel was able to provide your guest with a favourable experience, you’ll know through those reviews and you can revel in their glory. You’ll also know if something went amiss and rectify issues as needed.
Similarly, when you prepare for the next travel season, ensure that you keep yourself abreast with the latest trends and opportunities. Industry experts can help you in identifying the risks and possibilities as travel returns to expected levels. Your business can adapt to the evolving market scenario by keeping in mind feedback from guests and insights from experts, so keep those pathways open.
Keep Your Guests Well Informed
Communicating with your guests or potential patrons has always been an important aspect of business with them. But the pandemic has brought in newer dimensions to that seemingly basic factor. Information is an asset, now, more than ever and your guests will thank you for acknowledging it. Spare them the disappointment of finding empty cloches at the breakfast cafe, because you stopped laying a spread to adhere to the pandemic protocol or a cordoned-off swimming pool before they packed that swimsuit for their hotel stay.
Utilize the digital mediums of communication your hotel must already be banking on, to share the necessary information about anything that your guests could benefit from – Covid-related safety protocols, guidelines to follow during the hotel stay, available sight-seeing venues around the hotel accommodation that may be open, etc. Well-designed hotel reservation systems come with the convenience of sending bulk emails to your guest database, making communication a tad bit simpler for busy business professionals like you. From booking, till the stay and even after, make your guests feel like you’re speaking to them every step of the way.
Give Your Guests the Right Nudge
While it is true that there is a sudden surge in travel, the fact that people still have several apprehensions is also something hoteliers cannot ignore. Your target audience might need a nudge before they take that final decision, and it would most certainly help if you support them during those moments of doubt.
While it is important for you to make your business presence felt across the web, through various booking channels like the OTAs and metasearch engines, in the post-pandemic market scene, it would bring you greater returns if you do the needful to attract your guests to your hotel’s own website for bookings. AxisRooms web booking engines can be integrated with your hotel’s website and they work as a great source to bring you direct bookings, without letting any revenue loss to commissions. Once users visit your website, excite and interest them with offers/promotional advantages which could well be the deciding factor in you bagging that opportunity. If your hotel has been successful in achieving any certifications, from government-run associations, for your efforts in maintaining the required standards of safety and security, showcase those on your website too. Leave no stone unturned in letting your guests know how invested you are in giving them the kind of experience they may be seeking from their long-awaited stay.
Conclusion:
Your guests would be looking up to you for reassurances as they set foot to explore new places, in a post-pandemic world. As a hotelier, this could mean a potent opportunity for you to establish the trust that is most important in this hour. We believe this article would have given you a good idea about how to approach and comfort your guests who would soon be staying with you.
This article was originally published on the partner site.