Hoteliers, It's Your Time to Shine During This Year's Olympics

Major events like the Olympics can supercharge demand for travel. Take an example from earlier this year, in cities where the solar eclipse was visible, we saw hotel occupancy rates in the US increase by an average of 196%.

Getting more heads in beds drives revenue and opportunities to win returning guests, so for hoteliers, it’s paramount to be primed and ready to capitalize on demand when unique events occur. By leveraging comprehensive business intelligence insight, marketing strategies, and existing customer relationships, these peaks in demand can deliver significant returns during and beyond the busy season.

Looking ahead to the Olympics, hotels in Paris are almost full but opportunities remain in other French host cities to still capture last minute bookings. To do this effectively, here are some best practices for reaching your desired audience, personalizing your message to capture their business, and delivering a memorable stay.

At the starting blocks, courting guests pre-stay

During the pre-event buzz, ensure your marketing campaigns are not lost in the noise by leveraging an omnichannel approach to target both travel sellers and travellers themselves.

Increase your visibility amongst travel sellers who can connect you to a wider audience.

Targeted global distribution system (GDS) advertisements can boost the visibility of your property and highlight how attractive your offering is. For instance, you could use ads to show off your proximity to the Olympic arenas or international transport hubs. To optimize your outreach, use forward-looking business intelligence data to understand performance and booking trends in your local market and influence the right travel sellers at the right time.

Convert interested travelers with localized or event-driven promotions.

Outperform your competitive set by winning new guests with specialized incentives. When targeting travellers directly, ensure your website is updated with the latest promotions. Exclusive, time-sensitive offers can entice potential guests to make a booking. For example, ‘All Olympic attendees can save an automatic 10% on their stay when booking direct and enjoy access to daily shuttle services to and from events’. To enhance how salient these offers are and to drive bookings, consult your business intelligence data to understand the local market and position yourself accordingly.  

Deepen relationships with previous guests through special offers and relevant communications.

Contact previous guests to inform them about what’s happening at your property. Whether you’re hosting daily Olympics viewing parties, launching themed food and drink menus, or offering swimming lessons at the onsite pool so guests can feel like the pros, make sure travelers know about it. This highlights your differentiated offer and encourages them to join the fun. Technology such as guest management systems can automate the entire process, contacting them via email with a special offer based on what will appeal to them. Remember, guests that feel valued are more likely to return.

Go the extra mile with the onsite experience

Create personalized packages that can be easily upsold to promote loyalty and increase the lifetime value of the guest.

Guests want personalized experiences that make them feel connected to their destination and what’s going on. For the savvy hotelier, this trend also offers a great opportunity to upsell packages and increase the return on spend per guest while deepening the enjoyment of their stay.

Personalized, event-driven promotions can be as simple as rebranding existing promotions and add-ons. For instance, rename tiered food and beverage packages or room levels to Gold, Silver, and Bronze – or invite your guests to celebrate their team with drinks in their room upon arrival. Another example for hoteliers looking to go the extra mile could be offering guided tours of local Olympic sites and attractions. Importantly, these tours can also foster a deeper connection with the local area, which increases the likelihood of guests returning beyond the event.

Maintain the momentum and win loyal, returning guests

Post-stay: Build relationships by offering incentives to return or informing guests about similar events in the future.

Keep the momentum going on your guest’s recent stay and use online, email, or social media marketing to ensure memorability. This can be as simple as automatically emailing guests to say, ‘I hope you enjoyed your Olympic experience! To see what else Paris has to offer, come back and enjoy 20% off your next stay!’ Or, to play on their recent trip more closely, you can contact them with information about upcoming sports events that may interest them.

For hoteliers busy with day-to-day operations, gathering and centralizing guest profiles needn’t be resource-intensive or time-consuming. Guest management systems can do the heavy lifting, capturing the relevant information and supporting outreach so that you, the hotelier, can enjoy the returns of loyal customers.  

Across the world, we’re seeing a trend of tourism being driven by special events like music tours, sports and natural phenomena. While these windows of interest may seem fleeting and unpredictable, capitalizing on them when they happen is a key revenue generator for hoteliers. Using incentives to maximize bookings, upselling unique experiences, and leveraging post-stay marketing to deepen customer relationships are great ways to maximize interest in your property during and after special events.