Marketing trends in the hotel industry

As the years go by, technology plays an increasingly important role in our daily lives. Today, it’s almost impossible to do without it!

The hotel industry is no exception!

By enhancing your services through the various options offered by new technologies, your establishment will be able to elevate its services, and therefore the experience offered to its clientele.

Of course, when you think of new technologies, you think of artificial intelligence!

Artificial intelligence marked the year 2023 and is becoming increasingly important.

In practically every strategy, it accompanies users on a daily basis.

Take chatbots, for example, powered by AI.

Very popular, they can assist travelers in real time, and answer the majority of their questions without having direct contact with hotel staff.

For employees, these technological advances are particularly useful in everything from team management and organization to online reservations and operational budget management.

Today, all kinds of software are available, with a wide range of functions to make life easier for travelers, but especially for hotel staff.

Whether it’s HR, management, marketing, management, PMS or accounting software, they’ve completely revolutionized the hotel world.

In a sector as competitive as the hotel industry, it’s essential to stand out from the crowd and arouse the envy of travelers.

The aim is to prove that your establishment meets their expectations, and to ensure that it becomes the benchmark establishment in the region.

Having an online presence is therefore an essential part of your customer acquisition strategy.

Social media such as Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn or even your website are excellent ways of creating attractive, engaging content to acquire new customers and generate traffic.

The aim is to gain a strong reputation and thus attract new customers and then build loyalty.

Social networks are a real goldmine, because in just one video, the visibility of an establishment can be totally transformed.

There are two possible solutions:

Today, customer-generated content is a major part of any establishment’s communications strategy.

The reason is quite simple: when someone outside the establishment creates content for your hotel, it’s easier for potential new customers to identify with, gain confidence and project themselves, and it’s free!

So offering “Instagrammable” activities or environments works every time!

On your website, if you want to stand out from the crowd, virtual tours are very popular and add a whole new dimension to your offer.

They give travelers the opportunity to project themselves into the future, and ensure that what they book is in line with their expectations.

Today’s travelers are looking for an extraordinary experience that takes them out of their everyday lives.

Personalized experiences are therefore at the heart of hotels’ strategies for building strong customer relationships.

Customers don’t want to be just another room number, but a person in their own right, whose preferences are taken into account and who feels valued.

So it all starts with the most important step: the welcome.

From the moment they set foot in the hotel, guests need to feel valued.

Storing data on your customers, especially the most loyal ones, will help build relationships and keep them coming back for more, by offering them services based on their preferences.

This data can include:

Offering personalized assistance to help guests plan, book and find the best options for their excursions is also an excellent way of providing extra attention.

For example, if travelers want to spend a day visiting an island by boat, the hotel can offer alternative, lower prices thanks to its partnerships with local activities.

Gathering feedback through regular satisfaction questionnaires is also a tried-and-tested method.

The hotel can then adapt its services according to customer feedback and anticipate future requests and needs.

Another current trend is well-being.

Being pampered all day long and disconnecting from reality can be a very important criterion for some travelers.

Particularly during stressful periods, these moments of calm and relaxation are eagerly awaited and deserve to be as relaxing as possible.

Spa and wellness centers have therefore been very much in vogue in recent years, and are very often included in prestigious establishments.

Awareness of healthy eating and ethical convictions has also grown enormously in recent years.

By offering alternative formulas to the “classic” ones, your establishment is sure to attract a wider clientele.

Take this example: if a restaurant offers alternative menus for people with special dietary requirements (gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, halal, kosher…), it will be able to reach a wider clientele, while showing that the restaurant is open and concerned about the particularities of these customers.

For the majority of holidaymakers, a change of scenery is a major criterion in their choice of accommodation.

Many hotels therefore focus their positioning on local culture.

Both decoration and cuisine play a key role in this strategy.

By fully immersing themselves in the culture of the country or region, travelers completely disconnect from their everyday lives and return from their vacations with unforgettable memories.

Partnering with local tourist offices or organizations is an excellent way to :

Flexible reservations are becoming increasingly popular with travelers.

This assurance enables them to create a bond of trust with their customers, and thus to retain new clients.

The variable stay option is also very much in vogue. It allows travelers to tailor their trips to suit their desires.

Whether it’s for a few hours or several months, they can organize their stay as they wish.

Modular rooms in particular are an excellent way of anticipating peak periods, since all that’s required is to adapt their layout according to customer profiles and requests.

In the same spirit of anticipation, providing fully-equipped workspaces, whether integrated into rooms or in seminar or conference rooms, offers a degree of flexibility that will be greatly appreciated by guests.

If your establishment doesn’t have a particular target customer, you could offer different types of services adapted to all:

In 2024, every detail is carefully thought out to create a unique experience.

Immersion and personalization are at the heart of our strategies to offer travelers moments out of the ordinary.

Technology, meanwhile, dominates the sector and greatly assists hotel professionals in managing their daily tasks.

What about you? Have you observed any particular trends that you’d like to realize?