Category Archives for Hotels.
I may be playing Captain Obvious here but forward bookings for domestic leisure travel destinations are picking up steam (for a very low base). While one of the easiest places to cut in a pandemic-driven recession is marketing, it’s also one of the places a brand needs to spend to goose business precisely when facing challenging business conditions.
Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis Hawaii has mixed a legitimate desire to keep cases out of the islands and prevent spread with a fear and even hatred of outsiders.
Now there’s a move to keep tourists segregated in resort areas and keep them out of Hawaiian neighborhoods that want to keep those neighborhoods only for locals. This is also protectionism for hotel owners.
IHG appears to have rolled out fully dynamic pricing for awards. While that means some hotel redemptions for a very low number of points now, long term this is a terrible thing for members. Don’t believe others who call dynamic pricing an ‘amazing deal’.
What Represenative Posey wants to do is require the federal government to overpay for lodging – not to reduce allowable hotel rates – even though market rates may be falling. The federal government spends billions on travel, and the hotel lobby shop AHLA thinks this will “allow hotels to be fairly compensated for the services they provide.”
In reality it’s a backdoor subsidyto hotel chains and owners. Although it wouldn’t work the way the hotel industry thinks.
Expect hotels to look at ways to cut costs anywhere they can and to use coronavirus as an excuse. Even better when changing consumer preferences make it easier to impose cost savings. Several chains already say they’re trying to make their increase investments in cleaning cost-neutral.
Some hotels are realizing that requiring COVID-19 tests can be a marketing tool. Just as seeing everyone else wear face masks on a plane makes many other passengers feel more at ease about their situation.
Right now it’s difficult to feel safe going out into the world. There’s a lot of fear, even beyond what’s warranted by the uncertain conditions of the world. So how can a resort convince you it’s safe to stay? By telling you everyone else there has been tested.
Business Insider suggests that Airbnb’s are safer in the current climate than hotels, because there are fewer people occupying any given Airbnb than occupy a hotel. I’m not so sure that’s the right answer.
A 35 year old married couple is suing the DoubleTree Denver Stapleton North because they believe they were spied on while having sex inside the room.
The wife says whomever was looking in might have captured “intimate moments” or naked time at the oh so sexy DoubleTree Stapleton.
This is a horrible idea, that undermines trust in the brand completely. It’s trust in the brand that drives value for Hyatt Hotels Corporation. They really risk undermining their business.
If a surcharge is needed to cover the cost of making a hotel safe from SARS-CoV-2, then it’s not part of a hotel’s basic practices. the room rate doesn’t buy a safe stay. That communication is downright scary. And hiding the ball on price is untrustworthy and what’s needed to bring travelers back more than ever is trust.
Hotels can and should adjust pricing to generate the most revenue they can. That’s called the room rate, and hotels publish numerous different rates every day and vary their rates as needed. They can also incentivize use of on-property facilities, or raise and lower prices at those.
The worst approach would be for hotels to act in a deceptive manner, and undermine trust, when they’re struggling to fill even 40% of rooms and need that trust to get customers to travel let alone choose them for that travel. And raising pricing when occupancy is low, in the middle of a severe recession, seems like the height of stupidity.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
