What do hotel marketers want for Christmas? The answers might surprise you! — Source: Tambourine

What do hotel marketers want for Christmas?

Before we break for the holidays, we asked our staff, client GMs, revenue managers, hotel owners and partners to tell us what's at the top of their professional holiday wish list.

The answers might surprise you!

- A sympathetic ear: Many of the hotel marketers we surveyed asked for something very simple and poignant: they asked to be heard. Too often, decisions are made by owners or more senior execs without asking the opinion of the sales and marketing team actually responsible for revenue goals. The most common complaint? Budget mandates being passed down with no say in the resources required to achieve the budget

- More corporate accounts: Even though they get significantly discounted rates, businesses that send a steady flow of travelers are deeply desirable to hotel marketers. Their contracts and year-round arrivals form a healthy baseline for many of the folks who responded to our holiday wish list question.

- Lower OTA fees: We may solve world peace and find a cure to cancer before most hotel marketers find a way to significantly reduce their OTA commissions, but this item is a clear indication of the frustration hotel leaders have with their ongoing inability to shift share from OTAs to direct revenue.

- A #1 TripAdvisor ranking: Unfortunately, Santa's little elves' can only conjure up one of these for every market!

- Less fraud on TripAdvisor: Scoundrels who surreptitiously post false reviews on their comp set's page is dirty business, but apparently still all too common based on our survey results. TripAdvisor claims they are doing everything they can to resolve the issue

- Automated revenue management software: Most properties we spoke to have various degrees of manual labor involved in their rate setting and distribution activity. Quite a few told us they would love a more intelligent solution that truly automated competitive analysis, rate updates and dynamic distribution across all channels.

- A simpler data dashboard: So many sources of data… so little time to analyze it all! A number of hotel marketers would be happy campers if they woke up on Christmas morning with a simple, plug-and-play dashboard with all their KPIs in one safe place.

- Better F&B: The desire for branded, upgraded F&B outlets was a common request in our informal survey. The explosive growth of "foodie" travelers and consumer demand for healthier food is surely driving this…

- Economic prosperity: Things are looking up for global economies… and hotel marketers hope it stays that way! Bullish consumers and prosperous businesses take more trips and owners feel confident in reinvesting in property and product improvements.

- Lower airfares: The cost of airfare is an intrinsic part of any hotel/vacation product. High airfares, reduced capacity, new taxes or municipal landing fees can wreak havoc on your P&L, especially if you are a resort far from your top feeder markets.

Tell us what's on your holiday wish list and we'll send you our favorite Egg Nog recipe (think 151 Rum)!

Happy Holidays!

About Tambourine

Tambourine continues to shake up the hospitality industry with custom-integrated marketing solutions for hotels, resorts, and destinations worldwide. The company's emergence as the market leader for both branded and independent hotels is a testament to its core values: putting customer service center stage, setting the standards for hotel website design, and making performance digital marketing easier and more profitable for its valued partners.

Dave Spector
Partner: Tambourine Hotel Marketing
954-975-2220
Tambourine

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