7 lethal mistakes every Hotel owner/managers should avoid

The hospitality industry has come a long way down to a point that it has become one of the largest industry around the world.

In 2017, the total contribution of tourism in the world economy was 8.27 trillion USD, and 1323 million international travelers made visits worldwide.

Earlier hotels targeted to provide home-like comfort to the guests but today the what hotels offer, rarely anyone’s home can match it.

Some of the hotels have even become the center of attraction. People visit a place just to stay in such hotels.

Ergo, the industry has become very competitive. Even a single mistake can knock you out of the game.

So let us try to discuss some of the mistakes a hotelier do which harms the business.

1. Not maintaining a proper website

Okay, nowadays each and every hotel has a website. But many times we do not invest the required time and effort as it should be invested.

The industry has shifted from maximum walk-in bookings to maximum online booking.

So if you don’t have an engaging website with a clear call to action then you are losing bookings and hurting your business.

On your website feature beautiful pictures of your hotel. Also, make sure that you are giving a simple booking process to your clients.

2. Week SEO strategy

To get bookings from your website you need traffic on your website. And for traffic on your website, you need a proper SEO strategy.

The Internet is a global connection and search engines help users to discover several websites that are relevant to their queries. So by following some SEO techniques, you can improve your hotel website’s reach in the online world.

Some of the primary things to keep a check on are:

Title Tag and Description

The title tag and description are very important as they are the face of your website in the SERPs. If your title and description are not lucrative enough then people will not visit your website even if you got ranked somehow.

Images

Sometimes we make mistakes and take images lightly. A website is ranked on the basis of the content it has and Images are the important part of the content.

So get your property clicked by a professional photographer and include those images on your website.

Keyword

As per Moz

Keywords are ideas and topics that define what your content is about. In terms of SEO, they’re the words and phrases that searchers enter into search engines, also called “search queries.”

But one thing you should be beware of is that you should refrain yourself from keyword stuffing. The optimum keyword density is 2 to 3%.

3. Low-Quality and Duplicate Content

Content is the primary reason you will be ranked by a search engine. If you do not have a quality content you will not be ranked and ultimately your website traffic will suffer.

We always say ” Content is king” but how many of us take it seriously.

So always invest in your content’s quality and quantity. As a low quantity of content will also make it difficult for the search engine crawlers to get your message clear.

You can also use User Generated Content to have a great content on your website.

4. Improper Inventory Distribution

Improper inventory distribution leads to hotel over-booking, under-booking, and double booking. Now, this can be very harmful to your business.

Imagine you got a double booking for one of your room and both the guests show up at your hotel. You will have to turn one of them down.

This is detrimental for your hotel reputation.

So make use of technology and ensure that you have done your inventory distribution right.

5. Over-allotment to OTAs

At the starting, the commission of OTAs was approx 5% and their share in the total number of bookings was also less.

But with time, the commission has now reached 10-20% and their share in the number of bookings has also taken a gargantuan value.

Now, this makes your revenue suffer.

So try to get maximum bookings from your hotel booking website. Work on your direct booking programmes and allow minimum inventory to OTAs.

6. Ignorance of Dynamic Hotel Pricing

Always alter your pricing with your occupancy. Both in high demands and low demands, the static pricing is harmful.

When you have low demand and occupancy level is low then decrease your room rates to increase the number of guests you have.

And when you are facing high demands, hike up your rates to earn as much as possible.

 

7. Policyless functioning

Rules and policies are the most important aspect of any business no matter it is small or big. Without policies there is no definition of your services and guests can ask for anything.

Not only guests but your employees will also take your advantage.

Proper rules and policies will abide them and bring uniformity to your business.

Conclusion

We all make mistakes and that is why we are humans. But committing a mistake twice is a sin. Be keen in searching your mistakes and improving them. This will make your hotel business grow with an exponential growth.

This was my take to discuss some of the mistakes we commonly commit as a hotel owner or manager. I know that I was not able to cover them all.

So I invite you to share some of the mistakes hoteliers do that affect the business.

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