Tourism is the most promising industry right now, it is not going down in any recent times. From 2006 to 2017 the total contribution of tourism in the global economy raised from 6.03 trillion USD to 8.27 trillion USD.
People can travel anywhere anytime hence creating plenty of opportunities for the hoteliers.
So if you want the international tourists to stay at your hotel then you have to present your hotel as a viable option at a global platform.
Attracting international guests is not an easy task as because they do there travel research differently.
So here are some tips to attract international guests to your hotel.
A foreigner tourist in your country can be from any part of the world and they can speak any language. So you have to comply with the fact that you desire clients from different parts of the world. And if you do not have the multi-language ability then you are compromising your chances of attracting foreigner guest.
This effort starts with your website as your website will be the first thing which will interact with your potential guests.
So, whenever anyone around the globe starts their travel research on the internet, present yourself as the best option in their language.
The next step is to hire staff with a diverse range of lingual knowledge.
Of course, you cannot cover all the languages out there but you can try to cover as much as you can. Try to read the pattern, observe the highest required language that your staff should know then take the action accordingly.
If you have a good brand name then you get the upper edge on your competitors.
The first and most important benefit of having a brand value people recognize you. When they are presented different option to choose from they select you because of the trust in the brand.
The second benefit is that you get the loyalty of the customers. Your ex-customer not only come back to you but they promote your hotel also. A loyal customer is the cheapest source of promotion.
But building a brand is one of the toughest tasks to do. You have to gain the trust of your customers and never fail them.
Loyalty programmes are also very effective when you are on a mission of brand building.
Digital Marketing is the marketing of products using digital channels.
Efforts like search engine optimization, social media marketing, email marketing, and content marketing are termed as digital marketing.
Most of all, the purpose of digital marketing is to target a mass audience.
You have to create awareness for your hotel all over the world and digital marketing provides many ways to do that.
According to the Content Marketing Institute
Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.
There is no set pattern to write an engaging content but ‘The 80/20Rule’ should always be a big part of your social media strategy. It means just 20% of your content should promote your brand and 80% of the content should gain
the interest of your audience and engage them in conversations.
In the tourism industry, videos and
infographics are the interactive content type to get noticed and engage the users.
Search Engine Optimization is one of the most important things to get traffic to your website. SEO decides the rank of your website in the search result page of a search engine. And it is quite simple to understand that higher the rank the higher the traffic you get on your website. you can improve SEO by using correct keywords and backlinks.
Email marketing is sending a commercial email to a person or a group of people. It allows hoteliers to send offers to their potential customers so that the guest can arrive at the right time. Email Marketing can be very effective as it makes the customers feel special and the business cares about them.
Emails are also effective in keeping the customer updated. Businesses send emails about every single update regarding bookings, bills and thank you notes.
If you want to attract International Guests to your hotel to your hotel then you have to take the full advantage of your hotel reservation system.
All your digital marketing efforts will become obsolete if you do not convert the visitors of your website.
So integrate your website with a powerful hotel reservation system and booking engine like QloApps.
Here the aim is to provide the visitors to your website an interface which motivates them to make a booking.
If you expect guests around the world then it is obvious that you have to provide world-class facilities and amenities to your guests.
It is true that travelers like to experience the local culture of the place they are visiting but it is the duty of the host to them feel at home.
Different countries have a different culture and people and hence the daily like preferences are also different. A typical American will like a cup of coffee in the breakfast but an Indian will generally prefer Tea.
Okay, there is no hard and fast rule for that but you have to be there with both options and let the guest choose.
Normally a guest expectation from the hotel is a serene shelter, good food and comfortable nights. But when they get something out of the normal then they become extravagant. And this is why Boutique Hotels are getting so much success.
Create something unique about your hotel, it can be an amenity, some special dish or the theme of your hotel.
This will create excitement in your guests and they will visit your location just to stay at your hotel.
Although the most preferable channel of bookings for a hotel is through a booking engine. But we also have to agree on the fact that maximum bookings are channeled through OTAs.
Ergo, list your hotel on online travel agencies with an effective OTA strategy. Hand pick the OTAs carefully which you think your target customer visits the most.
Also, invest in channel manager and connect it with your booking engine so that your inventories and rates stay updated on all the channels.
Okay, this was my attempt to discuss some tips to attract international guests to a hotel. Do tell me how you feel about it and if you have any suggestion to make them you are most welcome.
Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.
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