Max Starkov
Associate Professor at NYU Tisch Center for Hospitality and Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant
In the post-pandemic world, I see three major initiatives to generate revenue for the use of hotel space:
1. Create co-working spaces: Similar to the KettleSpace Flexible Workspaces of the Roger Smith Hotel, create work-from-hotel spaces for outsiders, digital nomads and local entrepreneurs who do not want to be tied to office rents. Create daily, weekly, and monthly packages and promotions for the room and office, including WiFi, coffee, bottled water, snacks, and lunch.
2. Take advantage of unused meeting / event space: As the group’s and netting markets are growing more slowly than leisure travel, take advantage of unused event space to host yoga classes, wellness programs, cooking classes, new book readings, and authoring events. Neighborhood craft exhibitions, etc.
3. Create an Airbnb product to compete with short term renters. Vacation rentals now make up almost a third of bookings for accommodations in your area. In 2020, Airbnb and Vrbo accounted for 29% of total lodging revenue in the US and elsewhere. Add to this the reservation of holiday apartments via Booking’s global portfolio with over 6 million properties and … you will get a picture. Start by closely monitoring Airbnb, Vrbo, and other vacation rentals in your market. Research and identify the rental properties in your area and their typical amenities and features. Identify your property’s value proposition and make a list of all the amenities, services, and attributes of your property that you think are better than the average vacation rental in your area. Then review and update property descriptions on the hotel website, social media profiles, CRS and WBE descriptions, directory listings, GMB and promotional materials.
Let your staff know about the main advantages of your property over the vacation rentals in the area: from a better location to no cleaning fees to better cleanliness protocols and really high-speed WiFi and free breakfast.
Introduce weekly and monthly rates for rooms and suites. Promote your adjoining rooms and suites with kitchenettes. How many hotels offer long-stay tariffs that are preferred by travel customers in the current environment? A weekly rate is NOT a daily rate multiplied by seven. A monthly rate is NOT an additional rate multiplied by 30! Make sure your CRS, WBE (Website Booking Engine), and Channel Manager can support weekly and monthly rates and fire them when that is not possible.
