Hospitality business and specifically Hotel is one of the most lucrative areas to invest in and be guaranteed a steady cashflow. Why? because Tourism and Travel is a global business and multi-trillion dollar industry besides being everybody’s business. Destinations are increasingly positioning to attract more and more tourists into their countries because of the value the $$ adds on their economy.
However things don’t always turn out as they appear for most Hotel owners and Managers. Most entrepreneurs always assume that after the construction and furnishing of the hotel then guests will start flocking because of the beautiful furniture, beds and structures etc. This is not always the case.
This article however aims to reassure you that all HOPE is not lost. There are a couple of things you can change or do right and get those numbers into your premises.
For starters we share with you the 3 Signs or Indicators that your Hotel needs a Fresh Marketing Strategy. Hotel Managers or Owners need to pay attention this.
1. Persistent Low Room Occupancy Levels
Your Hotel guest rooms are meant to cash in the bulk of Revenue in your establishment. Unfortunately if your Room Occupancy levels are consistently below the 70% mark. You need to think twice because sooner or later this will affect your financial obligations and ambitions you had set forth from the beginning. Always remember, a hotel room that stays unoccupied for a night is regarded as an expired room.
2. Increase in the number of Complaints and Negative Reviews.
As hotel managers and owners, we are always in default mode to defend our businesses and quick to refer to a complaining customer as being too expectant and too demanding. Unfortunately this attitude, will eventually terribly hurt the business as an entity if it goes on unchecked.
Any customer complaint or negative review is mostly a result of mismatch between guest expectations and what the business actually offers. We live in a digital era and deal with a highly informed guest, therefore the impact of one negative review could easily deny you 10 potential visitors who read this review.
However inspite of the popular argument that no hotel can exist without a negative review, Hotel Managers and owners must act upon each review and further investigate the impact of this on the business and for the betterment of the hotel’s growth.
3. Rising number of Competitors and Newcomers in your neighbourhood.
As noted earlier, Hotel business is very lucrative and every entrepreneur is targeting a steady cashflow, so expect new entrants in your space all the time. However what’s of key importance to note here, is that every new competitor or entrant in the business comes to offer a substitute to your business. This is what we regard as a Business Threat.
What is even more interesting is that they come to fill a void that you have ignored or in otherwards they exploit existing complaints about your services that you have ignored overtime and perfect these areas as your next door competitor. Competition further eats into your existing market share and soon or later, your Occupancy levels will dip below the 20% mark and eventual collapse.
As a Hospitality and Hotel business Advisor, i believe that one of the ways to save your business and sustain growth is to refresh your marketing strategy. “Running a Hotel without an upto date strategy is like steering a ship without a compass for direction. A Marketing Strategy provides Clarity of Purpose and Means of attaining Excellence”.
Yes many Owners have always said, we have Marketing manager or Marketing executives. That’s good but the question is , What is their mirror? How do they determine the right target market? How is the effectiveness of their game plan? If room Occupancy is still low and guest complaints increasing? The usual remedy will be constant replacement of Managers due to poor performance but the underlying real problem is always lack of a Blue Print ( Marketing Strategy) to guide Management.
For Further engagement on formulating Hotel Marketing Strategies feel free to reach out to Eddy on +256 772 367972 or email consult@eddykirya.com
Cephas
March 14, 2024 at 4:37 pm70% occupancy!
admin
March 15, 2024 at 2:25 pmDear Director Cephas,
Yes 70!
I’m a firm believer in Settling for Excellence. The school of hard-knocks and perceived reality has crashed our entrepreneurial spirit and as business people we have been reduced to settle for “Break-Even”. The Break-even mentality curtails growth, limits expansion and eventually kills innovation within the management. The end result is a loss in self believe and embrace of mediocrity. This we both have to fight it head on. I the consultant and you the Hotel Owner.
Yes 70%! is ambitious but it’s the tone that has to be set at Top. Management will strive, innovate and score 60%. Ambitious targets are the best precursor to self-supervision for management.
I’m happy to delve further into this topic with you and the Ugandan Hotel Owners.
Thanks again for sparing a few minutes to read and provide feedback
Kind Regards
Eddy Kirya
MSc. Hospitality & Tourism Mgt ( MUK)
Former Board Member at the Uganda Tourism Board ( 2017 -2023)
CEO at Eyalama Adventures Ltd
Mob: +256 772 367972
Jenninah Akankunda
March 15, 2024 at 4:11 amThank s Eddy
admin
March 15, 2024 at 2:30 pmDear Jenninah,
Thank you for your feedback and reaching out.
Let’s get out of the comfort zone and stretch our limits
Kind regards
Eddy
Kobusingye Patience
March 15, 2024 at 2:08 pmThank you it’s like you were talking to me, thank you very much. I have always liked both positive and negative feedback may God bless you for sharing your knowledge!
admin
March 19, 2024 at 9:31 amDear Patience
Thank you for taking off time to study the article and seeking new knowledge.
Entrepreneurs should always be on the move and reinvent themselves as much as often required.
Let’s keep the conversations going . Stay blessed
Kind regards
Eddy
Apunyo john Robert( F&B MANAGER)
March 15, 2024 at 9:14 pmWho will last the longest?
The hotel industry today is renowned for chopping and changing it’s managers with bewildering regularity. Long gone are the days when being a hotelier was considered a stable job.
The role of managers has changed so much in recent years. It’s more business focused than in the past, and less about the hospitality side of management. Director of Sales cannot meet ridiculous sales target? Change a new one……. Your food and beverage promotions are not successful? Change the Executive Chef! The lonely bar at sad corner of the lobby cannot compete with the local pub next door? Change your Food and Beverage Manager!
So instead of focusing on your guests and employees, the owners today are only interested in the bottom line, which is actually understandable post Covid.
But perhaps due to prioritizing the bottom line, the days of giving managers enough time to prove their capabilities is long gone. There are hotels that gives their sales manager 3 months to prove themselves….3 months! Or HR managers who are changed when they don’t meet the manpower needs while that hotel still pays minimum wage without any extra benefit to differentiate themselves in the market.
It is sad because not many seems to remember how profitable we were when we had a stable long term management team.
admin
March 19, 2024 at 9:27 amHello John
Very insightful thoughts there. Let’s keep the conversations on-going. Those brighter days you point to , can still be restored and surpassed.
Kind regards
Eddy
Peter
March 16, 2024 at 5:55 amWell articulated.
admin
March 19, 2024 at 9:24 amHello Peter
Thank you for taking off time to read and seeking new knowledge always.
Keep on bro
Kind regards
Eddy