Are you in the Hospitality sector. Scenarios
There are a number of low cost hotels in our area and we are finding it hard to compete. What can be done?
In the last number of years due to the abundance of hotels and guest houses in the market and with the impact of NAMA run hotels driving down prices to fulfil their remit of keep the doors open, we have reached a situation where prices have bottomed out for many operators. For many any further pressure on prices will mean offering room rate as lost leaders to get people into their premises. As the industry continues to sort itself out and as state owned hotels revert back to privately run business the situation should improve and an emphasis on value for money will return over the lowest market prices.
Our occupancy rates are starting to increase again and we see some growth returning to the sector. What areas do you think we should target for further growth?
There has and will continue to be a divide in hotel occupancy between the popular tourist areas and the rural local hotels. Depending on where you are in the country you will need to adopt more of a "pull approach" to your hotels marketing activities to ensure that potential customers are reaching your shores. Specific areas that you can promote your hotel around include growth areas like: weddings, cultural tourism, festivals and events, food tourism, eco tourism, adventure tourism, short breaks, sports tourism, leisure pursuits, spa and wellness breaks, english language learning, developing markets (China), e tourism, business/corporate activity and the retirees market. Pick the targets that your hotel can cater the best for and be aggressive. Don't wait for your ship to come in, swim out to meet it!
In your experience what hotel tips would you give for being the best they can be at their job?
In our experience there are a number of areas a hotel owner or manager must be competent at in order to run a successful business. These include:
• Building & Leading a great team
• Always be prepared to learn and improve
• Greet your guests in person wherever possible
• Be prepared for emergencies and learn to problem solve
• Build strategic relations with other industry companies
• Be good at Internet Marketing
• Ensure the hotel is properly equipped and to modern standards
• Set standards for all staff to follow
• Accept if not always agreeing with the adage "the customer is always right"
• Keep the hotel clean and tidy
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