With the surges of COVID-19 variants still impacting international and long-distance travel, hotels and resorts need to get creative and think local to keep generating revenue. From couples and families to remote workers, most of us just need a break from being stuck at home – and your hotel can be the perfect escape. Creating special programs geared to locals is a great way to buoy ancillary spend while simultaneously setting your property up as an authentic community hub. If you aren’t sure where to start, we’ve compiled five easy tips to help transform your hotel into a haven for local staycations.

 
As the new year begins, industry experts are increasingly hopeful about the state of hospitality. After almost two years of an unprecedented downturn and despite ongoing effects of the pandemic—including the emergence of new COVID-19 variants and increased consumer awareness regarding health and wellbeing—2022 looks to be more promising as the industry figures out how to fulfill guest expectations without compromising safety.

If there has been a silver lining for hospitality from the pandemic, it is the rapid changes that occurred in the technology landscape during 2021. Two major trends are combining to help hotels better address some long-ignored opportunities: expanded interest in technologies that improve operational efficiencies, and consolidation in the vendor space. While these trends are distinct, they are also mutually reinforcing.

This week I am going to return to the subject of my blog from October 29 (“It’s Broken. Let’s Fix It.”). In the very first sentence of that article, I said I thought it would be controversial, because it highlighted how poorly technology is delivered in many hotels, and the resulting frustrations for guests and staff alike. I expected that many brands and technology vendors might react defensively.

Since early 2020, the hospitality sector has witnessed a sea change. The worldwide disruption triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic forced almost every technology company in the industry to review their portfolios, reassess their strategies and redirect resources into areas with the greatest growth potential. Some businesses became targets for opportunistic deals, while others struggled to operate in ‘new normal’ mode.