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Definitely Doug 6/9/23: Hotels Fighting Trafficking: The Role of Technology
Posted: 06/09/2023

This week I want to address an important issue for the hospitality industry, albeit one that technologists have not historically had on their radar. They can potentially play a significant role in addressing the issue, which is human trafficking, and more specifically sex trafficking.

In my last column, I reviewed some key trends in autonomous mobile robotics for hotels, and dove into three categories of delivery robots in more detail – room delivery, food delivery, and heavy-lift robots. This week I will round out the topic with several other robot types and applications, as well as general guidance for evaluating, acquiring, and adopting mobile autonomous robotics. If you have not yet read part one, I recommend going back and doing so before continuing below, as some of the introductory material is important background to what follows.

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Best Practices for Hotel & Resort Operators in Pool Season 2023
Posted: 05/25/2023

With the arrival of warmer weather and summer fast approaching, hospitality operators are gearing up for another pool season. This year, technology is at the forefront of driving booking revenue and taking operational efficiency to the next level. Modern technology platforms (such as hospitality’s newest technology category – the Property Experience Management System or PXMS) are providing brand new capabilities that unlock new strategies and approaches to filling the pool with satisfied guests.

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The Growing Role Technology Plays in Hotels and Restaurants
Posted: 05/25/2023

In the past few years, hotels and restaurants have grown into hubs for entertainment, leisure, and human connection. In an effort to best serve their guests, operators have begun rethinking their technological investments and working to adapt to recent shifts in consumer preference and operations. To ensure that guests have the best on-site experience possible, brands are increasingly looking to new technologies to make their experiences more convenient and comfortable. Advanced property management systems (PMS) and point-of-sale (POS) systems can increase operational and staff efficiency, while also meeting changing customer expectations for a high-value but relatively low-touch experience.

This week I will return to a topic I have covered before, because it has, within the last 12 to 18 months, become one of the hottest-growth categories in hospitality technology. That topic is autonomous mobile robots – specifically, ones that can move around the facility as well as perform specific tasks. Many of these products were launched pre-Covid but were often seen at the time as more of a marketing gimmick than a legitimate operational solution.

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Why Talking About Local Events on Your Website is Important

09/15/2015

by Nimesh Dinubhai

You are in the hospitality industry, providing lodging to travelers and vacationers and you have a website to maintain. Planning and building your content calendar is important to get the most out of your online prospects. If you think about it, your interaction on the web is 100 percent through content. It only makes sense to adjust your web activity and focus it around what we want to market, right?

Not quite. What you want to be known for is not necessarily what people want to hear about right now. What I mean is: your heated pool and tufted pillows may not be your best selling point. You may understand who you’re marketing to, but pushing a hard marketing message may not be enough to attract prospects. If they don’t seem to be listening to you, try grabbing their attention in a different way like using local events.

How to connect between my prospects interest and my product?

Make a list of important events throughout the year. These events are your attention grabbers. Vacationers come for these events, so talk them up. Now, discuss your service/product in correlation with the upcoming events, and boom, you have lit a spark of interest. A reader planning their next trip might even convert. Here are a few examples.

Event: Super Bowl
Product/service: Hotel rooms
Content idea: Write about keeping a stable travel budget while affording the big game. Make sure you mention your hotel’s special offer for the Super Bowl. Fans can both enjoy the Super Bowl and stay on budget thanks to your reduced rates.

Event: Zombie Fest
Product/service: Hotel rooms
Content idea: Write a post about the coolest Zombie costumes and make sure to entertain them with images. Talk about the Zombie Fest in your area, and maybe even host a competition for the best costume. Offer a hotel room at a discount for those who show up in a costume.

Event: Downtown Christmas Party
Product/service: Hotel rooms
Content idea: Write about how you are getting ready for the Downtown Christmas party; maybe even include pictures from last year’s decorations and parties. Mention that you have available rooms for those who want to stay over the weekend while enjoying the holiday spirit right near downtown Christmas events. Specifically consider those traveling for family get-togethers.

Coming up with these content ideas is easy. The time consuming part is writing a post that will create engagement. Pay attention to the above examples. You’ll notice, everything is focused around the things prospects are interested in.

Note: you should write these with as little promotion as possible.

Your offer should either be right at the beginning so that it’s on the table, or all the way at the end, so as not to make people feel uncomfortable. People don’t like to read promotional content and sales copy. Readers like to invest their time on content with added value. Serve this, and you have their attention.

Finding local events

First let’s see how we find these events. It’s actually very simple. Search in Google for events in [your city’s name]. Here is the one I found for Santa Clara: https://goo.gl/5zsZ9C. It’s that easy!

Now, let’s talk about engagement. Engagement happens only when there is interest. You can create interest by first learning what subjects your potential prospects are interested in, and then talk about them while incorporating yourself and your offer. Although, as the owner of a hotel, you most likely already know which events attract the most visitors. All you need now is to write about it.

Here is one example of great writing that focuses on interest: ShopHonest explains about how cleaning with bleach might increase child illnesses. In the article, they spark interest with mothers about safe bleach usage and also provide their product as a healthier alternative: https://goo.gl/gL9tqO

Increasing engagement is not simple

You need to be creative when giving interesting content. Take time for brainstorming sessions. If your content doesn’t provide any added value for its readers, you won’t get their attention. To get the right traction you must make sure that you provide value. It can be newsworthy, new information, a solution, funny, entertaining, helpful tips, and even money offers (coupons, discounts, free stuff, etc.).

Increasing engagement with events

Marketing events on your hotel website is not just important for increasing content value, but also for increasing engagement by providing and helping your prospects and returning guests.

Each marketer chooses to build his content strategy differently, but I highly suggest to lay out a plan 12 months in advance. You will notice a cycle every year, as most planned events cycle and repeat each year around the same dates.

The ultimate goal here is creating a real connection between your guests and your hotel. Providing ongoing useful information will eventually have them return for more. If you want to be ahead of the curve, investing in your customers is definitely a good way to go. So spread the word, what’s going on around your hotel? People out there are searching for things to do this weekend!

About The Author

Nimesh Dinubhai
President
Websrefresh

Nimesh Dinubhai completed his studies in 2003 and launched Websrefresh to help businesses grow their ROI. He also owns two Arizona hotels, one of which earned the Historical Hotel Award in 2014.