5 Simple Ways to Increase Hotel Occupancy in Low Season

A “No Vacancy” sign outside the hotel is undeniably one of the best feelings for any hotelier! The peak season is really the best for hoteliers as they enjoy high demand and full occupancy. But how often does this happen? As owner or manager of a hotel, you know that seasonality is a key factor in your business’s success. When you consider common circumstances like weather, holidays, local and national events, travel habits, health concerns (currently among a pandemic), and any significant dip in guest bookings and revenue can mean disaster, it’s easy to see why.

However, since off-seasons are to be expected, a workable approach is to boost your marketing plan. A mixture of careful planning, creativity in boosting sales, and a bit of consumer pop-psychology can potentially increase guests — even during low seasons.

INTEGRATE WEB BOOKING ENGINE

With your website optimized and running, take advantage of this tool to get direct bookings. Statistics reveal that direct reservations from guests are least likely canceled. It’s easier to implement this same strategy by building a Facebook business page with a “book now” button.

In line with this, you can’t ignore the importance of popular OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) in capturing maximum bookings. Here, a cloud PMS (Property Management System) plays a huge role.

INCREASE ONLINE PRESENCE & MANAGE ONLINE REPUTATION

Always be active on social media (e.g. Instagram) and increase bookings from there. Equally important are your hotel’s online reviews. Good reviews can influence a potential guest’s booking decision; inversely, bad reviews potentially lead to lesser guest bookings. With a PMS, you can collect personalized feedback from guests and view them from across multiple platforms. This enables you to analyze and understand their sentiments, and the insights should help you reverse bad habits to boost your reputation and your bookings.

IMPLEMENT DYNAMIC OFF-SEASON PRICING STRATEGY

Low seasons are the best time for discounts! They’re irresistible and people’s perception of getting a “good deal” will help increase your bookings. Last-minute and budget travelers are scouting for good deals during off-peak months, so use this to your advantage.

Make the benefits of your discounts clear to be effective: 

• The property isn’t crowded because it’s offseason is a great selling point
• You can encourage guests to stay longer with the remainder of their stay offered at a good discount
• Attract families and business groups with a discount on group bookings

Other discount promos include:

INVEST IN GUEST EXPERIENCE

Giving guests a memorable stay is very personal and can only be experienced —  not marketed. Today’s vacationers have evolved; they’re more “informed” than ever making them super sensitive and reactive. Good experiences will be extolled on social media, just as bad ones will be condemned openly. Use this to your advantage and give them a superb hotel guest experience. Go the extra mile; offer value for their money. The returns? Word-of-mouth marketing, PLUS increased repeat guests.

CREATE A NICHE FOR YOURSELF

As there are a thousand other hoteliers who offer the same service as you, the hospitality industry has become an extremely competitive space. Hence, it’s highly recommended that every hotel create a niche for itself — something that sets it apart from competitors. It doesn’t have to be conspicuous or dramatic. One that’s relevant today is going green in order to attract the increasing numbers of modern-day travelers concerned about the environment.

Make your hotel guests feel that your bathroom amenities are meticulously curated and well-thought-out by adopting a hotel dispenser system, such as GreenSuites’. 

Using bulk amenity dispensers: 

• Is kinder to the environment -preventing small bottles from ending up in landfills/oceans  
•  Is plastic-ban compliant
• Makes guests feel good that they’re participating in the green shift.

EXTRA TIP:

As your occupancy increases, you’d definitely want to save on housekeeping costs and we’ve got you covered. Luckily, GreenSuites Hotel Solutions has this amazing hotel amenities program that may sound too good to be true. The catch is, it IS true! 

For 30 years now, GreenSuites has been driven by a passion to help fellow businesses; so we’ve been offering EcoCents — the only NO CAPITAL COST, pennies-per-occupied-room dispenser program in the lodging industry. EcoCents gives you: free shipping, free dispensers, free liquids, and a guaranteed price per-occupied-room (starting at 19¢). As a luxury feature that allows you to offer a great guest experience, we only supply liquids that are paraben-free & biodegradable — without synthetic fragrances. Once registered, you’ll enjoy up to 70% savings in costs, 90% reduction in amenities wastes, and dramatically reduced labor costs.

TRY EcoCents and keep an eye out for our newsletter, The Green Edge. Our marketing team is dedicated to helping your business grow with free, valuable content you can apply today, and hotel amenities whenever you need them.