Many in the industry cringe at the thought of another hotel site inspection so how can hotels get agents and media a bit more excited?
I have given possibly hundreds of hotel site inspections over the years but been on the receiving end of significantly less. It wasn’t until I recently spent time on a famil trip did I realise that many in the industry cringe at the thought of another hotel site inspection.
This got me thinking, and chatting, how could hotels get agents and media a little more excited about going on hotel site inspections and how could hotel site inspections be more memorable. Here are five ways to spice up your hotel site inspection as sourced by chatting to many in the travel game.
1. Offer a refreshment
I’m thinking a glass of champagne but really whatever suits the property. It could be an iced tea, a fresh juice or even chilled water but start the site off right by offering a refreshment. This may be done at the start of the tour or as a surprise when experiencing the first room. Hmm yes I mentioned the word surprise, where can the element of surprise be incorporated into the site?
2. Get experiential
The aim of the site inspection is to give the agent (or media) a taste of what the guest will experience when they stay at the property plus inspiring and empowered the agent to sell your hotel. With that in mind think of ways everyone can get a little more hands on. Get the agents to jump on the bed, or get in the bed, lay in the bath, make a cocktail or even a one minute massage when they are in the spa. Think of ways the agents or media can physically get involved in the site inspection. Offering a hands on experience taps into another of the senses making it memorable and gives the agent a first hand story to tell.
3. Bring in the expert
If I’m seeing the spa i’d love to briefly meet or hear from the Spa Manager about the experience. If I’m in the club lounge, to meet the club lounge manager would be great, even hearing a little detail from the executive housekeeper or the head chef helps build a picture and personality of the property, the experience guests can expect and the passion of the team.
NB: please note however, only trained up staff required.
4. Keep it simple and relevant
The average human brain can only take in so much. Rather than showing every hotel detail and every room type, pick three to five key things you would like to be remembered or known for, essentially your unique selling points. Focus on those, use them as the framework for the site. Unless its a sports magazine or the gym is super amazing we probably don’t need to trudge down to the basement to see it.
5. Happy ending
Paper work and brochures are out, USB’s are in, in fact they have been for a while. On that USB there needs to be a fact sheet, a press release, several high-res, clearly labeled images of the room types and experiences just seen, plus contact details of key people and links to social media channels so it is easy to keep engaging or access further content. Also, consider what else can be offered to make the site inspection memorable or trackable? Can you offer extra commission for a certain period of time, an extra amenity for guests of those agents or a voucher to come back to experience a night or a dinner at the property at a later date.
A final note to consider is the difference of the site inspection if you are dealing with agents or wholesalers compared to media or bloggers. Media and bloggers need a story angle and the types of details they want to know will be different from an agent, can you run the site inspection to tell or show a story.