Hotel and hospitality industry viewing the pandemic from an optimistic angle.
We are in the first half of a world-wide challenge to humanity that no one has ever experienced. The knee-jerk reaction for most executives in these uncertain times is to conserve resources. It is an established “do nothing” strategy that is halting progress and innovation. On the other hand, several properties have "armed themselves with knowledge and a plan" and are viewing this dramatic shift in the industry as an opportunity to improve.
This blog was influenced after reading the recent article appropriately called "Navigating Troubled Times" where The Guest Book and Fuel dive into "How to bullet-proof your property against economic uncertainty and global health concerns."
The challenge is that properties are large and complex machines that need constant care and attention to run optimally. Think of all the deferred maintenance, upgrades and improvements that have been put off until a slow time of the year. Some improvements are risky and expensive and should be prioritized accordingly but others offer a great ROI for the property and an improved experience for future guests.
What is a hotel without any guests?: An opportunity for improvement.
What if you could improve your sustainability image to your guests, and save money in the process? Right now, hotels could have a laser-like focus to make improvements that can impress their guests and exceed expectations. As stated in "Navigating Troubled Times", this is a time to be “providing guests with added value and strengthening direct relationships”. “By seizing any opportunities to make investments in improving their offering to potential guests, hotels can, in fact, come out of a temporary downturn stronger, more competitive and able to attract more customers than previously possible”.
If a property manager can afford to install or look into improvements that save the property money and enable you to produce and promote a strong sustainability message to future guests, why wouldn’t they do it now while the rooms are vacant? “...hoteliers should try to remember that reduced occupancy also presents an ideal opportunity to make property improvements". When these improvements also improve your security and resiliency when the hotel is vacant and anything can go wrong, the improvement becomes even more valuable. Modernizing a hotel takes downtime and this is a great time to do just that.
Coming out of the financial downturn, a property can promote its new sustainability efforts, cost and resource savings, and more, and in turn attract even more guests. Take advantage of the situation at hand and prepare for the future "normality". It's easy to delay improvements when there is a constant floor of guests walking through the doors but now is the time to optimize for the future so returning guests are happier than ever before.
To learn more about how FlowActive is improving hotels for the future today, click below for a quick video on the FirstDrops™ device.
Resources:
The Guest Book and Fuel Whitepaper: Navigating Troubled Times. How to bullet-proof your property against economic uncertainty and global health concerns
https://bookdirect.theguestbook.com/navigating-troubled-times-whitepaper
