How Hoteliers Turn Crisis Into Opportunity

Hello dear readers, we are slowly getting closer to the end of the blogpost series about the hospitality industry. In today’s post, you will learn about the ways how hospitality and tourism-related companies deal with the current challenging situation with success.

One of the biggest changes in the travel business model, to which most hotels have to adapt now is the rise of luxury travel. Paul Charles, chief executive of travel consultancy PC Agency says, that operators and destinations should switch their focus on more lucrative customers.

The bar chart below demonstrates, that the revenue from luxury travel will keep increasing in the following years.

Luxury travel accounted for 21 per cent of Europe’s total tourism revenues in 2019. Although it was worse hit than budget travel during the crisis, it is expected to recover quicker, increasing its share of the continent’s tourism market.

According to the Financial Times, one reason for the shift is higher barriers to travel that have pushed up the costs for consumers as the pandemic exacerbates inequalities in income and wealth across the globe.

Gabriel Escarrer, chief executive of Meliá Hotels International, says the industry has been calling for a model based more on quality than quantity. “Four- and five-star hotels generate more jobs and more wealth, not just for the hotels but also for the destinations.”

Let us have a look at the properties that are thriving despite the crisis and see which decisions have they taken in order to not only stay afloat but also to achieve better results than before.

1. New Digital Experience for Four Seasons Residents 

The new residential digital experience has been introduced to enhance the Four Seasons residential lifestyle experience, allowing residents to securely manage and maintain their home, connect with their designated Four Seasons team members, and request services with ease and convenience.

The app and the Four Seasons chat are a key pillar of Lead With Care, the new health and safety program developed in response to COVID-19. Along with heightened cleanliness and disinfection measures, social distancing, and employee training, Four Seasons is leveraging technology in order to limit face-to-face interactions while maintaining the highest levels of personal service.

Using the Four Seasons residential App and Chat platforms, residents can make everyday tasks, hosting family and friends, and general upkeep of their home even simpler by connecting with their designated Four Seasons team. More about this innovation in the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwWgX-NoL_Y&t=44s

2. “To New Memories” Marketing Campaign by Hilton

The insights-driven initiative reflects consumers’ desire to reconnect with the people and places they love.

“To New Memories” encompasses heartwarming TV ads, online videos and other digital and social content. The video content depicts a series of reconnection moments consumers have been missing, highlighting the new memories waiting to be made with Hilton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMec9NNN4tA

Luxury travellers now desire and expect memorable experiences that they can not only share with their network of friends and family through social media in the short term but also have in their life experience artillery in the long term.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycsREwkFyv0

One of the Hilton properties that offer unique experiences is Waldorf Astoria Rome Cavalieri. As a part of Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts’ brand-wide Live Unforgettable campaign, the hotel offers experiences crafted around discovering authentic Roman history, culture and signature happenings.

• Travellers seeking a sustainable, zero-emission city tour of Rome will enjoy the brand-new “Spiaggina experience.” Starting at the hotel gates, participants will enjoy getting behind the wheel for a guilt-free thrill ride of the Eternal City and its treasures while comfortably seated onboard an electric FIAT 500 Spiaggina ( “little beach” in Italian), which runs solely on electric power.
• Guests who are both animal lovers and adventurers will enjoy an immersive horseback ride throughout the Ostia Antica. This experience will begin with a horseback riding lesson where participants will learn the basics before saddling their horse. They will then be guided through a natural reserve followed by a charming walking tour of a Renaissance village. The experience concludes with an aperitivo with the Giulio II Castle serving as a romantic backdrop.

Travellers can also take advantage of Rome Cavalieri’s existing luxury experiences, such as Truffle Hunting in Umbria, the Ultimate Jet Lag Remedy experience, and more…

3. Private Fitness in Hotel Esencia

During the coronavirus crisis, Kevin Wendle (Owner and CEO of the hotel Esencia) rolled out new duplex suites with private, indoor fitness studios allowing fitness-focused guests to have a private way to get their workout in. Luxurious? Yes. Is there a huge audience for this type of thing among their clientele? Also yes. This innovative concept was a huge success.

Whether it’s a marketing campaign, an app to enhance the experience, or a new type of rooms – we see, there are so many ways how hoteliers can focus on the luxury travellers and motivate them to travel again.

And this is just the dawn of what is fast becoming a new era of luxury travel – who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Which approach did you like the most?

Read the previous posts in the sequence here:

Modern Capsule Hotels Never Fail to Surprise, Here is Why

Reimagined Hotels– the Future of Hospitality is being created now!

Thank you for visiting and we will meet in the next post!