3 Ways to Increase Hotel Guest Spending

Hoteliers are constantly looking for ways to increase hotel guest spending without compromising the guest experience. Full-service hotels have a reputation for charging exorbitant prices on items like parking and room service. While these are key revenue drivers for hoteliers, guests interpret the high prices as hotels simply overcharging for convenience.

Below are a few ways you can increase spending without jeopardizing your reputation with guests.

Pre-Arrival

Guest anticipation is high. Take the information from an upcoming stay – stay dates and type of guests, for example – and send relevant amenity offers and room upgrades via pre-arrival upsell emails.

Ideally, a hotel would already know what its guests like before check-in to send customized pre-arrival emails. For instance, a guest who is a San Francisco Giants fan would receive an email for a half-price drink at the bar when she checks in on game day.

Many hotels sell amenity packages. For example, if you’re celebrating a special occasion, a bottle of champagne waiting in your room might be perfect.

Room upgrades are a no-brainer way to increase spend per guest. Think of it like this: if you get three $50 upgrades per day, then you’re adding nearly $57,000 a year in extra revenue. Even three upgrades at $25 would add $27,000 annually to the operation.

Pre-arrival offers help increase revenue while still offering value-add for the money.

On-Property

These offers can also extend into the on-property experience, sent out through on-property email communications.

And don’t overlook technology – another way to increase guest spending is to facilitate transactions via technology. Mobile check-in and hotel apps are some common examples. For example, Smith Micro Hospitality found that 83% of people want hotel service promotions (such as restaurant, bar, and spa) on their mobile devices.

Post-Stay

Create a personalized experience while the guest is on-property to win that guest’s loyalty. If you can do this and get that guest to book directly with you, you’ve increased the lifetime value of that customer.

So how can hoteliers win repeat business? Collecting and cleaning your guest data is key. Then use this data to send relevant communications, which should help make for an incomparable guest experience.

Get to Know Your Customers to Increase Spend per Guest

Hotels have to be mindful in approaching revenue generation. The wrong approach with irrelevant email blasts, for example, can leave your guests with a negative impression of your hotel.

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