Let’s Make Lemonade: How to Go Virtual During the COVID-19 Outbreak

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The hospitality industry thrives on in-person interaction, big events, and group travel. However, the recent COVID-19 outbreak has forced a massive paradigm shift as we attempt to find our new normal and adapt to the situation. 

Now, more than ever, it’s paramount to focus on the health and safety of your customers. As such, digital tools, services, and communications have never been more necessary. 

Incorporating these digital and virtual tools into your hotel’s strategy can be beneficial to market your independent hotel property and potentially recoup some of the revenue loss. Below, we rounded up some tips you can implement right now to keep your business top of mind. 

Showcase Your Property

Your hotel is filled with creativity and character. Now, while you have some down time, take the opportunity to explore the deep nooks and crannies of your property. 

Go into detail about the local artist’s work hanging on your walls: who is the artist, what is the philosophy behind their work, and what about the piece speaks to you? Open the doors to the nicest suite in the hotel and give everyone a behind-the-scenes look at how luxurious it is. Go for a relaxing expedition through your in-house spa. 

No matter what you choose, find the elements of your property that define your culture and character. Then, turn them into a fun touchpoint to connect with your customers. As you go, make use of Instagram or Facebook live so it feels real.

Sponsor Virtual Events

Context Travel Agency thrives on pairing expert tour guides from cities across the globe with travelers hungry for knowledge. With the industry halted, they made a quick decision to pivot their strategy and offer virtual seminars that cater to this desire. 

The best part about this is that Context hosts the sessions through eventbrite, and they charge $35 per tour. It’s a great marketing tactic for their services in the interim, but it’s also a great way to drive some of the potential revenue loss back to their company. 

Your hotel might not have access to a historical city like Venice, but your own city or neighborhood likely has a wealth of local travel history. Find local experts and invite them to educate people about historic landmarks or attend virtual neighborhood tours. 

This is also great for hotels that depend on travelers who want to book adventure or wellness hotel services. For example, you can have your restaurant’s head chef teach cooking classes where they make some of your most loved entrees. And, like Context, if the value proposition is strong enough you can be comfortable charging for admission.

Start a Podcast or Blog

If you don’t have a podcast or blog, now could be the perfect time to start one. If you do have one, or both, it’s a good time to re-evaluate how you’re using them to drive business to your hotel. Further, once you’ve established these digital channels, they can be used year-round. 

At first, it might appear that the hardest part is finding content topics to write or speak about. However, the hospitality industry has so many nuances, tricks, and tasty trade secrets that once you start brainstorming you’ll have a hard time stopping. Follow some of our luxury content creators if you need some ideas. 

How can someone score a free upgrade during their trip, or is a free upgrade simply an urban myth of the travel world? Do you have any pro travel tips for booking incredibly cheap flights? Are there weeks of the year that are more conducive to easy travel, and ones that should be avoided at all costs? 

Dive headfirst into topics like this and share your own experience with the world. You’ll find this not only raises awareness about your hotel brand, but it also cements you as an expert in the field. 

Run a Creative Email Campaign

While social media promotion should be integrated into any successful marketing strategy, email marketing is your bread and butter here. It’s important to understand that these emails don’t need to be hard-sells to book a room with each message. Instead, you should use email to market all the creative assets, tours, and insights you’re creating. 

  • Take that new blog post, tease the first few paragraphs in an email, and drive people to click through to read the full post on your site.  
  • Run a week-long campaign prior to the virtual event you’re hosting to drive as many signups as you can.
  • Send your fun, behind the scenes content being created about the cultural identity of your hotel. 

All of this offers an organic way for you to touch base with your audience, let them know you’re still here, and your hotel is so much more than just a place to sleep. 

Whether it’s COVID-19 or something else, there will always be unforeseen circumstances that can potentially disrupt your business. If you’re able to adapt quickly and stay creative, you’ll be able to weather the storm and keep the revenue coming in. Throughout it all, we’re here to help in any way we can. 

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