The international tourism market is worth over $2 trillion. 1.53 billion visitors Approximately 200,000 jobs will be created by 2024. This is the third straight year of double-digit growth since the pandemic brought the global travel industry down – contributing close to 10% of the global GDP.
International travel is on the rise, and this presents an opportunity for the hospitality industry. The value of the local market is boosted by foreign tourists. Also, they help to create and maintain jobs that would not otherwise exist. International tourists are also important to the hospitality industries of all countries, except for heavily populated areas like India or China where domestic tourism dominates.
In this article we will discuss a few ways that hoteliers can attract more international guests to their establishment.
Understanding the Guest Experience
In the hospitality industry, segmentation is essential. Not all international visitors are the same. There are differences in the travel intention, the mode and style of travel as well as the enjoyment they get from their holidays.
Some travelers travel as a group or part of a package. You may need to offer special offers or discounts in order to attract these tourists. partner with local travel agencies. Likewise, some travelers book holiday packages to take care of everything, while others like to travel independently.
Understanding your customer type is the key to building a profitable hotel business.
Picking your guest segment involves market research. Here are some important questions to ask.
Geographical distribution
What is your city’s or town’s country distribution? On the website of your local government, you may find this information. Contact your tourism ministry via email or telephone to get the full figures.
Demographics
What is the age and gender breakdown of your visitors? What is the age and gender profile of visitors to your town? Does it attract honeymooners more than families with young children? Are your visitors single and travelling for business? Understanding these details can help you plan your marketing strategy.
Booking behavior
This is tricky to discern, but is a crucial part of market analysis. Booking, Expedia, or Trivago are some of the most popular travel websites used by travelers to research hotels. Some travelers use popular websites in their own countries or languages to research hotels. In some cases travelers will rely on the agent they have to book their hotel.
It is important to know how your guests arrive at your hotel. This will help you create a strategy to attract more of them. If the majority of your hotel guests are from online bookings then you should dig deeper to understand their behavior.
You could analyze the listings to understand the ranking algorithm – this will help you identify the exact parameters that you need to focus on in order to improve your own ranking on these hotel booking sites.
Partnerships & Optimization
The next step after you’ve done your research is to develop a marketing campaign to reach the guest profile that you want to target.
Partnerships
If your IGP includes travelers who book hotels through travel agents or arrive in large groups, partnerships are essential to increasing your hotel’s footfall. You could sign them up as a partner You can reward them for every booking that they make.
If you want to sweeten your offer, consider offering complimentary services such as airport pickups for the travel group. You could also offer your partner agencies complimentary breakfast and dinner. This makes the hotel more appealing and helps these agencies to increase their margins.
You could consider partnering with local businesses that offer specific services to make your guests’ holiday more enjoyable. A resort near a popular attraction could be a good example. golf vacation spotThey could provide their guests with complimentary golf clubs that they can use during their holiday.
Booking Engine Optimization is the process that increases the visibility of your hotels across all hotel booking websites. The most popular hotel booking sites use a variety of factors, including guest reviews, hotel descriptions, location and amenities, to curate a list of recommended hotels.
You can optimize your listing by encouraging visitors to write reviews, or providing a detailed description of your hotel, its location and amenities. Visuals are a big part of the hotel booking process, and it is important that you keep your premises ‘Instagram-worthy’ to drive more traffic and bookings your way.
Use caution when using marketing tools like MailchimpAutomation features allow you to remind past guests to write a review.
Stand out from the competition
Standing out is a great way to establish your reputation and carve a niche in the hospitality sector. To establish your identity, you can do a number of things:
- Make visitors feel comfortable by providing signage in their native language
- Offer the cuisine that your IGP enjoys
- Amenities (playgrounds and gyms) Consider what is important for your guests
- If there are limited landings, small towns could offer check-in/checkout timings that match these landings.
You could also partner with local businesses to offer unique offers. You could, for example, offer special packages to guests who wish to purchase artisanal items for their home.
You want your guests to enjoy their stay at your hotel. Make their stay as convenient and comfortable as possible. This will help you gain popularity with this segment of travelers, as well as a good reputation which could lead to future bookings.
Always be approachable
Visitors from around the globe may contact you at any hour of the day with questions. The importance of having someone answer the phone and respond to emails throughout the day when running a business that targets international tourists cannot be overstated.
Make sure your communication channels are in line with what guests expect. Bookings and sales inquiries are not preferred by international travelers. Email is universal but it’s also good to make yourself available on other channels such as WhatsApp, Telegram and Facebook to allow guests to reach you in their preferred medium.
Final thought – Be innovating always
When you cater to international travelers, brand authority is different. There is little chance of repeat visitors, unless your target market is a business traveler. Even though you may only have a few repeat customers, their word-of-mouth is extremely important for maintaining your brand’s reputation and attracting new guests.
Innovation is a key factor in the hotel industry. Each guest at your hotel will experience your service for the very first. As such, a tiny misstep that ruins their holiday could mean a negative review – which also brings your reputation down among future travelers.
Continue to innovate with new services and make your guests happy to maintain a steady flow of happy customers to your establishment.
