In this competitive age where every hotel is competing to fill up their hotel rooms, the loyalty and reward programs can be the difference between having an average occupancy and having a fully booked hotel. The majority of travelers and tourists use hotel loyalty and reward programs to determine the hotel they are going to book.
So, the question is, if the majority of travelers are utilizing these programs why wouldn’t your hotel offer a loyalty and reward program to these travelers? Below we will list some of the loyalty program ideas for boutique hotels.
Give Travelers Discount for Booking Direct
Every hotel wants to get a direct booking either through its website or through its social media pages. If for example, you pay a 20% commission to OTAs you can offer some percentage discount to your guest when they book directly from your website or your social media pages.
This can be a 10% discount. You can also offer free breakfast, free airport pickup, free massage, and spa sessions. This loyalty program will increase the number of direct bookings you get and in return, this can increase your revenue while increasing the number of loyal guests for your boutique hotel.
Reward Loyal Guests with Incentives
Offering incentives to your loyal guest shows that they are highly appreciated for being your loyal customers. After a loyal guest has stayed in your hotel and left, you can email the customer and offer an incentive that will encourage the guest to visit your hotel again. This incentive can be offering the price of two nights for three nights stay or a free room upgrade.
There are a lot of incentive offers that you can provide to your customers; you just have to be creative. When you are not sure of what incentive to offer your loyal guest, you can even give them a choice for them to choose from.
Offer Loyalty and Reward Programs to Event and Travel Planners
Most hotels have conference rooms, meeting rooms, and also event space for wedding and party celebrations. You can offer some loyalty programs to event and travel planners because this group of people has a lot of money at their disposal. You have to understand that the loyalty and reward programs you offer you regular customers are not the same you offer the event and travel planners.
Giving a conference room discount may not motivate event planners because it does not benefit them but rather their clients. So, you can offer maybe a free night stay for them to give out to their guests as the additional value of their service. By doing this, not only you help the planners to provide extra value for their clients, but you will also get a staying customer that you will have a chance to impress on!
Create a Boutique Hotel Experience for Millennial Travelers
The travelers born between 1981 and 1999 (Millennial travelers) are not usually budget-conscious when they are traveling. But rather they are more conscious of the value they get. Therefore, targeting this group of people with a loyalty program is important. This group of travelers also like traveling in groups and offering a loyalty program will attract more room bookings from these millennial travelers.
In conclusion, some boutique hotels dismiss the idea of loyalty and reward programs. This is not a good decision. Every boutique hotel should embrace all the benefits that the loyalty and reward program has to offer.