Considered as one of the top three most useful metrics for hotel owners carrying out a revenue management strategy, the occupancy rate is highlighting how much of the available space in a hotel is actually being utilized to assess the performance of a hotel.
Occupancy Percentage = (No. of Rooms Occupied / No. of Rooms Available) x 100%
How to increase hotel occupancy? Room sales are directly connected to the hotel’s revenue and therefore increasing hotel occupancy is exactly the main goal of every hotelier.
Review and Analyze Your Hotel's Previous Occupancy Rate
Firstly, hoteliers must review and analyze your hotel’s previous occupancy rate to identify the times when the occupancy has been steadily declining or consistently low. While keeping your rates competitive and reasonable, the main instrument to increase hotel occupancy is by creating demand through added value.
Understand Your Guests
Understand where your guests are most likely to find you and design a strategy that will put you ahead of the competition. Imagine yourself as a hotel guest and think of what you need and what you can get from a hotel. Gather information about your hotel’s past, present, and future guests. Collect a list of guests you get during the off-season. Learn about your guests’ behavior and booking patterns.
This valuable data is a powerful way to contact your guests and offer them customized deals. With a data-driven approach, you can identify your best sales channels, compare historical data, identify trends and build robust revenue, marketing, and pricing strategies.
Utilize Local Businesses and Events
If your hotel is experiencing low hotel occupancy that does not necessarily mean low demand periods for local businesses nearby. You should utilize local businesses and trending events nearby your area to attract guests coming to your hotel. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook are great tools to find out what is currently trending and what people are talking about.
Take advantage of those events happening nearby your hotel by creating something special and unique for those attending that event. Possibly your hotel could offer a special promo code specifically for event-goers.
Partner Up with Local Authority / Event Organizers
Become the official sponsor or host hotel for the event by partnering up with the local authority or the event organizers. Since your hotel will be listed as a ‘preferred hotel’ on the event’s website, this allows your hotel to have more online exposure. Use social media to promote your hotel and extend your reach to a wider audience.
Try to explore cross-promotion opportunities in case you have marketing budget constraints. You could promote the said event on your social media or put the event banner in your reception area for free in place of promoting your hotel on the organizer’s marketing campaigns.
Indeed, things are not going to change overnight when it comes to achieving full hotel occupancy, but small steps taken in the right direction will surely fetch you results. With careful marketing planning and strategic ideas, you can prevent your hotel from experiencing a loss in revenues during off-season months.
