While the hotel business may be going through a rough patch. It’s a business model that never stops, can have great rewards, requires lots of learning and constant training. Running a business like a hotel is never easy but it does have immense benefits. The key is learning the basics and building a system from there. A solid management structure can lead to prosperity and is the first step to manage a successfull hotel.
Looking for the right starting point from which to build your project? You are already in the right place to set up your hotel business for success.
Before getting started with hotel and hospitality-focused tips, here is a bit of general wisdom when going into any business.
- Plan ten steps ahead, all the way to the end.
- Be flexible enough to overcome challenges.
- Get the right team together and work on employee retention.
- Focus on standardizing and creating effective processes.
- Never stop learning.
Location is the gateway to success
Location is going to be one of the most important aspects of a hotel doing well. Because where you are matters to your guests, you need to make your choice carefully. Not all successful hotels or hospitality spots are in the center of the city or the most attractive neighborhood, instead, they sell what they have to offer well.
Discover your area of choice and highlight its benefits to your guests. Find the unique selling point to being the only hotel in that part of town, or being the closest to a particular sightseeing location. Make it work and focus on the positives.
If you haven’t picked a location yet, take into consideration the following points:
- The percentage of domestic versus international tourism.
- Proximity to public and private transport options.
- Connection to the airport, city center, tourism highlights.
- Safety of the area.
- The target demographic it attracts vs what you are after for example young vs old, leisure vs business, families vs honeymooners, etc.
Training staff to make your hotel stand out and is a hotel with successful management
One of the biggest ways to achieve success in the hotel business is having an outstanding quality of service. Why is this factor so important? It creates word-of-mouth referrals and a good reputation around your business, which is what makes or breaks a hotel. Plus in the current digital landscape, reviews are a major deciding factor in travelers choosing hotels. Up to 93% of consumers say reviews influence their decision making and 97% of them use online searches to find information about products or services.
Having a hotel training program that is continuous, innovative, tech-forward, and easy to manage is going to boost your hotel’s rankings by making your workers extremely qualified and ready to offer amazing service.
Employee retention is a game-changer in hospitality
Another aspect that will be affected by training is employee retention. Workers that receive opportunities for growth within a company are more likely to stay working there. Managers that get training are better at handling teams. Both of those together will save you money and time spent in preparing new employees for work.
Standardizing hotel processes for higher functionality
Standardizing your hotel and its hospitality processes means streamlining tasks. Creating a system where fewer things get missed allows for the standards of services, amenities, and more to be well maintained with the least effort.
A hotel is a home away from home, but it must run more smoothly than a home. In order to ensure this, you need your staff to adopt routines, schedules, and standards to help them do that. The chances of achieving this goal are much higher when everyone knows what they need to be doing at all times.
To create standardization protocols you will need to take the time and put in the effort. Listen to your employees, management, and your customers. Those 3 are key partners for standardizing to have a real chance at success.
Consistency in hotel deals and lead generation
Don’t let the slow season get you down, if you want to smash your goals out of the park you need to be on all year long. That’s what keeps hotels in business for decades and what makes a single location turn into a tourism destination. Consistency, both in offers to visitors and in the effort made from the top down is what keeps guests coming back for more.
Make sure that when everyone else is resting that you are brainstorming
- With your team on how to make the service better
- With your interior designer on how to stay updated and modern
- What makes you stand out from your competitors
- With your visitors on what they need and want from you
- Most importantly with yourself on your goals for the hotel or hospitality business
If you wish to improve your standards and the quality of service, join our growing community, contact us.