Monday, September 8, 2008

Get Me There, but Don't Hurt the Environment


The economy is in a downturn, that not news, but what matters most to travelers during this time period is. A recent study from eMarketer uncovers the incentives that can turn lookers in to bookers. At the top of the list in these troubled times, getting a rebate on gas expenses (47.6% of respondents said this would provide them the incentive to book). That is followed by discount offers by hotels (30.8% of respondents).



We have several hotels who have benefited from these gas packages. You may also often see them framed as "staycations". This year's hot term in travel. However, travelers are also looking at the environmental policies of the hotels, and while this alone isn't influencing the decision, the amount of work you are putting into minimizing the impact of the hotel and guests on the environment is a contributing factor in their decision.

What incentives are you offering to getting lookers to book at your property?


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Shane,

Don't you think it's a bit ironic travelers are demanding hotels become environmentally friendly at the same time they are demanding hotels offer them gas cards to motivate them to book?

Talk about wanting to have their cake and eat it too.

blog@bellevuehilton.com on September 23, 2008 at 2:19 PM said...

As Madigan over at the Hospitality Marketing Blog says, it's all about providing value to the customer, because when it comes down to it, s/he is likely to choose a cheap vacation over being environmentally friendly if the two are at odds. At The Hotel Experience, we have been discussing this quite a bit as well. Gas card programs do seem to work well, especially for drive-in guests looking to shop or go to a game, but the marriage of environmental-friendliness and gas card programs seems to be mostly at odds due to the fact that it is difficult for hotels to offset environmental harm in other areas. So, what can they do? Work on offering guests the best value so that they can gain loyalty and weather bad times a bit better when they come.

 

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