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Luxury Setting the Pace of Pricing By Patrick Mayock www.HotelNewsNow.com (604) 726-2337

I read a great feature in May’s issue of “Runner’s World” that made me think of the hotel sector’s race to recovery. (See that? Race! The correlations have begun already.) Anyway, this particular article outlined the curious habits of “rabbits”—those men and women who are hired by other runners to set a race pace in the hopes of yielding faster times on the course.

“In distances as short as the 800 meters and as long as the marathon, the rabbit is tasked with leading the race to a certain point (usually about halfway), doing the hard work while the other runners save their energy, then exiting (stage left or right, depending on what's less intrusive to the rest of the field) and watching the finish from the sidelines,” writes Jack McCallum, the feature’s author. 

Setting pace is a key component in any upward and downward swing of a business cycle. We saw evidence of the latter two years ago, when otherwise savvy hoteliers inexplicably followed the discounting patterns of the market laggard. 

In recent months, fortunately, we’ve seen a reversal of this trend, as hoteliers begin to push rate to maintain pace with the market leader—the “rabbit,” so to speak: luxury. 

The segment isn’t just setting the pace, quite honestly; it’s pulling away like Usain Bolt at a high-school track meet. Have you seen April’s performance metrics from STR (the parent company of HotelNewsNow.com)? Luxury ended the month with an average daily rate of US$258.34. Upper upscale? US$147.41. That’s a rate premium of US$110.93!
Granted, none of the other segments is going to compete with luxury in absolute ADR terms. We segment the industry for a reason—different product yields different price points. But the rest of the industry can and should compete in terms of growth. 

In this respect, the luxury segment has clearly done its job, and it’s up to the rest of the hotel industry to try to make ground. Because unlike the rabbits of the racing world, I don’t think the luxury segment’s going to exit stage left or right any time soon. It’s got its eyes on the proverbial finish line, and there’s only air in between. 

"Patrick Mayock is the features editor at HotelNewsNow.com, an online news resource for the global hotel industry. He can be reached at patrick@hotelnewsnow.com.

This article originally appeared on HotelNewsNow.com. Its copyright holder has granted the HSMAI Greater Los Angeles Chapter a one-time, non-exclusive right for distribution in this newsletter. Further use, such as reproduction, distribution and display, is prohibited without the express written consent of its author."

Article Source - HotelNewsNow

SOCIAL MEDIA

The Picture Perfect Piece Missing from Your Social Media Strategy by Jacquelynn Mendez www.e-marketingassociates.com (626) 444-9111

Remember when people used to say that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well that expression still holds true today and with the latest advancements in social media it's even easier for companies to attract new business through photos submitted by fans.

Every day businesses are constantly on the hunt for more "Likes," followers or check-ins, and although these stats are important, this obsession with numbers oftentimes causes account managers to overlook one very important social networking element… photos! I'm not saying that you should hire a photographer and post pictures that will very obviously depict your business as perfect, but instead, encourage fans to share their real life, real time images of your brand or business on social platforms. After all, if a picture really is worth a thousand words, then a great photo can have more value than a comment, "Like" and check-in combined.

Although user generated images are an excellent addition to any brand's marketing, there is no denying that this feature may benefit some businesses more than others. Fan photos are particularly advantageous for restaurants and hotels because properties can gain a lot of exposure from a variety of pictures highlighting rooms, events, facilities and window views submitted by guests, that is as long as the images create a positive representation. Visuals show a side of a business that words simply can't describe and for an industry in which customers rely heavily on visual appeal to make purchasing decisions, having pictures from trusted sources can be the last deciding factor. This is why the popular social startup TopGuest now rewards users for both checking in and taking photos at their favorite properties.

Of course, this doesn't mean that comments, posts and actions aren't important. If anything, a social strategy should strive to integrate each of these elements to paint the perfect picture of your business because people view and consume information in many different ways. Fortunately, popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare are constantly innovating their products to make photo sharing as simple as possible, so now it's just up to businesses to use this technology to their advantage. This can be done through photo sharing contests, enticing incentives or simply by spreading the word to users. So what are you waiting for? It's time to get your fans ready to say, "Cheese!"

To Learn More
To learn more about how social media can help your hotel build awareness and expand its reach, contact E-Marketing Associates at (626) 444-9111