Hospitality management
Self-Description
Even before I have started studying the hospitality management, I noticed that summer is the hot season for the most hotels. The reason is simple: the summer is the time for family and student vacations. However, most of the hotels continue their operations in autumn and spring though some of them close their doors in winter. I supposed they have some losses in the low seasons; that is why hotels always raise their prices in summer. However, after my investigation, I concluded that it is possible to reduce the losses and boost sales in “shoulder season”.
Boost Sales in Shoulder Season: Mission Possible
The peak season always depends on the destination. In the Northern hemisphere, the hot season for most destinations is summer starting from the middle of June and ending on the first days of September. First, it is the warmest time in the USA and Europe, and the good weather is the best for tourism. Second, it is the time for the school and college holidays. Of course, we can exclude the hotels oriented on the specific target audiences. For example, the hotels near the popular winter resorts, like the Alps in Europe or ski resorts on the west of the USA, experience the peak season in winter when it is snowy. However, the family-oriented hotels face the lower sales in the “shoulder season” – two-three months before and after the peak. New Year holidays and Christmas tourism are the good chance for many of them to get the additional money, but their sales between the seasons are not very impressive.
Investigating the issues in the hospitality management, I found the case study of Martinhal Beach Resort and Hotel in Portugal. Portuguese tourism is very season-related: most of the country’s resorts are situated near the ocean, so their peak season is summer. The hotel was disappointed with the low sales in autumn and spring and asked the Lemongrass agency for their help. Lemongrass specialist investigated the market and found the prospective target group: families with the preschool children who are not bound to the school holidays. They can visit the hotel in the “shoulder season”. To make the hotel more attractive for this group, Lemongrass specialists initiated the training for the personnel to teach them how to care for the preschool children and how to help their parents. After that, they launched three well-targeted advertising campaigns. As a result, the hotel reported growth in shoulder-season revenue by 12.16%.
The case of Martinhal provides the valuable information for all professionals in the hospitality management sector. There is no need to suffer from the losses during the “shoulder season”. Well-designed advertising and promotion for the properly chosen target audience can boost sales. As it is clear from the case, many families with pre-school children can and want to stay in the hotels during spring and autumn. These periods are warm enough for the travels with kids, and prices are more affordable for the families. At the same time, there are fewer people in the hotels, and it can be proposed as the benefit for the families with the preschool children. Other benefits that can attract this target group are the professionals in child care. Really, many families avoid traveling while the baby is still small. They are afraid that they cannot find the necessary facilities, like children pots, and cannot seek help from the hotel staff. Special training for the staff increases the trust to the personnel and makes the hotel more attractive.
Of course, the carefully planned promotion and advertising are needed to attract the target audience. Lemongrass professionals asked their partners, large family tourism agencies, to share the proposition and reach the target group. It can be concluded that if you know your customer, you can boost sales and break the general rules.
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