As a hotel owner or manager, your goal is to attract more travelers and improve your occupancy rate. Each year, guests seek new and unique experiences. Of course, you try to start current and provide what guests want, but you need to know more about these summer trends for your hotel.
There are some trends that you’re more easily able to adopt. You should consider all of them. Adapting to these trends is crucial to keep your hotel relevant and attractive. Understanding the summer trends for the hotel industry in 2024 is critical to increasing your revenue. Let’s delve into these trends.
Trends Hotels Need to Adopt for Summer 2024
Summer trends for the hotel industry in 2024 present a golden opportunity for your hotel to become a hotspot. Some trends may require a few changes, while others may not be feasible for your location. However, by considering and adopting these trends, you can significantly enhance your hotel’s appeal. Here’s a look at some of the upcoming trends for you to consider.
Sustainability
The average guest is increasingly thinking about climate change and their carbon footprints. They’re looking for hotels that reflect these values and make sustainability a focus of their policies.
For years, many hotels have asked guests who are staying multiple nights to only leave towels they want washed and replaced on the floor of their bathroom. Some hotels are now waiting for hotel guests to specifically request new towels. This has helped many hotels to lower their water usage.
If you offer breakfast, you can switch from paper plates and cups to reusable options. While you’ll need to run these through a dishwasher, it’s still a lower carbon footprint, and guests will recognize your business as an eco-friendly company.
Adventure & Uniqueness
Travelers are tired of staying in cookie-cutter motels and visiting museums. This year, guests are looking to stay somewhere with a little character and offer adventure. There are a variety of ways that you can position yourself as the gateway to adventure.
For example, you might partner with trail guides or a local tour company to recommend to your customers while the other company recommends your hotel to theirs. You can help your hotel stand out by adding a little local character.
To provide a unique stay, you might add photos of the local area or knickknacks made in the area. You might consider working with small local businesses to display local art or pottery. It provides a unique feeling and local flair.
Personalized Service
What do your guests need? What would fulfill their holiday while staying at your hotel? Personalized service can be as easy as bundling your services together. For example, you might bundle the cost of a night with breakfast in your hotel’s restaurant. You can also provide bundles with entrance tickets to local attractions. Hershey Hotel offers packages that include hotel stays and spa services or the hotel stay and entrance into their theme park, making it a personalized experience for their guests.
You need a clear picture of what your average customer needs and wants and look for ways to fulfill it. Your hotel employees can help by providing outstanding customer service. Train your employees to always offer guests a helping hand, learn the guest’s name, and remain cheerful throughout any interactions.
Shorter Booking Windows With Longer Stays
Summer trends for the hotel industry in 2024 will reflect shorter booking windows but longer stays for guests. You might be looking at your future reservations, and they look slim. This might be a reflection of this trend.
Some hotels are finding an abbreviated booking window that’s so small that this week’s stays are being booked this week. It can cause frustration and make it harder for you to plan and estimate revenue and staffing needs.
To be ready for the shorter booking windows, you need to have your call center fully staffed and ready to take those reservations. You don’t want customers to look else where due to long hold times. Your reservation team needs to be efficient and ready for the shorter booking period.
You also need your staff to be ready for longer stays. In some ways, longer stays are good for your hotel because you aren’t constantly turning over the room, but customers may need additional services the longer they stay.
Prepare for All Types of Guests
After weathering the pandemic and saving money for a couple of summers, the baby boomers are ready to start traveling this summer, and you want your hotel to attract their attention. You can welcome baby boomers in a number of ways, including offering a senior discount.
The majority of baby boomers are in their senior years and looking for those discounts. You also need to tailor your marketing campaigns and ads, online and in print, to get noticed by a slightly older crowd.
Of course, baby boomers aren’t the only groups traveling. You need to be ready for all guest types and try to cater to each type. You need to have activities and specials that appeal to a wider group of travelers.
Changes in Travel From 2023 to 2024
Trends are constantly changing, and it benefits you to know how travel trends are changing from 2023 to 2024. These changes include:
- Less interest in places such as Paris and Puerto Vallarta
- Rising inbound sales calls
- More interest in health and wellness tourism
- Use of AI and other technologies
- Road trips for Gen Z
Increase in travel plans and budgets for Americans
Summer trends for the hotel industry in 2024 can be a key component in your marketing strategy or upgrades you make to your hotel or staff training.
Hoteliers Should Be Cautious of These Trends
As a hotel owner, investor, or manager, you should always be cautious of trends that require a large cash outlay. For example, if the trend was to paint all guest rooms a sunny yellow, the cost would be high, and you’d need to repaint in a year or two.
You want to invest in trends that look like long-term improvements, such as sustainability and personalized guest services. Avoid trends that require you to pigeonhole your hotel to one particular graphic or require a rebranding of your business.
Utilize Trends to Make It a Great Summer
With more information about summer trends for the hotel industry in 2024, you can tweak your current plans to adopt all or a few of the new trends, making your hotel more attractive to travelers. Whether it’s adding staff to answer the phone or adopting a more personalized approach, your hotel can flourish. When you need a partner to capitalize on your hotel’s potential, NewGen Advisory is ready to meet your needs. Contact us today.