For this assignment, you will need to read the article attached: “What hotels are doing to bring back their guests this Summer”.
In a brief paper, after reading the article, you will need to identify a hotel (that you’ve worked at, that you’ve stayed in, that you are familiar with, it can even be our Hilton here on campus) you will need to write a summation of two possible promotions/marketing ideas that could be created to attract Summer business. Make sure to detail what type of Traveler you think the hotel you’ve chosen should be pursuing for your promotion ideas.
This paper should be approximately one paragraph in length. You may use a 12 pt font of any font.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Hotels are getting creative to attract summer guests
By Christopher Elliott
Columnist
March 30, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. EDT
The Lafayette Hotel in San Diego’s trendy North Park district wants you,
and it isn’t afraid to appeal to your sense of nostalgia. It is one of many
new hotel projects vying for your booking this summer.
Pay no heed to the swimming pool designed by Olympic medalist and
Tarzan actor Johnny Weissmuller. And ignore the pictures of the hotel’s
founder hobnobbing with Hollywood stars such as Ava Gardner and Bob
Hope.
On a recent afternoon, the hotel’s general manager, Dieter Hissin, led me
downstairs, past the hotel’s signature attractions, and into an aging
ballroom. “This is where they filmed the scene in the movie ‘Top Gun,’ ” he
explains. “You know, where Tom Cruise sings ‘You’ve Lost That Loving
Feeling’ to Kelly McGillis.”
The Lafayette, which is in the middle of a top-to-bottom renovation, is
restoring the bar just in time for the release of a “Top Gun” sequel in May.
Hissin says the timing is right to bring ’80s-loving tourists back to the
Lafayette.
He’s not the only hotel general manager wondering how to get travelers
back.
“Hotels are getting creative,” says Jennifer Dohm, a spokesperson for
Hotels.com. As resorts look to the summer travel season, they are adding
new room experiences, introducing promotional rates and waiving fees.
There’s a reason for the creativity: The past two years have been difficult
for hotels, with many travelers opting for staycations and vacation rentals
over more traditional accommodations. Hotels that cater to corporate
travelers have suffered the most and are looking to 2022 as a way to fasttrack their recovery.
“For hotels, marketing promotions are a tried-and-true way of attracting
guests,” says Amanda Belarmino, an assistant professor at the University
of Nevada at Las Vegas. “Many hotels used the closures as an opportunity
to renovate their properties, and many of these properties are seeing
benefits from these changes.”
The folks in marketing know they can’t turn you into a guest without first
getting your attention. If a new look, attraction or amenity will do it, then
they’re willing to try.
The Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles last year unveiled recent
renovations, which cost $2.5 billion. Everything at the Fairmont, except
maybe the modernist facade, is new. It cut the number of rooms roughly
in half, to 400, added a new spa, and opened Lumière Brasserie, a French
restaurant. The hotel’s owners hope to turn it into the hottest property in
L.A. as the pandemic wanes, and they’re looking at this summer as an
opportunity to recapture its glory days. That’s a tall order, but a few billion
dollars definitely puts the Fairmont in contention.
The Hamilton Princess Hotel & Beach Club in Bermuda has traditionally
seen itself as an oasis for culture-seeking travelers; it features about 300
original works of art from artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein
and Pablo Picasso. Last year, the hotel kicked it up a notch, offering an
art-inspired package that includes a private tour of the hotel’s collection,
plus art-inspired amenities and passes to the Bermuda National Gallery.
Executives hope those packages will inspire more visitors as travel picks
up.
CitizenM, the Netherlands-based boutique hotel chain that opened its first
Los Angeles property Aug. 23, hired a curator to add original art to its
rooms and marked its opening with an exhibit by local photographer
Corinne Schiavone, whose images appeared on the hotel’s facade. Not to
be outdone, the hypermodern Dream Hollywood hotel, in conjunction
with the Crypt Gallery, unveiled an NFT (non-fungible token) art gallery
in August — the hotel has a massive wall of screens in its lobby —
featuring works from some of Los Angeles’s top digital artists.
Other properties looking to increase their appeal are looking backward
rather than forward. Late last year, the Alexandrian, a luxury hotel in
Alexandria, Va., introduced a package that allows guests to book an
evening in its Carlyle Suite and get treated like 1920s royalty. There’s a car
with a private driver, monogrammed bathrobes, and sparkling wine on
ice. There’s also a VIP dining experience in the Cocktail Garden with a
custom tasting menu from its on-site restaurant, King & Rye. Rates start
at $5,000 a night.
Will these gambits work? Maybe, maybe not.
In the end, good customer service is the bottom line for hotels, whatever
novelties they offer returning travelers. Guests such as Kristen Bello have
noticed some changes in their hotel experiences, such as improved
cleaning protocols and countless promises to keep rooms “covid clean.”
But that’s about it, says the retired teacher from Raleigh, N.C.
“I haven’t seen anything that would make me think that hotels are trying
to gain my business — yet,” she says.
Hotels know they can’t just offer a glitzy weekend package and expect
travelers such as Bello to overlook bad service. We’re about to find out if
all the effort was worth it.
PLEASE NOTE
Potential travelers should take local and national public health directives
regarding the pandemic into consideration before planning any trips.
Travel health notice information can be found on the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s interactive map showing travel
recommendations by destination and the CDC’s travel health notice
webpage.
By Christopher Elliott
Elliott is a consumer advocate, journalist and co-founder of the advocacy
group Travelers United. E-mail him at
ch***@el*****.org
. Twitter
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