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By Ameen Ahsan Your distribution strategy, in many respects, is the key to your reservations success at your hotel. The more you distribute the rooms and services that you offer at your hotel, the more guests you will attract and the more your hotel will grow. Developing an effective distribution strategy is critical, and implementing it carefully is an even more important step. Here are three key steps to creating a successful hotel distribution strategy: 1. Business mix optimization: Understanding the different traveler segments who book at your property allows you to diversify your business mix and optimize your distribution strategy. In most cases, travelers can be broken down into two different groups: lower-yield segments and higher-yield segments. Lower-yield segments often derive from wholesalers. These guests will book your rooms early, but they also have a tendency to book your rooms throughout the entire year. Higher-yield segments are often generated from OTAs and even your own hotel booking engine. 2. Overview of online and offline channels: Your distribution strategy needs to include a diverse range of channels, both online and offline. This allows you to promote your hotel property to the greatest number of guests from around the world. Online channels to work with include OTAs, your own direct booking engine through your website and social media platforms. Offline channels that you should consider partnering with include voice reservation services as well as wholesalers and tour operators. With online channels, your hotel marketing campaigns are able to reach every corner of the earth. An increasing number of travellers are relying on online travel sites in order to research prices, opportunities and activities for their upcoming trips. Without online channels, you will be left behind in the past as the rest of the industry moves forward into the future. While online channels are pivotal, offline channels are not obsolete. Offline channels have the ability to attract local residents as well as older travelers who may not be as comfortable working with the Internet. 3. Technology to tie it all togetherDeveloping a pricing strategy and establishing distribution channels is an important part of your overall distribution strategy, but it’s not complete until you invest in the right technology to seamlessly tie all of these components together. A business solution designed specifically for hotels will allow you to connect with your various distribution channels, update your pricing based on market demands and consumer trends, and maximize your bookings. You will want to include a direct online booking engine, a channel manager, and a property management system in your hotel technology suite. —-- Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting (AASC) provides Business Research & Management Consulting services for hospitality projects (hotels, resorts, convention centers) including feasibility studies, management plans, business model development across Kerala and GCC. AASC is based at HiLite Business Park, Calicut (Kozhikode), Kerala. And serves clients across Kerala and Gulf (GCC) countries. To know more about AASC services, please call +91-7558-900-800 or email info@ameenahsan.com
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Why Organizational Structures are important for Hotels and Resorts?
*By Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting* Every hotel, whether it’s big or small, needs an organizational structure to carry out its daily operations. It is used to help divide tasks, specify the job for each department, and delegate authority within and among departments. Effective job specifications will increase work productivity and efficiency. Each hotel organizes workforce in different ways. Here shows a medium size hotel organizational structure. It was basically segmented into six divisions: finance, front office, human resources, food and beverage, sales and logistics. Financial The financial department’s role is to record financial transactions, prepare and interpret financial statements, and deal with cost accounting and cost control. Front Office The front office (room management) department handles customer service including front desk service, reservation, laundry, concierge, telephone, and housekeeping service. A hotel’s front office is where guests are greeted when they arrive, where they get registered and assigned to a room, and where they check out. It’s almost the most important department as it often offers contact with customers. Human Resources The human resources department is given the responsibility to handle employee recruitment, arrange staff training, make promotion and disciplinary decisions, and check staff attendance. Food & Beverage The food and beverage department is responsible for all of the dining rooms, restaurants, bars, kitchen, clean up services, etc. Here we basically divide F/B department into two parts: kitchen and restaurant. Kitchen department is responsible for food preparation including main food, dessert, side food, and beverage. Restaurant department‘s role is to provide dining room operation, waiter service, food runner, and clean up service. Sales The responsibility for sales department is to sell the hotel facilities and services to individuals and groups. They sell rooms, food, beverage or special service such as massage and laundry to potential customers through advertising or direct contacts. Logistics The logistics department is responsible for tracking for daily supplies, purchasing appliances, and keeping security. Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting "where visions are realised" 7th Floor, Hi Lite Business Park, Calicut http://www.ameenahsan.com +91-7558-900-800 info@ameenahsan.com *Kerala's finest experts for Feasibility Studies, Strategy Reports / Project Reports, Business Models and Vision Realisation* Why Market Study is necessary before venturing in to Hotels and Resorts?
By *Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting The Global Hotels and Resorts industry experienced strong growth over the past five years. As a result of a steady rise in global travel rates, international tourism boomed over the period, as the number of global tourist arrivals increased. Moreover, the infusion of tourist dollars has benefited hotels and resorts, as room rates have also increased, causing industry revenue to also grow. Over the next five years, the industry is expected to continue its upward climb. When venturing in to a Hotel or Resort Project, It is very necessary to carry out a market study as Hotel and Resort Projects involve huge amounts of Investment. Business market study is the process of collecting data to determine whether a particular product/service will satisfy the needs of your customers. With effective market research, your company can gain invaluable information about your competitors, economic shifts, demographics, the current market trends and the spending traits of your customers. Customers choose hotels and other hospitality services for a variety of reasons. From location to facilities and perks, companies have to be sure that they’re providing what buyers are looking for. The role of marketers is to identify what factors make customers choose a particular hospitality service, and this requires extensive research. By speaking to current and former guests, monitoring customer reviews on websites, reviewing industry data and more, marketing professionals learn what makes a hospitality service stand out, as well as how it can be improved. When designing a Hotel or a Resort, the promoters have to have a thorough understanding of what fits in for their project and what does not fit in. A market study before committing investments would be a safe play. With the economy becoming more and more competitive with each passing day, having apt knowledge about the concerns and preferences of your customers has become integral for any business. Market study is the best way to increase customer satisfaction, understand the factors that affect your business, and to elevate your performance. *Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting* "where Strategies are framed" 7th Floor, Hi Lite Business Park, Calicut http://www.ameenahsan.com +91-7558-900-800 info@ameenahsan.com *Kerala's finest experts for Feasibility Studies, Strategy Reports / Project Reports, Business Models and Vision Realisation* Why do a *SWOT* analysis before you invest in Hotel project?
By *Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting* Hotel business is a business of good reputation and prestige. A very good identity to its investors or promoters. It's a glamorous business especially if the property is 4 star or 5. T hough the growth of tourism industry and the business travel has increased the profitability of the hotel segment, it still has its own risks. *Starting any hotel anywhere will not work*. There are wide variety of options to choose from, ranging from 1 star to 5 star and leisure hotel to business hotel. Each one caters to a different customer base, and wrong decision can mean crores of Rupees wasted. Among the many tools that we use to analyse the ideal property is the SWOT Analysis. SWOT is the understanding of the strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. While the strength and weakness is about the promoter, the opportunity and threat is about the market. To succeed in identifying the right hotel segment for you, you need to know your strength and weakness in the hospitality industry. You should also know the present and future opportunities like unmet demands, new developments happening. You should also be aware of the threats that can destroy your dreams. Do the right SWOT, and start right. Or engage the best experts in the industry to do it for you. *Ameen Ahsan Strategy Consulting* "where visions are realised" 7th Floor, Hi Lite Business Park, Calicut http://www.ameenahsan.com/ +91-7558-900-800 info@ameenahsan.com *Kerala's finest experts for Feasibility Studies, Strategy Reports / Project Reports, Business Models and Vision Realisation* |
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