The evolution of travelers and the hospitality industry has
presented an exciting challenge and opportunity: How can you use technology to
monetize every square foot efficiently, giving your staff more time to deliver
remarkable guest experiences?
Traditional measures of success, including the beloved
metric of room occupancy, are outdated. To be truly successful in hospitality
today, you need to adopt a more creative approach to monetizing your property
and embrace technology as an enabler of greater opportunities.
A fresh look at the modern guest
Today’s guests aren’t just traveling with a singular goal,
like R&R, business or “finding themselves.” Modern guests are blending
their purposes for travel. They’re combining business travel with pleasure or
family getaways, seeking to discover their community or experience new places.
Additionally, travelers today have high expectations. They want
what they want when they want it, and they want bookings to be digital and
mobile-optimized for easy planning on the go.
It's a lot to deliver, but if you can get creative, you
might find that you can satisfy the needs of today’s guests, grow your profit
fairly effortlessly and even discover greater opportunities to connect with
guests.
Occupancy: Not just rooms
With changing guest expectations comes a need to redefine
key metrics, starting with occupancy. By defining occupancy as the percentage
of rooms booked for overnight stays, you’re limiting what’s possible.
True occupancy today is better defined as maximizing the
utility and profitability of every space within your property and using those
spaces 24/7/365 – or at least close to that.
This means extending bookings beyond guest rooms to monetize
– and rate manage – any (and every) area of your property. It also means thinking
beyond the typical overnight stay and using your booking engine to offer hourly
or day use rather than leaving a room empty.
That is how you reach 100% occupancy in the new era of
hospitality. This view gives you more opportunities to grow revenue, loyalty
and experience.
Reimagine your spaces
From outdoor spaces to meeting rooms, from an underused
lobby to fitness areas, you could have a gold mine of opportunity sitting right
in front of you.
Let’s start with outdoor spaces. They’re highly visible, easily
accessible and a great opportunity to attract not just your guests but community
members too. Imagine what could be possible if you turned garden areas into
pop-up cafes available for rent to local vendors. It’s a great way to keep
guests on site (which means growing your share of guest wallet) and attract
locals to discover your property.
The ground floor is typically the busiest part of a hotel,
hosting the lobby, restaurants and other facilities. If yours has empty areas,
you’ll want to take another look at how you could transform those spaces into
profit.
Why not turn an empty table into a co-working space available
to rent by the day or with a monthly membership? Add a coffee bar to generate
sales and visitors for the morning and turn it into a venue for networking
events or creative classes at night.
You might find that these open new opportunities to attract
long-stay guests and people from the neighborhood, helping you grow revenue more
sustainably.
Same spaces, more revenue
Guest rooms are the core of your hotel, but their potential
extends far beyond the typical overnight stays. The same goes for meeting rooms, which are typically rented by the day.
Offering bedrooms or suites for day use can fill gaps in
occupancy and attract a different segment of customers who might not need to
stay overnight but still want to enjoy your amenities.
At the other end of the spectrum are long-stay guests: those
people who want to book a room for months, providing you with stable revenue
and reducing operational strain. The right hospitality cloud can support
different lengths of stay and rates in one system, making it easier for both guests
and staff.
Then there’s the parking lot. On-site parking is convenient
for guests, but it could also be a revenue-generating opportunity if it’s easy
to rate manage or put in front of guests (and non-guests).
Think about the potential boost to your bottom line if you
could automate rates to be higher during evenings and weekends. Or maybe you’re
catering to daytime visitors and 9-5 is an opportunity for more. Now, think
really big. Could you even open up unused spots to non-guests too and offer
monthly or weekly parking subscriptions at a special rate?
And what if all of this was available in a unique,
customizable booking engine or visible to guests during booking or online
check-in?
We see this as a massive – and untapped – opportunity, which
is why we’ve expanded the functionality of our property management system (PMS) to make managing parking
spaces as easy as managing rooms. We even put them all in the same dashboard
and timeline for maximum simplicity.
Leveraging modern tech
Integrating modern, future-focused and innovative technology into your operations is crucial for maximizing space management and generating revenue.
A property management system can streamline the way guests book different spaces for different lengths of time and give staff a clear, concise view of the bookings and availability.
The future of hospitality: Beyond beds
The hospitality industry is shifting toward a more dynamic, experience-led model, driven by technology and a willingness to rethink traditional spaces and services.
From subscription models to innovative room usage, a successful future in hospitality requires being able to diversify revenue streams and provide a tailored, memorable experience for guests.
Mews, with its forward-thinking approach and comprehensive hospitality cloud, is poised to support this evolution. Embrace these changes, and you’ll be well-positioned to thrive in the ever-evolving hospitality landscape.