Hospitality PR – Need of the hour to promote staycation or holistay

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your very busy schedule to read my blog(s). I really feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column. Friends, presenting 59th blog titled “Hospitality PR – Need of the hour to promote staycation or holistay”.

Covid-19 pandemic shut down almost overnight (UNWTO, 2020). The pandemic has confronted the hospitality industry with an unprecedented challenge. Strategies to flatten the COVID-19 curve such as community lockdowns, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, travel and mobility restrictions have resulted in temporary closure of many hospitality businesses and significantly decreased the demand for businesses that were allowed to continue to operate (Bartik 2020).

While the hospitality industry is slowly recovering, the COVID-19 crisis continues to exert profound impacts on how hospitality businesses operate. Hospitality businesses are expected to make substantial changes to their operations in the COVID-19 business environment in order to ensure employees’ and customers’ health and safety, and enhance customers’ willingness to patronize their business (Gössling 2020). 

Friends, Hospitality refers to the relationship process between a guest and a host, and is also refers to the act or practice of being hospitable, that is, the reception and entertainment of the guests, visitors or strangers, with generosity and goodwill.

 

Hospitality industry refers to hotels, restaurants, resorts, clubs and any other service position that deals with tourists. The root of hospitality is in social and cultural life, which shaped the hospitality industry like environmental concerns, economic changes, new legislations affecting the hospitality industry, increase in business travelers and many more.

 

The hospitality business, in particular, being that it is entirely service based, highly depends on hospitality PR to create their image and shape their story. PR creates an image of the hotel for the public to consume. This is supposed to be an image that portrays a luxurious lifestyle filled with comforts. PR also offer amazing and useful travel tips to the public as far as hospitality is concerned.

 

As it is with most businesses, the hospitality business largely depends on public perception and acceptance. If people think that Hotel-A offers the best service and genuinely cares about their comfort and well-being, they are more likely to give their business to Hotel-A. Based on that experience and how well all of their concerns are handled, they are likely to recommend Hotel-A to friends and family.

 

Hotels and restaurants need PR because only through deliberate and persistent marketing and public relations activities they can:

 

·        Identify any problem areas that they might have

·        Change any negative perceptions of opinions that the public might hold about their establishment

·        Create synergy between all the parties involved in successfully running th establishment i.e. employees, vendors, media, and most importantly the customers.

·        Offer great lifestyle and travel tips for potential guests

 

Hospitality PR creates the kind of narrative that you want; to paint the kind of picture you like and to influence how people see your hotel, restaurant and the resort. Hospitality PR is about creating and managing image of a hotel, restaurant etc. Hospitality PR maximizes national and international media exposure regarding travel and stay for hotel clients in key markets, creating top of mind recognition with travel, food and beverage, beauty/spa, business, design and mainstream media. But the real question is - how to attract attention of the media to a hotel or the restaurant? For a new hotel it could be relatively easy but for an existing hotel or a restaurant sometimes it’s hard to have the media coverage, especially when they badly need it.

 

Media relations involve building relationships with journalists. The end goal is to get the hotel / restaurant / resort etc. included in travel articles, business articles, etc. This media coverage creates a third-party endorsement of the property.

 

To get media attention, the hotel should start working on building a relationship with the concerned media journalist and bloggers. They must keep in mind journalists are always on the lookout for new information and stories. They must create a list of journalists, bloggers, and critics to communicate with them regularly. Review their stories and audience and create a story that would interest their readers. Prepare a turnkey story with an interesting angle, support it with photos, video and quotes. Anything that will make the news story a worth read will get the establishment invaluable media coverage. Keep a record of when they (media) have written about the hotel / restaurant.

 

The active ones will become go to journalists, the hotel should contact with exclusive or important information.

 

Prepare a media kit of the hotel or restaurant. Media kit may contain a pitch explaining why the hotel / restaurant is approaching the journalist or blogger and the following documents;

·        A press release about the hotel/restaurant.

·        Backgrounder with historical information on the hotel /restaurant and its owner or chef;

·        A fact sheet listing specific features, information, and details;

·        Hotel / Restaurant marketing messages such as the hotel’s / restaurant’s values;

·        Service descriptions;

·        Case studies, awards and testimonials;

·        Biographies and photos of the management team and key people in the organization, including quotes;

·        Good-quality, high-resolution photos of the hotel/ restaurant, food, drinks;

·        Past media coverage if any;

·        Sample menus;

·        Marketing collateral such as corporate brochures and film about your hotel / restaurant.

·        USP of the establishment

 

Hospitality PR is more than just media relations efforts. There are many other tactics and strategies that can be implemented to reach the target audience.

 

·        Be first or be unique. A new menu or dish, using a new cooking technique or anything that is likely to change the terrain is good fodder for news.

·        News that has a community angle/hook will help in getting valuable local exposure.

·        Share human interest stories. Everybody loves inspirational stories. If the establishment has helped someone overcome their problems, have a program for hard-to-employ staffers, meals, have an all-woman team or woman chef, or are helping tackle a community problem, talk about it.

·        Show that the hotel/restaurant is up on the latest trends. A new menu that taps into the hottest food craze could create interest.

·        Share real news. Whether it’s an expansion, an important new employee, or a new/special menu, journalists like real news. Make sure to send out a press release every time something truly new is happening with the hotel / restaurant.

·        If hotel/restaurant chef is outstanding or uses special techniques then leverage this in articles in print media or interviews in electronic media.

·        Create special events i.e. consumer promotions, grand openings, ground breaking ceremonies, charity and fund raising events, fashion shows, theatre and dance shows, talk shows, jewellery exhibitions, painting exhibitions, or even a media stunt e.g. film shootings, film promotions, film premiers.

·        Post Vlogs, or video blogs on hotel / restaurants’ web site. Finding a Vlog to review that might include clips of vacation fun posted by past guests can connect with web visitors that encourage them to visit the hotel/ restaurant.

·        Create a website with updated content from a blog, a site with new podcasts, a site that creates a virtual experience for consumers to return multiple times, learning more about what the hotel / restaurant have to offer and building a loyalty to the hotel / restaurant.

 

To sum up;

 

Focal points in Hospitality P R are Entry to Exit Gate, Rooms, Restaurants, Coffee Shop, SPA, Banquets, Food & Beverage, Room Service, Courtesy and Cleanliness. Target publics of Hospitality PR is Domestic travelers, International travelers, Employees and their families, Suppliers, Day to day customers, Opinion formers, Local communities, Media, Investors, Financial institution, Banker, Local and Central Government, Competitors, Hospitality organisations, Hospitality educators, and the City.

 

Hospitality PR provides ideas on service, staff training at all levels more particularly those handling and interacting with public, design, menu writing, and even naming of the establishment.

 

Hospitality P R is all about building relationships with the bottom line to a hotel's balance sheet - its customers. Today, getting the consumer's attention to tell them about your property is not easy. Today's consumers respond to dialogue, relationships, interactions, and honest communications. Businesses in any industry, including hospitality, need to implement and execute integrated marketing campaigns. More and more, these campaigns find public relations taking the lead because PR has always been about relationships with multiple audiences.

 

Thank you for reading the blog.

 

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