Holiday Traffic: Keeping up with the Flow
Holiday preparations are in full swing and most hoteliers already have a game plan. Following are a few tips you can put into place today to help keep the holiday traffic flowing smoothly in your hotel.
- Check your search rankings – Spend a few minutes searching for hotels in your area, and see which pop up on the front page. If your property isn’t one of them, get with your team to see what you can do to be closer to the top. Be sure your contact information is easy to find on your website, as well.
- Gear up your team – High volumes and road-weary guests will put added stress on your staff. True hospitality pros thrive in a high-pressure environment, so be sure they are aware that you notice and appreciate their hard work and professionalism. Reinforce teamwork, incentivize priorities, and maintain a cheerful attitude across all departments.
- Mobilize – A mobile app can take a lot of pressure off your staff. One of the biggest benefits is a major reduction in calls to the front desk, freeing your staff up to be even more in tune to guests. Mobile check-in eases queue frustrations, while virtual concierge and in-app housekeeping requests will streamline tasks and keep your guests happy. (Psst. You can get started with our app, used in top hotels around the world, for free.)
- Make jolly the lines – If things get busy and lines in your hotel grow long, embrace the bustle of the season by passing around cookies and hot cocoa, playing festive music in your lobby, and creating beautiful scenes for the social media fans to photograph while they wait.
Best of luck during the holiday rush, and stay tuned this month for more on technology plans and trends for 2015.