Marketing Strategies that Help You Avoid Discounting

Expert: Glenn Haussman, Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Interactive and Adjunct Professor, NYU

Discounting. Hoteliers do it way too quickly and frequently. But there are ways to avoid discounting when occupancy is down. In this episode with Glenn Haussman, Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Interactive and Adjunct Professor at New York University, you will learn tips on how to:

• Stop discounting in the first place
• Explain the value-adds that make your hotel worth the price
• Make emotional connections with your guests

Captions:
1:25 When occupancy is down, there’s a tendency to discount to drive volumes up
1:50 Hoteliers discount way too quickly and frequently
2:20 To avoid discounting, stop doing it in the first place
2:35 Internet is first window the guest has to your brand
3:40 What can hotels do to justify higher rates than competitors?
4:10 Explain the value-adds that make your hotel worth the price
5:40 Explain every single thing in clear, simple language on your homepage
6:15 Shoppers are using other sites to do hotel searches and comparisons
7:20 Accurately gauge your competition and where you fit against them
8:05 Don’t focus on rates alone – Many hotels are under-charging for rooms
8:25 You can certainly charge more if you have better amenities and services
9:00 Too many hotels jumped on the discounting game
9:20 Las Vegas casinos understand bundling experiences into packages at a single price
10:00 Best ideas are those that that don’t cost a lot of money to implement
10:30 Understand who your guests are and figure out ways to make them happy
11:10 Make an emotional connection with your guests