Bergabung dengan hotel anyar dimasa pre-opening jelas berbeda dengan hotel yang telah beroperasi. Dalam perjalanan karir, saya bergabung dengan beberapa hotel 'pre-opening seperti Papandayan International Park Plaza tahun 1989 yang berganti nama menjadi Papandayan Hotel.
Tahun 2015, nasib membawaku berlabuh di Rich Palace Hotel Surabaya yang kini bernama Golden Tulip Legacy Surabaya. Selain itu beberapa hotel yang telah berjalan 6 bulan, 1 tahun, 3 tahun pada saat bergabung.
Suatu hari, saya membuka file dokumen dan menemukan tulisan baheula yang penulisnya terlupa. Semula hanya untuk pribadi, tapi catatan ini dibuang sayang. Akhirnya saya contek sedikit sebagai ilmu kita semua.
Yuk, kita simak berikut!
Rich Palace Hotel Surabaya
*Photo is hotel's collection
The pre-opening phase of a new hotel is both a big challenge and a great opportunity at the same time. We are currently going through and preparing for the opening of new hotels in various destinations throughout Europe, and are working hard to avoid common mistakes made in this process. We have listed some of our hotel pre-opening tips below.
It seems many have watched the movie ‘Field of Dreams’ with Kevin Costner, and believe the infamous phrase ‘build it and they will come’. I guess it is time for a wake-up call, because we are not building a baseball field in the middle of a cornfield in the Midwest US for some deceased legendary baseball players. No we are in business ladies and gentlemen, and we have to make money.
Investors like to see an ROI on the capital they put into the project. The hotel has to generate income, and rather sooner than later. The sooner we start making revenue, the quicker we will be able to turn the business equity profitable.
Owners, investors and developers, please be advised! Guests will not come just because you are building a new hotel. They will not come because you have thought out an innovative lodging concept. No, we will need to work hard to attract them.
And moreover, we need to start in time …
So how long up front do we have to start with our marketing, PR and other strategies to attract guests? Let’s walk through some of the key points:
Public Relation
Actually the promotion should start the day the first construction is initiated. Put up a big sign ‘Coming soon’ with some breathtaking images of what you are building to attract the attention of people walking and driving by. Make sure you change the information and images through the various stages of construction to keep people updated on your progress.
During construction all the way up to the opening is also a very easy time to create buzz with the press. Local and industry media is always curious about a new hotel opening, use it to your advantage.
You will have to do more than sending out basic press releases. Make sure your media package is intriguing and encompasses the true vision and mission statement of your hotel. Also invite the press to visit the construction site and model / demo room, and show them around. Get them excited about the project and share interesting anecdotes with them.
Rich Palace Hotel Surabaya diwaktu malam
*photo is own collection
SocialMedia
FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Blogs etc are ideal social networks to get the word out there, even before the opening. Communicate the story of the hotel online and share the progress of the construction with potential future guests.
Connect with local people to have them help you spread the message. Just last week we had a blog article for our new hotel in Crete get 200 FaceBook likes within a few days time. And the hotel is still 2 months away from the opening date.
Foto websites like Flickr and Pinterest, but also the broadcast yourself video network YouTube are great to use when it comes to promoting your new hotel or resort. Images and short films are easily shared.
Show what people can expect in the new hotel, and don’t only focus on the rooms. Show some of the delicious dishes they will be able to enjoy in your restaurant or describe the favorite cocktail of your star bartender.
You can of course also provide information of fun things to do for tourists in your destination. Your hotel does not have to be open yet to position yourself as the local expert concierge.
Website
An important factor in the positioning of a website on Google, by far the most influential search engine, is age or history. Therefore it is to be recommended to launch a 1 page type of introduction website the day you have decided to start the hotel project. It should be even before you have the complete financing together. Really it can’t be early enough.
During the first phases of construction you can launch an under-construction/coming soon type of website explaining people what is to come.
In terms of launching true hotel website it is important to take into consideration that it takes time for the various pages of such site to be indexed in the different search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc). We recommend launching the site (with temporary images and content) 18 months prior, but certainly no later than 12 months prior to the opening.
SEO
The logic here is the same as with the hotel website, time is of the essence. And especially if you are located in a highly competitive market, don’t expect to just show up on the first pages of the search engines because you launched your website.
Search engine optimization is a lengthy and tedious process that should really start 12 months prior to the opening date of your hotel. Also sufficient budget has to be assigned. Many hoteliers think spending €500 per month in online marketing is enough. How much return do you think this will generate? If we are using a 5 to 1 ratio, this will bring in €2.500 per month.
Guess you will fall a bit short if your site needs to generate €/$ 25.000 per month. In general start working with an 8 to 1 ratio. So if you need to generate €/$ 100.000 in direct sales each month, budget about €/$ 12.500 per month in online marketing spending.
In our last article with tips on pre-opening a hotel we focused on PR, the website and SEO. We will now expand our pre-opening checklist with key points concerning revenue management, distribution, reservations, sales and the systems needed to make your success story complete.
Revenue Management
Yep, you are thinking straight, mission control, when should they start? Your chief number cruncher should be part of the project from the first moment. I would say even before the general manager (read operations manager) even joins. He will be able to help you with working through the numbers to get to a realistic business plan for the investors.
The implementation of revenue management should start no later than 12 months prior to opening. Segment strategies, demand calendars, pricing grids, competitive rate surveys and a lot more would need to be developed. This is a very detailed and time consuming job. Running last minute on your strategy, the path of success to ROI, is not worth a risk taking on with such high an investment you are making.
S&M Team Rich Palace Hotel Surabaya
Distribution
Contracting distribution channels is another task that takes more time than anyone can imagine. You are not only dependent on your own team, but also on the speed on OTA (online travel agencies) in loading new properties into their systems. The process of signing a contract and loading it can easily take up to 3 months and sometimes even longer.
You need to go live for sales at least 3 months prior to opening in a city hotel, and if you are a resort in a summer destination, you need to be ready to 6 month prior. Tour Operators generally contract 12 months ahead by the way.
And not to forget the dreary task of convincing distribution channels to contract your property and publish it live for sales even though you don’t have your final permit (fire safety etc).
Reservations
So the hotel needs to go live 3 months prior to opening, and the website goes live 12 months before. Who will pick-up the phone?
We recommend having an assistant taking inquiry details initially. We can call back interested people once we get more organized. But from 3 months prior to the opening the reservations call center needs to be up and running.
This department as often seen as an operational one, but is fact it is purely sales office. Entering with a new hotel into the market we cannot miss one opportunity to have someone book a room. Pressure is high enough to start generating revenue. Let’s make sure we have this point of sales well trained and ready to go.
Sales
If your hotel is aiming to attract business travelers we will have to start pitching all local businesses within our surroundings that could drive guests to the hotel. Schedule visits daily to these companies from 9 months prior to the opening to win them away from the hotel they are currently using.
Give them free coupons for coffee and cake or lunch discount coupons in order to get them to come over to get to know your hotel. A new hotel has a plus which existing hotels cannot compete with. Introduce your potential clients to your services, including restaurant, meeting rooms and banquet space.
If you will also need international corporate and mice business, make sure enough travel expense s budgeted for. You will need to send a sales manager on the road to explain to travel and MICE buyers why they should start using your hotel.
Bringing in business is hard work!
Systems
Yes we will need some technology as well. You will need a PMS, Web Booking Engine, CRS, GDS, Channel Manager, Rate Shopper, CRM. All need to be selected, purchased and installed between 6 to 3 months prior to the opening.
Soft Opening
It’s getting awfully close now to D-Day and all should be ready. However often we opt for a so called soft opening to quietly open the hotel. It allows for the staff and systems to be tested and fine-tuned.
Moreover it is a great opportunity to take press and industry blogger on a tour of the hotel without the burden of operational pressure of a full hotel. Reporters really appreciate all the help you can give them with preparing a story on this new hotspot in town.
Sales staff should invite corporate decision makers to test the hotel. Treat them like VIP's. Wine and dine them, and turn them into ambassadors of your business. If you overwhelm them with an unforgettable experience they will start spreading word-of-mouth for you.
Recruiting the Team
We tend to overestimate how easy it is to find a good management team. Experience has taught owners opening hotels it is not. Moreover finding a highly qualified pre-opening team that has develop, implement and execute your strategies is even more difficult. You will need to start recruiting this team 2 years before the opening to be able to find the right people for the job, and have them start in time.
Summing it up
As you can see, there is almost no time to waste when it comes to opening a hotel. Pre-opening budgets have to reflect the investments necessary to do all these preparations. Don’t look at these items as cost. Instead it should be part of your investment.
Revenue management, marketing and sales staff has to start at least 12 months, and some even 18 months before the opening. Many owners think as they are managers, and are hence highly qualified, they will be able to do the work in a much shorter time frame. But waiting till the last moment and starting 3 months before will turn out much more costly.
Also don’t put your entire marketing budget in the grand opening. This is just one day, and it will be impossible to reach enough potential business to fill your hotel in the long run. Marketing is a constant long term effort instead.
Opening a fully staffed hotel without guests puts your overall investment at risk. So please start in time!
Better even, start too early and aim for over-performance …
Cheers,
Rich Palace Surabaya at MG Table Top
Quote: "The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it"
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