Congratulations on making it through a very tough year! During the disrupted year that was 2020, every person on the planet learned that we can all use a little help sometimes. It would be hard to find an industry that was hit harder this year than travel and tourism. For hoteliers, every scrap of help was sorely needed. This made it all the more important to stay educated and keep up-to-date with the industry, in order to pivot and keep businesses afloat. The beautiful thing within the industry was the amount of knowledge sharing that allowed the community to learn and adjust to new situations.
It also became apparent that there would be a need to start planning for 2021, to ensure a successful rebound. Preparing today is always the best way to achieve your goals for tomorrow, especially since we know the appetite to travel is still there. Behaviours and preferences will change but it’s hard to keep travellers down for long, so it’s important to stay agile and adapt your strategies as needed.
At SiteMinder, we endeavour to make our content as useful and helpful as possible. It’s our mission to help you attract and acquire more guests to your property, and during 2020 we had a lot of popular content that we hope went some way to guiding you through and out of the crisis.
Here are the top blogs and downloads of 2020 and why you should read them if you missed out the first time:
Table of contents
Top hotel blogs of 2020
1. Essential hotel sales strategies to increase occupancy and revenue
Top performer!
Selling rooms became an impossible task at times in 2020 as flights were grounded, borders closed, and many hotels around the world were forced to shut their doors. But when travel came back online, it was never more important to have sales strategies in place.
This blog details a range of options and advice for properties of all shapes and sizes to attract as many guests as possible and out-perform competitors, including some creative ideas you might not have tried before.
For our best performing blog of the year, read it in full here.
2. Guest experience in hotels: How to achieve complete customer satisfaction (including COVID-19 tips)
Best newcomer!
Providing a fantastic guest experience has always been vital to success, but the approach one needed to take was flipped upside down in 2020. It was a huge learning curve for hoteliers to understand how they could still deliver personalised and satisfactory service in the midst of COVID-19 restrictions, but it also created the opportunity for some great innovation.
This blog gives you the rundown on best practices for guest experience as well as some tips that are social distancing appropriate.
For one of our top new publications, read the full blog here.
3. How to calculate RevPAR and other hotel performance metrics
Rising star!
Never has data and the ability to analyse it been so important. While many hoteliers were restricted with how they made decisions and what decisions they could actually make, it was vital to make the right ones. Tracking and understanding the significance of metrics allows for impactful strategies to be formed in any situation.
This blog outlines how to calculate and use key performance metrics at your hotel.
It’s popularity is growing, so don’t miss out on reading the full blog here.
4. The complete guide to hotel marketing in 2020
Must-read!
The blueprint for what good and successful marketing looks like would have been just as useful torn into pieces throughout the global pandemic, if not for some foundational elements that always stay true. Developing messages that will resonate with your audience and communicating them effectively are evergreen marketing requirements, but some serious adaptation was needed from hoteliers this year.
This blog is a complete guide to hotel marketing, including how to get it right on all platforms.
These secrets shouldn’t be missed. Read the full blog here.
5. Hotel revenue management: Strategies to boost topline revenue at your property
Consistent performer!
The world of revenue management was already becoming a bigger beast prior to this year, but as the world recovers it will be the cornerstone of running a successful hotel. The increase in data available to hoteliers via technology systems means a wealth of opportunity is available to learn and achieve desired results.
This blog gives you a reliable resource to understand the various ways you can use revenue management to increase revenue and profit, including tips on segmentation, pricing, and forecasting.
Full of always useful info, you can read the full blog here.
6. Hotel management: Definitions, operations, ideas, and software
Essential knowledge!
Hoteliers had to learn a lot about management very quickly in 2020. How do you manage a business through a crisis? How do you manage your customer base in such difficult times? How do you manage to stay on track when your personal life is also so affected? New approaches were needed to make it through.
This blog is a comprehensive guide to hotel management, with some tips that will prove useful as businesses reevaluate their plans and priorities in the new year.
Don’t miss out. Investigate the full blog here.
7. GDS hotel: What is a global distribution system?
Surprise packet!
Even though international travel and, to a large degree, business travel was almost non-existent in 2020, there remained a keen interest in the GDS. As the world begins to open back up and corporate travellers find themselves ‘on the road’ again, the GDS will remain a relevant source of bookings for hoteliers, giving them access to some of the most valuable guests on the market.
This blog provides a high level overview of the GDS, before detailing the benefits and how your hotel can use it to advantage.
Soon to be relevant again, read the full blog here.
8. Hotel pricing and room rate optimisation: The complete guide
Comprehensive!
With limited numbers of guests available, 2020 created a huge pricing headache for hoteliers. Pricing plays a key role in attracting reservations and obviously also in the profitability of your business. Trying to give guests value for money while maintaining a stable bottom line is a tough balancing act at the best of times, never mind in the aftermath of a pandemic lockdown. As with most aspects of their business, hoteliers had to adapt and innovate to make things work.
This blog is a complete guide to pricing and optimisation, offering tonnes of useful advice and strategies to implement at your property.
For one of the most in-depth pieces on the list, see the full blog here.
9. Hotel trends: The biggest indicators in the hotel and hospitality industry
Storyteller!
Suddenly the biggest trend became the fact no one could predict what was going to happen during ‘these unprecedented times’. However it wasn’t hard to work out that travel and hotel reservations would be sorely reduced during the pandemic and for some time after the initial waves. Until a vaccine becomes available worldwide, domestic travel will be a much stronger producer of bookings for hotels than international travel. This is yet another learning curve for many hotels, as they look to switch their approach to operating, marketing and pricing to accommodate the needs of guests from their own backyard.
This blog looks at some of the most prominent trends in the industry, many of which will only continue to grow as time goes by.
Full of insights, catch the full blog here.
10. 11 effective ways to boost your hotel’s midweek occupancy and revenue
Regular champion!
Finding ways to increase occupancy and revenue in slow periods or down times never seemed more appropriate. Given that even those who could travel domestically were hesitant for financial reasons, hoteliers have had to fight and scrape for every booking this year. It’s always handy to have some go-to tactics with which to increase your booking potential when business isn’t booming.
This blog provides exactly that and has been consistently popular with easy to understand advice and simple to implement plans.
Evergreen and always popular, read the full blog here.
Top hotel resources of 2020
Given the circumstances of 2020, we turned our attention to producing some content that would help hoteliers navigate through lockdown, the restart of travel, and running their property in this “new normal”.
Here are three downloadable resources hoteliers around the world are already using to their advantage. Whether you are still faced with instances of coronavirus or are starting the road to recovery at your property, you can find help here:
The best hotel apps for your property: COVID-19 recovery and beyond
The world of hotel apps is an opportunity to win and delight more guests, and continue to provide revenue for your property. Apps will also provide you with plenty of options when it comes to new ways of working, in response to COVID-19.
Click here to access the resource.
Navigating COVID-19: 10 ways to make it seamless for your hotel staff and guests
COVID-19 has proven to be a long-term challenge and the situation can change at any moment. That’s why it’s important to operate in an agile way so you can stay prepared and pivot your business if necessary.
Click here to get the full infographic.
The hotelier’s essential guide to recovery: Coronavirus (COVID-19) and domestic tourism
For most hotels, getting business back on track revolves around welcoming domestic travellers through the doors. Switching all your focus to the range of guests in this market requires a few different approaches.
