One of the biggest crazes of 2016 has to be Pokemon Go, the game sweeping millennials by storm. You may have even noticed your guests whipping out their phones to catch these virtual creatures around your property.
The game is so popular that an average user spends 43 minutes daily on the game.
Keep reading to learn more about what it is, and how your hostel can start taking advantage of it to attract more guests and increase revenue.
Pokemon Go – what is it, exactly?
Pokemon Go is a free mobile game that uses the GPS and camera of a user’s phone, augmenting the user’s reality and surroundings.
The aim of the game is to capture and evolve 151 species of Pokemon, training them at gyms and getting them to battle each other.
The reason it’s so popular is because users have to physically travel to Pokestops or gyms to get to the Pokemon, making it a highly interactive and engaging experience.
This is also the reason why many lodging providers taking advantage of the trend, driving traffic to their properties (and why yours can, too!).
What can your hostel do to adapt to the Pokemon Go trend?
1. Get listed on Yelp as being near Pokestops.
Here’s what it looks like on Yelp when users filter by Pokestops:
You can do this if you are indeed near Pokestops, or if you use Pokemon’s LURE model to drive traffic to your hostel (more on that later).
2. Offer free wifi and phone charging stations.
The game needs internet to work – and because it uses GPS, it uses up a lot of battery power.
Offer free wifi and charging stations at your restaurant to attract traffic to your food and beverage side of the business, and make sure it’s available in common areas to please existing guests.
3. Use the LURE model to increase traffic and revenue.
eHotelier explains that the LURE model is a cost-effective way to increase revenue:
“As the LURE module in PokemonGo costs about 0.60$ for 30 mins, consider that LURE is used 3 times a day for 1 hour each (during restaurant/bar or any other point of sale’s promotion hours). It will cost $9720 quarterly. This would have a minimal saving of at least 10% in the marketing spend per quarter versus spend on usual marketing techniques for areas in vicinity.”
You could assign a small budget to this activity to test it out and see how effective it is at your hostel.
4. Run targeted promotions
In addition to using the LURE model, you can easily run promotions around Pokemon Go.
For example, the Mantra Hotel Group is offering a free bowl of fries with any drink purchase at their Pokestop, or happy hour drinks!
Use your property management system’s guest database to identify which guests would be perfect for your promotion.
Then, send them emails to let them know of your new promotions. If they’re true Pokemon Go fans, they will know others who are just as passionate about it and spread the word.
Of course, you’ll need to measure and report on your efforts to see if it’s worth continuing.
You’ll need to be backed by the right technology to make this work. Use a modern PMS like GuestCentrix, which has rich guest profile, e-marketing, and reporting capabilities. If you’re interested in seeing it in action, why not get a free demonstration?
