Have you ever thought about marketing the town, city or rural area in which your hotel is located?

If not – why not? Destination marketing is something that hoteliers are increasingly investing time in, and for good reason.

What is destination marketing?

Destination marketing is a promotional strategy whereby you include lots of detail about your locality when advertising your hotel.

This can be done in conjunction with hotel specific features or completely on it’s own. Therefore, if you want to talk about the beautiful theatre that has recently been renovated in your town without mentioning your hotel – go for it!

Destination marketing is designed to put your hotel at the centre of wherever it’s located. It’ll give people more of a reason to visit and become a real differentiator if you get it right.

Here are five reasons destination marketing should play a role in your hotel’s promotional efforts.

1. People need plenty of reasons to book a room

Even if you have an established returning client base and plenty of brand recognition, modern hotel guests increasingly need plenty of reasons to book a room.

A great rate, welcoming atmosphere and enticing food and beverage offering are all important aspects of your hotel offering, but what about its locality?

The more you can highlight the benefits of visiting your area, the more likely you are to pique the interests of potential guests.

2. Guests will look to you for local knowledge

Think about the number of times your staff are approached every day by guests for local knowledge.

  • “Where’s the best place to grab breakfast away from the hotel?”
  • “Where do you recommend we take the kids today?”
  • “We fancy a hike – where should we go?”

Guests naturally look to you for local knowledge and expertise. If you can offer it without hesitation, you’ll deliver one of the most important guest services – and they won’t forget it.

3. It’ll reflect brilliantly on your hotel’s brand

The more knowledgeable your team is about the local area, the more impressed your guests will be.

This is a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition. If you can recommend the best place to grab a coffee or provide an invaluable insight into the best times to visit a local attraction, it’ll reflect brilliantly on your hotel’s brand.

Chances are, your competition probably aren’t spending quite so much time on their own knowledge about the area, and that’s a gap you can immediately fill.

4. You’ll find more partnership opportunities

One of the best things about destination marketing is that it provides loads of opportunities for new partnerships.

For instance, if you decide to write a blog post about the best golf courses in the area, why not try and partner with a couple of them? In doing so, you can join up your marketing efforts and advertise exclusive offers for joint customers.

When it comes to destination marketing, it really is a collaborative affair. In fact, you may find that lots of potential partners in your area are already investing time in destination marketing, and they can probably provide plenty of inspiration for you to get started and to get in touch with them.

5. Guests will be more likely to return

If your hotel delivers a brilliant guest experience and awesome knowledge about the local area, guests will be more likely to return.

For example, if you send out a marketing campaign to coincide with the new golfing season and link it to the fantastic new partnership you have with a local club (see tip 4), the bookings you gain may well become annual affairs.

Remember – modern guests need plenty of reason to visit your hotel, but they need even more reason to return. It’s why destination marketing is a key aspect of any hotel loyalty program.

Wrapping up

Have we convinced you to invest some time in destination marketing? We hope so; it could be the most important marketing decision you make during 2020, after all.

CMS Hospitality holds over 30 years of experience in delivering hospitality software solutions. GuestCentrix offers the most complete solution in hospitality software, whether you’re running a hotel, a resort or a hostel. Our highly experienced support and installations team holds a unique understanding of the hospitality industry and will aim to provide software that suits your property’s needs.

Call us today at (+61) 2 9440 9711, or email us at sales@cmshospitality.com. We will be happy to guide you to the GuestCentrix solution that’s right for you.