The Booking Slump in the Shoulders

Many hotels suffer a booking slump in their shoulder seasons. Of course, those seasons vary by location, weather patterns, economic trends, and other factors, but you can do things to keep bookings up when things slow down.

A lot of Texas stays pretty temperate throughout the winter, and visitors can enjoy the outdoors throughout the season. Fix your firepits and fireplaces for optimal coziness, heat your hot tubs, and promote your winter amenities actively.

Slow times are also a good time to shore up your relationships with your loyal clients and show your involvement with your local community. 

Marketing Maintenance

If winter is your slow season, take the opportunity to review your marketing efforts.

Optimize your website:

• • Do a critical review of your content. Make sure you provide thorough descriptions of your amenities. 
  • Use relevant keywords on pages and titles. 
  • Use high-quality images and videos and ensure they are current with the season. 
  • Create descriptive URLs.
  • Include guest reviews, both positive and negative.
  • Avoid distracting ads.
  • Include a user-friendly FAQ section for your guests.

Optimize your booking engine:

• Your booking engine is the most essential tool for direct booking. Off-season is a good time to test the usability and functionality of 3rd party software. 

Fine-tune your target marketing:

• Off-season is an excellent time to review your data on customer interests, travel purposes, and budgets.
• Email marketing is still highly effective, especially when you can segment your markets and send personalized messages and relevant offers.

Get creative with your special offers.

Stay active on social media:

• Your social media strategy should include year-round promotional efforts, but some platforms like Instagram allow you to expand your seasonal storytelling in engaging ways. 

Upsell and Cross-sell:

• Offer travelers higher room categories at booking or check-in, and consider discounted rates. Take advantage of opportunities to cross-sell other services and amenities like your bar, restaurant, or spa.  

Review your SEO: 

• Ensure you track your traffic and get the most from your SEO efforts.

 

Tips & Suggestions

• Offer winter-themed packages and discounts. While Texas is not a snow and ski destination, our mild temperatures allow us to enjoy the outdoors for much of the year. Find what’s unique about your location. 
  • Live music: Promote the local music scene. 
  • Festivals and cultural attractions: Take part in festive events and cultural attractions. 
  • Dining: Highlight the diverse dining scene for the culinary tourists. 
• Promote your hotel’s winter amenities. Highlight your firepits under the stars, hot tubs with a view, and indoor pools.
• Partner with local businesses and offer discounts and packages unique to your location. 
• Create a winter-themed atmosphere at your hotel. Decorate your lobby, bar, and restaurant with winter décor, play winter music, and offer winter-themed food and drinks at your restaurant, bar, or out by the fire pit.
• Market your hotel to winter travelers interested in milder winter activities. Texas attracts runners, cyclists, anglers, festival attendees, and more when other locales are too cold. Promote your hotel on social media targeted to those potential travelers.
• Offer discounts for early bookings. Encourage people to book their winter vacations early when they are more likely to consider travel.
• Partner with tour operators to offer winter packages to help reach a wider audience of potential guests.

References:

12 Creative Sales Ideas for Hotels

Hotel Shoulder Season: Tips to Maximize Hotel Performance During Non-Peak Periods