The tennis championship, Wimbledon is one of the biggest highlights of the British summers where numerous people across the globe descend to London. In 2016, the number of visitors totalled to almost half a million people. Visitors include spectators, members of the media, the players and their coaches and family, staff members etc.
This is an extremely busy season for the hotel industry in and around London. As a hotelier, you should ensure that you use the event to your advantage in increasing bookings as well as revenue for your hotel.
Here are some ways how you can optimize your business during Wimbledon.
Assessing Market Demand –
Understand what the demand for rooms is during the Wimbledon dates, which shall be held between 3rd to 16th July. Compare past occupancy during Wimbledon with the forecasted occupancy for the present year.
Gather Information from hotels around the stadium –
do a thorough market research about the competition as well as other hotels around the Wimbledon stadium. Gather information about the type of hotel, the number of rooms, tariff offered during those dates and any other relevant information that may help you.
Historic Data on guests who came to Wimbledon in the past –
how many of the guests came as singles? How many as a family? Reach out to guests who previously stayed with you and encourage them to book with you again. Search for guests who have visited England during previous Wimbledon by searching social media sites as well as sites which provide trip reviews. This shall provide insights on what guests require and what they expect from hotels.
Once your sales team has done a complete market reconnaissance, you should implement a dynamic pricing strategy for your rooms to maximize revenue for your hotel during Wimbledon. Since the demand for hotel rooms would be high during this period adjust your room tariffs based on the rooms available with you and what your competition is charging. Your hotel may have a huge potential to increase revenue during this period.
To further attract more room reservations, your hotel should also implement the following:
Special Wimbledon packages –
based on information gathered by your team, you have a fair idea on what guests expect from their hotels; create special hotel packages which focus around Wimbledon. The packages can be advertised directly on the websites and through the OTA’s that you use. Creating Wimbledon packages will also be a great way for the hotel to be visible in the online searches whenever anybody searches for hotels in and around the stadium.
Add information about Wimbledon on your website and social media platforms –
another way to increase the search engine rankings is to provide information about the tennis championship across all your online portals. Provide information on how the guests can book tickets, transportation options to and from the stadium etc. Make sure that this information is not just restricted to your hotel’s website; add it on your Facebook page and other social media platforms also.
Partner with websites or OTA’s –
Many OTA’s or websites offer information about hotel packages during Wimbledon or hotels near Wimbledon tennis. Get your hotel listed on OTAs and get featured on travel websites. This will help drive more traffic to your hotel and create a strong recall value.
Wimbledon is a great additional boost for the hospitality industry during the popular sports season, hotels need to ensure that they benefit as much as possible from it.
How did you leverage the last Wimbledon? What were the key learnings?
