Selling packages with special offers is an excellent strategy to drive occupancy and RevPAR. When you successfully sell carefully bundled packages, you achieve two important things – enhanced guest experience and increased profitability. After all, guests who buy packages tend to book more room nights while spending more than those who opt for just a room. Additionally, such guests book well in advance and are less likely to cancel their bookings. But it is not always that easy. To configure and sell attractive packages at your hotel group, you need to understand the occupancy ratio at each of your properties, the type of services you offer, seasonality, competition strategy, demand, market trend, and, most importantly, guest needs. Plus, you would also need a cloud-based multi-property management system for flawless execution.
Tips for creating packages
Offer your guests value for money
Who doesn’t like getting something extra for the money they spend at your hotel? But you can’t do this without knowing your segment and what they want. Make sure your packages are targeted toward the right set of guests. The perceived value for money must entice them and appeal to them to book with you.
Leverage on local attractions
Create packages keeping local attractions in mind. Keep a list of the top 5 local attractions and bundle them in your packages. For example, you can roll out – “Stay for four nights and get a free family pass for the sanctuary.” You can also promote your packages around popular festivals, carnivals, and events. Here is another example – ” Stay for three nights & get a free pass for the literature fest.”
Keep your offerings in mind
Suppose you have two properties in the central business districts (CBD), catering to mainly business travellers and two more properties in leisure destinations. In this case, for your hotels in CBDs, you should create packages to attract business travellers, and for the other two, your packages should target guests travelling with family and friends. Remember this – you have different types of guests for your separate properties, and your packages should have those special or unique add-ons/elements.
Be flexible
This is pretty important these days. You need to adapt to the changing market trends and guest requirements. Look at this workcation model, which has gained popularity post-pandemic. People are working remotely while enjoying their vacation. It would be best if you did not ignore such trends. Create packages, and promote how you offer workspace, high-speed Wi-Fi, a printer, and even a spare laptop.
Consider shoulder nights
For this, you need to keep track of your shoulder nights – nights either side of your peak days, let’s say weekends. Implement length of stay, factor in room rates, add other attractive amenities and promote them. The mantra here is to get your guests to stay longer to cover shoulder nights to increase occupancy.
Now comes promotion
Once you have configured those packages, promptly promote them on your website and social media platforms. Ensure that your content reflects the value you are offering to your guests. Have your marketing team send out emailers to your database. You need to exhaust all your means to let them know that you have curated something special to add to their experience.
Now let’s create some of those packages with the Hotelogix multi-property management solution.
Creating packages with a feature-rich and easy-to-use multi-property solution like Hotelogix is a matter of just a few clicks. Here is how you go about it.
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Go to Company > List of Properties > Select the property from the drop-down.
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On the particular property page > click on Admin Control > On the next page, go to Price Manager > Select Package Master from the drop-down.
Note: You can create packages for your direct walk-ins via the front desk. You can also do the same for guests who book on your website, corporate clients, Travel Agents, and OTAs.
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Click on Package Master > Add a Package
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On the Add/Edit a Package page > Fill in the name of the package, length of stay, and description.
On the same Add/Edit a Package page, scroll down to the Rate Types section, and you can define the package rate for each room category.
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Scroll down to the Inclusions segment > click on Add Inclusions to add charges for extra add-ons/services > click on Save.
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Once you have created a package in Package Master, you need to activate it for your targeted booking source, for your group hotel website.
For this, go to Price Manager > select Web (Packages) > on the next page, click Attach a Package > on the next pop-up page, look for the package by its name, select the same > click on Attach.
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On the next page, click on Continue under Action.
There it is. You have successfully created, published, and activated a package. You are now closer to witnessing increased occupancy at your hotel group. You can follow the above-mentioned steps for each of your properties as per your requirements.
You can define customised/different booking and cancellation policies for every package that you create in the Hotelogix multi-property solution. If you publish the same package for all the booking sources at the central level, the same booking/cancellation policy will reflect on all of them. The system allows you to apply early-bird, long stay, and last-minute discounts for your packages. You can also take a call on making a particular package available on certain days of the week; Hotelogix will help you for sure.
It would help if you worked with your revenue management team to reach a price for your packages to see better financial outcomes for your hotel group. Don’t offer too many packages at once. See how your competitors are doing it if they are nailing it. Roll out one or two packages and wait for a while to measure the results. Gauge the kind of response you have received. And most importantly, let a multi-property management system like Hotelogix help with your effort.
Don’t just take our word for it. This is what one of our customers has to say:
“Offering packages is key to attracting more guests in a top-rated tourist destination like the Philippines. Hotelogix enables us to configure and promote over 40 packages to sell more. This is awesome. What else do you want?” – Teddy R. Tenerife, IT Manager, Millennial Resorts, Philippines
