There are quite a few lessons you get when you move out of your parents' house, but as a Canadian, one of the most important is to never buy anything at full price from Canadian Tire. The iconic store offers the best deals on tools, tires, skates and blenders available, and if the item you are looking for isn’t currently on sale, chances are it will be soon. In a way, the travel industry has become like this. Between advanced purchase promotions and last-minute deals, members exclusives and mobile offers, non-refundable rates and length of stay promotions, it’s hard to imagine when a client is paying full price.
As someone who loves to travel, allow me to share with you some confessions:
As an Expedia Rewards member myself, I’ll admit to booking hotels with members only deals over hotels without one.
I will not book a non-refundable discount unless I am traveling within 2 weeks and positive that I won’t cancel for any reason not covered by insurance.
As an early riser, late check-out won’t entice me as much as early check-in would
I’ve never extended a trip to take advantage of a discount (for example, staying 3 nights to save X%), but one time I booked a weekly rate because it was cheaper than the 5-night stay, then simply left after 5 nights without checking out.
The main factor for me is always going to be value for money, a high guest satisfaction rating and fair price will weigh more heavily on my decision making than a 25% discount with a flashy tag on a less desirable hotel.
Let me be very clear: I truly believe that there is a time and place for promotions. But offering discounts or promotions isn’t necessarily creating new demand. It might make you successful in stealing demand from your direct competitors, but by and large, these customers were already considering this hotel stay.
In my opinion, a promotion should be a win-win for the hotel and the guest. Here are some of the things you might want to consider when deciding if the promotion is the right one for your hotel:
Is this promotion generating new demand? OTAs often have marketing tactics behind promotions to convince travelers to book new trips. Deals offered to specific groups and mailing lists can put your hotel in front of a new audience (like Groupon for example).
Is this promotion helping me to convert existing demand and steal share from my competitors for the times when I need it most?
Is this promotion bringing demand to my hotel through a less expensive distribution channel?
When promotions are used strategically by the hotel, the guest wins by receiving a legitimate deal, rather than a consistent pricing strategy disguised as a promotion.
