Hospitality Needs to Prepare for Bleisure Bookings
The business travel industry is expected to rebound in 2023, inching closer to the once $1.4T industry size. There are a number of trends and insights that luxury hotels should be aware of when planning for the future of business travel. These include capitalizing on two intertwined and profit-enhancing opportunities: remote working and bleisure trips. Be ready for these new hybrid travelers, and you’ll enjoy increased bookings while ensuring your luxury property remains competitive in the post-pandemic world.
Be Ahead of the Trend
The pandemic caused a dramatic decrease in business travel volume, however, 72% of business leaders surveyed said that this would not change the number of business trips taken by employees. Many companies have already figured out how to accommodate a blend of remote and in-person work. Now, the workers are also figuring out how to get the most out of their new hybrid reality. The opportunity to work remotely coupled with a return to business travel has created a huge opportunity for bleisure bookings throughout 2023 and beyond.
Be Tuned In
Blended travel isn’t going anywhere. Many business travelers are determined to explore the city or region deeper before and/or after their business engagements. In fact, 38% of business trips contained a weekend in 2022. Another part of the trend involves families and couples, who represent the largest group of those extending their trips. Thanks to an increasingly remote world, many spouses or partners are working remotely. There are also ongoing remote schooling programs for children. When it is so easy for partners, families and couples to tag along with their significant other taking a bleisure trip makes sense. This often adds 3-6 travel days and multiple guests to what used to be an overnight.
Be the Ultimate Planner
Anticipate the needs of the non-business travelers by providing ideas, outings and programming specific to their situation. For example, create itineraries for tag-along passengers while employees are in business meetings. Include itineraries for all ages and relationships (family, spouse, friends), and don’t forget that some tag-along members will also be working – or schooling.
Be the Local Expert
Be the local expert by creatively curating experiences. View local attractions, restaurants, and activities within your area that can be included in a business traveler’s itinerary. This shows the destination’s unique culture, scenery, and attractions and encourages the traveler to explore beyond the scope of their business trip. Definitely showcase local businesses such as restaurants.
Also remember to focus on convenience and proximity to the property to allow business travelers to make the most of their limited time in the city and make their experience stress-free. Promote the walkability of your location and offer guides to using subways, bike or car rentals if applicable.
Be An Inspiration
By celebrating bleisure travelers in your ads and social, you’ll be putting good ideas in travelers’ heads. BCV saw increased engagement on boosted posts with copy reading “Work from [Property Name]” paired with imagery of amenities conducive to working remotely, efficiently, and without distraction while traveling. Help travelers separate work from play by outlining work/life balance opportunities on-site and showcasing imagery and video of a “day in the life” working from your property. It is also a good idea to enhance their stay and their total expenditure by providing guests with posts that highlight early morning and late night dining options to ensure your offerings align with their schedules.
Bleisure is Beckoning!
More than a marketing trend, the extended travel movement is a positive outgrowth of a shifting workforce. After the hassle of the planes, trains and Ubers involved in getting to a location, it makes sense to get more out of each trip. When the destination is a luxury hotel, resort or spa, the question really becomes, ‘Why not tack on a few extra days’?
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The Real Opportunity of IG Reels for Luxury Hotels
Instagram reels are the hottest feature on the platform and allow users to create short, engaging videos set to music. There are a few key advantages of using Instagram reels for hotel social media marketing. They’re short and sweet. Reels are only 15 seconds long, so they’re perfect for busy social media users who need more time to watch a long video. And they’re easy to make. With Instagram’s simple editing tools, anyone can create a reel without any prior video editing experience, including adding filters, stickers, and text.
Before ‘Lights, Camera, Action,’ a Few Thoughts on Storytelling
A considerable part of social media involves connecting through storytelling. We all understand it’s much easier to allow glimpses into a brand’s story with a video than a static image. You can take followers through a unique aspect of a property so that users feel like they see the property firsthand. They are not only reading the story but feel like they’re part of it. Video creates space for guests to see through a more personal lens. Static images trying to convey a story have to rely on lengthy captions that most followers won’t read, whereas a video can get that same message across and hold the user’s attention. It also allows brands to try a more creative approach that they may not be used to – it’s easier to test the waters for different strategies with video.
Instagram Reels are a bit different than TikTok because the trends don’t change as quickly. Typically a trend that has been on TikTok will show up on Reels two weeks later, giving us more time to go without posting. This time lets us approach video concepts by looking at the target demographic a property is trying to reach at that time, looking at what types of content are trending for that age group, and building concepts out from there.
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Learn how Instagram Reels helped the Four Seasons Hotel showcase the brand’s identity and share its unique stories ➜
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Knowing your audience and what they like to see makes coming up with creative concepts much easier. I like to use BCV’s trend decks to see how I can implement them into video concepts. I will also spend a lot of hours looking at TikToks, commercials, reels, and YouTube videos to try and understand how I can turn those into short clips that may fit a hotel. Trends are incredibly ever-changing, but you can usually pick out something similar between all of them, whether that be an emotion they’re trying to convey, the way they tell a story, the transitions between video clips, etc. After you watch enough trending videos, you start to see a template and how you can mirror that for your own properties and goals.
Making it Reel!
You have the concepts. You have your talent, crew, and locations. Now it’s time to get as much great footage as possible. When on a shoot, we tend to try and build out at least 6 reel concepts before we go. The key is to capture content that can overlap with concepts and isn’t tied to just one. We try and capture vertical videos from each area of a property. With photos, you can capture 50 images of one scene in a matter of seconds. With video, the important thing to remember is to shoot the same scene from various angles so the content can be repurposed for different concepts throughout the year. We try to think of social media holidays and quarterly campaigns ahead of a shoot to ensure we’re getting videos that can be used for those as well.
Here are a few examples of how luxury hotels are using Instagram reels. I hope they inspire you to swipe through these and other reels in search of great ideas that can be used to promote your property and attract new guests.
ESPACIO, The Jewel of Waikiki
This reel celebrates the property being nominated for Conde Nast Traveler–with a strategy of encouraging votes. To showcase the location, we used footage from multiple shoots to differentiate the angles and models. To amp up the prestige, we included shots of previous awards. Having amazing amenities like the private infinity pool inspired a creative drone shot that literally put this production over the top!
The Hythe Vail
We created this First-Anniversary reel by jumping on a TikTok trend to showcase the property. Just because a brand is luxury doesn’t mean it is “above” trends happening in the now. The concept here pulls together drone and close-up footage from shoots and edits them to a trending soundscape. We wanted more engagement and we knew that the sound, paired with the quality image, would get that.
Mugen Waikiki
While Mugen has its own page, we highlighted the restaurant on ESPACIO’s Instagram. The strategy was to highlight each unique aspect of the restaurant in a chronological format. We wanted users to feel like they were seeing an up close and personal, first-hand look at what goes into a dining experience at Mugen before they click book on their reservation.
Identifying A Social Media Audience That Converts
The Jewel, located in the heart of Manhattan, is an urban adventurers’ dream. Designed for the explorer, The Jewel offers an opportunity for travelers to immerse themselves in the culture and excitement of New York City with the comfort of knowing there’s a safe haven to rest at the end of a long day. In an effort to drum up consideration and drive conversion, The Jewel worked with BCV on a content strategy that would illicit reactions from the social media community.
What You’ll Learn:
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Effective Audience Targeting Optimizations
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Approach for Driving a 49:1 ROAS
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Maximizing Return Based on Ad Objective
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A/B Test Strategies
Background
In conjunction with the 2022 summer season, Cambria Hotels launched “Taste the Destination,” an initiative that emphasized Cambria’s bar-forward hallmark experience.
Cambria’s Certified Cicerone & Mixologist, Zach O’Haire, was tasked with curating unique, destination-focused interpretations of the Cambria Margarita, inspired by six gem properties and their surrounding cities.
These popular destinations spanned coast to coast and included: Austin, New Orleans, For Lauderdale, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Louisville.
What You’ll Learn:
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Brand connectivity through different mediums
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Creative ways to customize content for higher engagement
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The benefit of using motion in social media design
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Utilizing social media as a PR extension
One of the great advances in hotel design has been the inclusion of accessible facilities on property for all guests. Yes, it is a law, but it is also the right thing to do. As an extension of that best practice in architecture, the social media experts at BCV have written a detailed white paper on ADA Compliance in social media.
Overview
Ensuring that all communities have access to messaging and brand content is a critical area of consideration for marketing and communications planning. Understanding the tools available across media types and how to integrate them can assist brands with developing equity across audiences, enveloping those who have sensory impairments or belong to the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deaf-Blind, Visually Impaired, or other communities.
Specific to social media, the platforms themselves largely control accessibility and the user experience, with Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat each featuring different capabilities. Unlike a website user’s experience that can be informed by backend development, brands do not have the access to change how a social platform integrates accessible features. However, brands can make use of the available tools and features provided by each platform to provide a thoughtful experience to as many audiences as possible.
Although social media is a controlled, third-party platform, there are certain steps that marketers can take to align a brand’s social presence – and a user’s experience – with ADA Compliant policies. Below are a few best practices that BCV recommends in order for brands to put their best foot forward in the world of ADA compliance and accessibility.
Recommended Best Practices
Accessible Communication. Ensure business information is clearly listed and easily found across social pages to facilitate clear communication between your brand and people who may have questions and concerns regarding your accessibility accommodations.
Written Messaging. In order to provide more accessibility for audiences who are within the deaf or hard of hearing community, it is important to ensure your content messaging comes through in instances of videos with audio. When posting videos, if closed captioning is available on the platform, this can be an efficient way to provide accessibility to more people. Certain platforms have taken initiative in this regard and added automated captioning functions. If unavailable, spoken copy within the video should be echoed in the caption of the video to provide context. Here are some examples of platforms that streamlined closed captions options:
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Stories. Utilize the Captions Sticker when posting video content, which automatically transcribes spoken copy onto the screen.
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IG Threads. A hack to adding closed captions to videos is by downloading Instagram’s Threads app. This platform allows users to easily upload videos, activate automatic closed captions, and then save the video without posting. This feature also allows users to adjust where on the screen the embedded captions will live, so that it fits within the formatting of the platform you will be uploading it to, no matter if you are uploading it on IG, FB, or elsewhere.
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In-Feed Videos. Opt in to in-feed, automatically generated captions for all video posts with audio.
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Stories. This feature behaves nearly identically to Instagram Stories. Simply select the Captions Sticker, and the closed captions will be automatically generated.
TikTok
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TikTok allows for easy closed captioning when posting video with a speaker. Simply select the Captions option before posting, and the platform will automatically generate closed captions.
YouTube
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YouTube offers automatically generated captions that can be added and edited before posting a video.
Hashtag Capitalization. Capitalizing each word in a multi-word hashtag allows for easier recognition by text-to-speech programs. For example, #solotravel may be harder for a program to read, while #SoloTravel will have much higher visibility.
High Color Contrast. Graphics and video should be designed with color contrast in mind; Font and imagery should be selected to provide high contrast for visibility and to assist with readability. The fonts themselves should be clearly legible and large.
Emojis in Moderation. Emojis are not text-to-speech friendly, and therefore should be used in moderation, reserved for times when they have clear value-add, or are held until the end of captions. Also, refrain from using emojis to replace words; This can cause confusion for someone listening to your content read aloud.
For additional opportunities by platform, please see our resource guide, below.
Content Creation
Brands can remind their communities that accessibility is a priority through messaging and content decisions. Additional ways to connect with travelers with disabilities may be:
Inclusive Messaging
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Incorporating inclusive messaging is the most important step in maintaining an inclusive social media presence. Posting photos that showcase accessibility features, such as an ADA Compliant pool lift or roll-in showers, can give potential guests the confidence to book with your brand. In addition, provide a link in the caption to your brand’s ADA webpage for a full list of on-site accommodations.
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Be sure you have listed all of your accessibility offerings on the brand website, with clear navigation to this page. In addition, in social messaging, consider prompting guests with disabilities to “check with us” if they are unsure about their stay, and provide clear pathways of communication to potential guests to ask questions about your ADA Compliance offerings.
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Partnering with a sign language translator for events can be another way to provide accessibility. And as with any messaging, the primary objective should be authenticity.
Influencers
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Influencers and content creators are leaders in their online communities, often with an extensive and dedicated fan base. Partnering with an influencer who is a member of the community of people with disabilities can position the brand to be a listener and advocate, as well as financial supporter of the community’s favorite social media creators.
BCV Approach
Social media is an important tool for consumers to research the brands they want to do business with. One important question people with disabilities ask is: “Is traveling with this brand possible for me?” There are many brands that are proud of their efforts when it comes to accessibility at their properties, including accessible rooms, amenities, and accommodations. The labor afforded to make these offerings possible should be swiftly supplemented by clear descriptions on the brand website, as well as social messaging.
People with disabilities often have extensive social networks, especially within communities of people with disabilities. And depending on the individual, people with disabilities are more likely to travel with at least one other person. One good review has the potential to lead to extensive recommendations from them to their friends and family, who may also have disabilities.
Aligning social media pages with ADA compliance requirements is valuable to travel brands, most importantly because it builds a company community that supports and includes everybody and every experience. Social media is one of the top tools consumers use to research and evaluate brands, and BCV believes that brands with social media infrastructure to reach people with disabilities are setting themselves up as professionals of inclusion and thoughtful consideration.
Platform
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Facebook – Facebook’s official accessibility page
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TikTok – TikTok’s commitment to accessibility and current accessibility features
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Pinterest – Pinterest’s dedication to inclusivity for all levels of vision
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Twitter – Twitter’s commitment to accessibility
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@TwitterA11y – Twitter’s official accessibility account
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Instagram – Instagram’s alternative text update
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Youtube – YouTube’s settings page to adjust accessibility settings
Government
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Digital.com – “Federal Social Media Accessibility Toolkit Hackpad”
Blogs
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The Real Alexa – “Accessibility on Social Media” by Alexa Heinrich
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Travel Market Report – “Building a Client Base within the Special Needs Travel Niche” by TravelMarket Report
Creative Examples
Closed Captioning
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Google’s “How to Heal” Ad – An incredibly moving ad, this video conveys its messaging well, both with sound and on silent, thanks to closed captioning.
High Color Contrast
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Allbirds – This ad has clear color contrast with bold lettering, making it easy to read.
Capitalized Hashtags & Emojis in Moderation
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The Sill – This post by The Sill capitalized both the words in their hashtag, as well as saved all their emojis until the end of the caption.
BACKGROUND
The impact of COVID-19 has fundamentally changed consumer behaviors and expectations as it relates to travel and hospitality.
Recognizing this, the Four Seasons Resort & Residences Jackson Hole pivoted their marketing efforts away from their hotel guest rooms to instead promote their private residences as an option that offered less person-to-person contact and thus a more protected stay.
These unique spaces no only offer seclusion paired with Four Seasons services and amenities, but most importantly a safe change of scenery for the new landscape of remote working and e-learning.
APPROACH
In an effort to garner awareness and drive bookings of the Hotel’s private residences, BCV launched an advertising campaign on behalf of Four Seasons Resort & Residences Jackson Hole. The ad included the “Book Now” CTA and was featured on both Facebook and Instagram.
The campaign ran for 19 days and specifically targeted individuals who had visited the hotel’s website in the past 30 days, along with an audience of individuals who shared similar demographics and interest to those website visitors.
Strategic audience targeting provided exposure to those who were already in the consideration phase of staying at the hotel.
BACKGROUND
As the pandemic continued throughout 2021, hospitality was still impacted by lagging travel and tourism. In an effort to drive domestic tourism, boost occupancy, and increase foot traffic at their restaurants, Grand Hyatt Baha Mar pivoted its social strategy and ad spend to motivate locals.
With these goals in mind, Grand Hyatt Baha Mar created a discounted room rate alongside F&B specials that locals could enjoy during their visit. In order to strategically market these on social media, Grand Hyatt Baha Mar Partnered with BCV.
APPROACH
BCV approached each of Grand Hyatt Baha Mar’s two offers with a different paid strategy for each objective.
With the F&B specials, BCV launched reach ads to maximize visibility among individuals with a 25-mile radius.
To successfully secure direct revenue, our team also deployed conversion ads with advanced audience segmenting to target only individuals living in the Bahamas.
Over the course of 8 months, both the creative and ad targeting were optimized to yield the strongest results.
BACKGROUND
During the summer months of 2020 when most travel plans were cancelled due to the global pandemic, BCV worked with Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts to launch the #BookNowStayLater campaign for their two hotels in the Maldives, Cinnamon Hakurra Huraa & Cinnamon Velifushi.
The #BookNowStayLater campaign aimed to inspire travel to the Maldives and aid recovery by driving leisure bookings for the back half of 2022.
APPROACH
A variety of organic and paid tactics were launched with goals of driving engagement and conversation.
Knowing video content is prioritized within the Facebook & Instagram algorithm, BCV utilized several video assets to capture an aenon of users and showcase the Cinnamon experience.
Simultaneously, a conversations ad was launched with an exclusive social media promotion of 70% off the booking total and featured a “Book Now” call-to-action.
Additionally, BCV leveraged Instagram Story ads as a means of drawing urgency to the last few days of campaign and exclusive promotion.
The #BookNowStayLater campaign ran for one month and leveraged multiple ad placements for extended reach and visibility.