Global tourism destinations and local businesses experienced very dramatic travel revenues losses in July and August, and September is looking very negative.
Destinations around the world, hotels, and other accommodation establishments are looking for alternatives to boost revenues and survive. The latest trend that they are trying to attract in their venues is workation employees.
With many offices around the world operating with only emergency staff and the rest working from home, both employers and employees are looking for ways to boost productivity and reduce the “fatigue” from working from home.
Many interesting technologies that have been built by startups and large tech organizations even prior to the COVID19 crisis are now taking center stage in the work culture of many companies.
Change and adaptivity for hotels in challenging times
Hotels around the globe are adapting their business models and marketing strategies to accommodate workation demand, with some being more efficient than others.
The key requirement of course is fast and reliable Internet connectivity but there are many other factors that influence traveler and employer decisions.
We’ve seen investment into higher connectivity speeds by hoteliers but most holiday resorts never really thought their guests would need ultra-fast connectivity for their resource-hungry Zoom meetings.
Internet connection stability for such streaming services is even harder to establish in remote areas.
Room setup and hotel facilities
Hotel properties lucky to have enough space for a desk in the room are finding it easier to adapt their room setup for workation travelers with minimal investment.
Properties with smaller rooms, enough to fit a double bed and some basic furniture find it much harder to adapt.
From our quick research into hotel offerings around the world, many hoteliers are failing to take into consideration the fact that these travelers will stay longer and that they are looking at accommodations that will provide a “homely” environment to them.
Workation guests have different needs than traditional holidaymakers, both in terms of room setup and amenities and of facilities and “work optimized” areas within the hotel.
While a Spa and a swimming pool sound very nice activities prior or after a busy 8-hour daily work schedule, the ability to hold Zoom meetings in a quiet environment with minimal noise disruption is very challenging.
Hotel workation services
Daily hotel staff duties can also affect a guest workationing in the property. Things like: what times the cleaners will enter the room, how frequently and tasks near the areas where guests can work (outside their room) are new challenges.
Some guests will probably have time-differences with their workplace and others during busy catering times where staff have a lot to do, causing nuance.
Also as we mentioned earlier, Internet and network connectivity will need to be able to cope in times of high usage.
Other hotel services such as restaurants will require adapting opening and serving times.
These are key challenges that need to be tackled in order to provide an enjoyable experience to guests on workation.
Guest Like Local for workation stays
Our team has helped hoteliers and hotel sales executives offer extra services for free or for a fee to guests that meet their needs.
Guests can book meals, refreshments and other services on demand and without interacting with the reception (remember, social distancing is key, too).
All from the comfort of their mobile phone or their laptop.
During these challenging times our staff is at hand to help with revenue opportunities and with making the best arrangements possible for workational guests.
For one hotel customer with bookable small conference rooms equipped with projectors, our platform proved a very successful addition which was quickly adopted by guests early during their stay.
While each property is unique and there is no one-size-fits-all approach, our experience in guest relations and guest experience can open new hospitality frontiers. Get in touch with us today at info@guestlikelocal.com and find out how we can help you optimize your hotel experience for workation guest stays.
Failure can be catastrophic
If you are a hotelier or a senior hotel manager and you are holidaying for a couple of weeks with your family, you probably have delegated your important tasks to other staff.
That’s all right! But what about an emergency happening like a very serious problem with a guest and you are needed to get online asap.
Let’s say you are in a remote area and your 4g or 5g signal is non-existent and you rely solely on the connection of the holiday resort you have chosen to spend your quiet time with your family.
It has happened to us too while staying in remote areas… away from it all…
If the hotel was advertising a proper Internet connection to me when booking I would be furious. In fact fuming.
The same can happen with your guests if their perfectly planned workation is a total failure due to lack of proper Internet connection.
You just can’t afford failure as it could pose a risk to your job or your workation holiday disrupted and getting on an expensive flight back home.
Every workation aspect matters
Whether the room is practical for working, or the lounge area has quiet corners to work peacefully without distractions, or the Internet connection.
Personally I would rather lose out on a failed investment in making my hotel property workation friendly, than failing my guests and my staff who will have to politely put up with grief and complaints.
Make sure you get it right or find another opportunity to boost revenues during this long-lasting crisis.
Key workation insights for hoteliers
Recapping this blog post, we have highlighted some key areas to consider for accommodating workation guests.
- Ultra-fast, high bandwidth Internet connection
- Workation-friendly room setup, with comfortable seat(s) for working long-hours
- Designated areas within hotel facilities for workation guests
- Guest Like Local shop for your hotel to facilitate contactless services and extras
- Extended hotel service hours or pre-arranged services for guests not able to use them outside their normal working hours
Creating your eshop on https://guestlikelocal.com/ gives you access to our expert team to help you out with your preparation and strategic planning.