Some of you shared with us that you experienced the best summer in ten years.

Occupancy and night rates reached an all-time high. So take some time to enjoy it after months of nonstop running. You deserve it!

The demand is slowing down now (November) in the northern hemisphere and there is a lot of discussion about the upcoming recession.

We are not going to make any predictions today. But there’s one thing we can be sure of: no recession could be more devastating than the COVID pandemic.

Nevertheless, we brainstormed some ideas to keep your occupancy rates high in the incoming months/years:
‍

#1 Allow your employees to work remotely

What? The whole world is moving towards remote work but the hospitality industry is somehow ignoring that.

Maids are not going to clean the rooms remotely but a revenue manager can work perfectly well from home.

As well as the advantages you’ve probably already heard of, there is one more: You unlock the potential of your on-site offices. You can repurpose these spaces and assign them a new function.

‍
#2 Remote workers and long stays ‍

It's hard to run a highly profitable hospitality business while focusing only on this segment but it can suppliment the mid and low seasons.

Create special packages and decide what % of rooms you want to dedicate to long stays.

If you are based in Spain or Portugal, we can help you get more bookings from remote workers by leveraging our distribution channels.

‍

#3 Migrate to flexible PMS‍

Hospitality is not only about selling rooms anymore. Very few hotels have adjusted to the new reality and even less use PMS software to leverage the potential of hybrid hospitality.

There isn’t a clear winner, but the most progressive hotels recommend the following PMS:

• MEWS
• Apaleo
• Bookinglayer (for smaller properties)

‍

‍#4 Adjust event spaces

‍The lack of functional event spaces is our (Surf Office’s) biggest limiting factor when it comes to organising corporate retreats.If hotels had more facilities, we could send them more large group bookings.

The difference between what clients expect and what hotels offer is massive.

The few hotels that understand that get 90% of our groups. You can check out these tips to better understand this market.

Reach out to us if you need help making your hotel more “offsite friendly”. We’re more than happy to help.
‍

#5 Packages for companies

Gone are the days when Booking.com profiles received the majority of bookings.

Niche OTAs are becoming way stronger and direct bookings are way easier to acquire.

You’ve been hearing this for years, right?

A great approach is to dedicate 2-3 hours every month to researching new channels. Believe it or not, it will pay off.
‍

#6 Creative day use

Neighborhood coworking is a massive trend and is something that hotels can quite easily execute. One of the best examples is Zoku in Amsterdam.

They converted their lobby area into a very comfortable coworking space and sold a daily pass for €39 that included an amazing lunch.

This lunch was enough to tempt skeptical remote workers to pay for a coworking space.

There are many remote workers who come irregularly just to change the work environment or cowork together with some friends or colleagues.

‍
#7 Sign long-term contracts‍

Now is a good time to sign long-term contracts. Agencies and OTAs are optimistic after a good summer season and are open to signing long-term contracts (or contracts that guarantee you a certain volume of bookings).

Consider these options. They work as a kind of insurance.

Even though things will take a downturn next year, you already have some bookings guaranteed. Surf Office offers such contracts to selected partners.