Hotel Occupancy Rates - What Matters?

Regardless of whether or not you work in the hospitality industry, you know that it's very competitive. If you have ever looked for a hotel room in a big city online or driven on an interstate through a small town, you've seen hotels offering a variety of rooms and amenities at a variety of prices. Some hotels offer continental breakfast, free wireless internet and paid cable as standard amenities, others include high quality toiletries, luxurious linens and room beautiful appointments among their amenities. No matter their budget, lifestyle or desired amenities, everybody wants to stay in the best hotel room they can afford and most hotels, and the people who run them, are well aware of this.

Many travelers recognize, having done the most rudimentary of research on hotel rooms and flights, the competitiveness within the travel industry. This is true even in a slow economy. This is one of the rare times when you can aim to please everybody you serve and succeed 95% of the time. Of course the goal is that everybody's happy with their meal, flight, experience or stay every time as this benefits everybody. Within the lodging industry, hotel owners, management and staff realize that increasing and maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction depends on many factors desired amenities and fair rates among them. This helps hotels achieve their overall goal of full occupancy and ensures repeat business.

Most hotels have a target audience, if you will. Some target the business traveler with amenities such as ergonomically correct desks and chairs, free data port access, conference rooms and well lit areas, among other things. Business-centric hotels emphasize the ways they make a business professional more efficient and comfortable; they typically put a low priority on things to do or area attractions, assuming, correctly so, that their typical guest is on a business trip and, therefore, not terribly interested in things to do. On the other hand, family-centric hotels offer great rates, with discounts for extended stays. They also put great emphasis on free breakfast, their pool and area activities, the hopes of increasing their occupancy rates.

Another common practice for hotels is putting emphasis on different aspects of their establishment for different groups of travelers. In Boston, for example, most hotels emphasize the variety of attractions, the sports and their proximity to everything either via a short walk or the subway. In Myrtle Beach, they emphasize the restaurants, beaches and the multitude of world class golf courses. In Orlando, the emphasis is placed on proximity to all things Disney and Epcot and, more recently, the idea that roughly an hour to the left or the right you can be at an ocean with hundreds of more things to see, eat and do. The point is that hotels emphasize that which will stand out to a particular type of guest, prompt them to book a stay at a specific hotel and increase or sustain occupancy rates.

Though the economy is not at its healthiest, people still travel. Whether because they want to or because they must is another question. Regardless of why each guest is staying at their hotel, most hotels make every effort to include as many amenities as possibly, striving to balance the cost benefit equation to the benefit of guests. The goal is full occupancy at all times with consistently happy guests to visit repeatedly and recommend others stay at that same hotel.

indoor water park Last Minute Flights Cheap Vacation Resorts and Spa