3 minute read
Hospitality success in 5 steps
BY SANTOSH KURUVILLA
The ever changing climate of the travel industry means there’s room for creative ideas and none of them are wrong. Visualize turning your concept into a reality, go through it step by step, and don’t let the magnitude of the task intimidate you.
To be successful in the glamping industry, glamping operators need to realize a few things and know them by heart. To make it easy to remember, I’ve split up this article into five sections.
In each section, I will highlight points that both aspiring and experienced glamping operators should consider.
ALIGN YOUR PRODUCT
Positioning your product in the market place is essential to finding your place and distinguishing yourself. Ask questions about how your concept fits in the marketplace, who your customers are and how to find them, and how your product can evolve in an ever-changing landscape.
For a product to be successful, you need to constantly ask yourself tough questions and be prepared for answers you might not like. The purpose of these questions is to expose potential weaknesses of your business structure before they become problems in the future.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
Keep your business simple and pay attention to your service culture. Find people that you trust, people who come through under pressure.
When hiring, hire for personality and character, not skill set. Skill can be taught, personality and character cannot. Think of all the times you had a great hospitable experience. Sure, the amenities and physical location might have been exceptional, but none of that would have mattered if the service didn’t follow suit.
RELATE AND EMPATHIZE
Your project is your baby, but make sure to have an objective perspective on what your guests utilize and value in the spaces and experiences you create. The fact is that sometimes our baby is not perfect and needs to learn and grow based on the ever changing environment. This is normal. Things you can do to help it grow:
• Understand and observe your consumer’s behavior and adjust accordingly. • Engage with your guests at every touch-point to collect feedback both digitally and physically. • Use feedback to pivot and refine the experience • When collecting feedback, keep the survey simple, then translate it into goals for the team. • Be experience-driven. • Handle and address any complaints immediately. Do not let them fester.
STAND OUT
Your glamping experience needs to create Unique Guests Emotion moments, or UGE for short. I like to ask clients to think about how their moms or dads would treat them when they come home after being away for a year. Your guests should receive that same treatment from you and your employees.
Another good way to create UGE moments is to surprise and delight whenever possible. Get to know your guests, celebrate their stories, and establish those actions in your team’s culture. This creates a genuine caring atmosphere throughout your business and service culture.
REVENUE MANAGEMENT
Saving money with cheap tools could mean leaving money on the table in the long run. Whether it is rule-based or AI-driven software, determine what works for managing your revenue. Your revenue management capabilities should always be evolving and matching the pace of technological advancements. Make sure you are keeping an eye on your revenue and constantly optimizing it based on the metrics you use.
MAKE DATA YOUR ALLY
Last but not least, understand your work with data analysis. Without data collection and analysis, your company is flying blind. Determine what data points are important and how to collect them. Use them to develop key performance indicators. Adjust as needed over time to keep up with changing trends.
Thankfully, data and trends point towards a bullish future and continued growth for glamping, camping, and RV glamping. Consumer demand is high and broad at different price points while National Park visitation is stable and more capital and institutional players are coming in.
FINAL TAKEAWAY
All that’s left to do is to turn your ideas into reality in ways that make sense for your business. Focus on experiential travel, differentiate yourself, and attract your target customer. Most of all, create UGE moments.
