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Hotel marketers bank on value-added perks

August 12, 2008 | Hospitality Industry

To shore up sagging bookings, hundreds of hotels around the country are wooing travelers with free gasoline cards that slice as much as $50 off the effective nightly room rate. Other hotels are dabbling in more traditional value-added inducements.

To shore up sagging bookings, hundreds of hotels around the country are wooing travelers with free gasoline cards that slice as much as $50 off the effective nightly room rate. Other hotels are dabbling in more traditional value-added inducements: free breakfasts or dining credits in the hotel restaurants; complimentary massages or a free round of golf; gift cards at nearby department stores; and a blizzard of swag such as logo shirts, hats, and sunglasses.

There is one thing hoteliers aren’t yet offering in great supply: lower room rates. “Luxury properties especially hate lowering their room rate” because they think it hurts their image, explains Michael Matthews, whose résumé includes notable marketing and managerial stints at Rosewood, St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, and Regent hotels. “If he can avoid cutting the rate in the downtimes, a general manager will give you virtually anything else you ask for: room upgrades, free cabanas at the pool, a suite, limo service, spa treatments, free meals.”

What happens if value-added perks don’t put our heads on their beds this fall and winter? “We’ll make the offers even richer,” the top marketing executive of a major mid-priced brand told me last week. “As a last resort, we’ll look at rate cuts. But I hope we don’t get to that.”

Get the full story at Portfolio.com

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