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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 r�sum� 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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