The hotel industry is ever-vibrant and in full bloom. Customers seem to trickle in all year long; hotel supplies and groceries are affordable in contrast to the high price of meals, accommodation, and other hospitality services. While this may be true (to some extent), the industry is faced with just as many challenges as with other sectors of the economy.
If you are frustrated with your hotel business and want to throw in the towel, you are one among many. This thought has crossed the minds of even the seemingly successful businessmen and women who run hospitality companies.
As a guide, here are a few of the challenges that you are likely to face in your hotel business and how to deal with them.
1. Stiff Competition
When it comes to the hotel industry, competition has taken a whole new meaning. You no longer have to deal with other hotels but several other hospitality solutions targeting the same audience as you. Now, there’s OTA (Airbnb), property owners who rent their rooms, vacation rentals, and many others. How are you supposed to beat that? Well, one thing that you should avoid at all costs is lowering your prices because it will lead to unnecessary price wars which may not be sustainable in the end. Instead, offer something enticing to customers—a service they cannot find elsewhere. Innovate your solutions, embrace technology upgrades and improve your overall service. Put simply, do what you have to do to remain a favorite amongst your clients.
2. Cash Flow Issues
A hospitality solutions company faces irregular cash flows at one point in its life. The main contributor is credit. Dealing with clients who pay after 1, 2, or 3 months can throw the financial books out of balance if not carefully monitored. You can easily go into debt if you don’t put the right measures in place. If you suffer this predicament, change your tactics. Launch into online marketing campaigns and focus more on direct bookings plus bookings emanating from other online channels that guarantee quick ROIs.
3. Good Service
People judge hotels by the quality of service offered. Excellent service is multi-faceted: attention and skill of your staff, respect, touch and the overall ability to keep a guest coming back to your facility. To win repeat business and ensure growth, you must always go the extra mile as far as offering excellent service is concerned. Don’t ever compromise on this.
A hospitality solutions company faces these and more challenges every day. What makes you stick it out through the hard times is your resilience and sheer determination to make it in business.
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