Hotels & local residents - a match made in heaven!

Hotels are all about guests. It's all about selling rooms to tourists, right? 

But... Imagine you are an F&B director in a lovely hotel in Rome, Paris or Barcelona. You have your budget & targets to reach, but your guests are far too busy exploring the city to eat at your restaurant. Sure, they will be happy to have a complimentary breakfast at the hotel, but for dinner, they will prefer to wander into the city and find a cosy bistro or a restaurant recommended by their friends. 

But, we're here to bring some good news: there are millions of local residents who live in your city, who would be absolutely thrilled to see what you have to offer. 

They drive by your door every day on their way to work and stroll past your gates on every weekend walk with the family... If you open your doors to them, they will come in and spend good money to get a taste of what you offer your guests.

So, what do you think you can gain from engaging with your local residents? 

1. Instant revenue. The people who live close by are curious to see what's behind your door! Hotels, with their impressive facades and doormen, often seem elitist and closed off to the local residents. When you make it easy for them to enjoy your brunch, spa treatments, or a pool day pass they will be thrilled to pay for those experiences. A great example of that is what happened at Fairmont Barcelona which sold 60,000 Euro worth of pool day passes to local residents in just 10 weeks in the summer of 2020. 

2. Long-term benefits. Local residents who come to enjoy your breakfast or spa have a good chance of falling in love with your hotel. Once they do, your property will be the only one they will think of when they plan their wedding reception, work event or when they need to recommend a hotel to stay in. Increasing your MICE revenues and direct bookings years after the relatively small initial purchase of breakfast or spa experience.

3. Free, organic advertising. While enjoying an experience at your hotel, the local residents will take pictures they will post on their Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Their friends will 'like' them and feel a sudden urge to check out your outlets for themselves. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is powerful. See how good it feels to be on the receiving end of the direct bookings made as a result. 

4. Sustainability. This is incredibly close to our hearts. So much so, we have a separate blog post about how engaging with local residents helps hotels become 'greener'. Take a look at it here.

5. Counteracting over-tourism. Certain places such as Barcelona, Mallorca, and Paris, feel the brunt of excessive tourism. Local residents are tired of the increased traffic, litter and loud stag parties at the height of the season. Opening your doors to them and letting them enjoy the wonderful experiences you typically offer to tourists may just sweeten their view of the industry. Sure, it won't solve the problem completely, but it's a lot more difficult to be angry at the tourism industry while being pampered to the hilt at a 5* hotel...

These are just 5 reasons hotels should engage with the local residents & how we help them achieve this. Let us know what you would add to the list!