Week 8 Hospitality Discussion

Hello class

Familiarization (FAM) trips are organized trips for tour wholesalers, tour operators and travel agents for the purpose of familiarizing and educating them with tourism destinations. By seeing the destination where they will send travelers, the travel trade is better prepared in answering a client’s questions and promoting travel to the location. One key thing to start with is to show the client the whole location, and give them the freedom to ask question as they see the location. Secondly, is to show a meeting organizer the perks location like meeting rooms, athletics centers and dining halls, in order to entice him or her to purchase the location. Thirdly, it is important to keep the client interested by showing them other options to make them feel as the company has many options to choose from. Another key strategy to be considered is transportation options especially when the event and the meeting are located at different areas, options like hotel transportation, buses or taxis should be provided. Lastly, is to consider the local attractions around the hotel where the clients may go to have fun or recreational activities in the hotel.

During busy times of the year, the hotel, convention center, or meeting halls have demand than the available meeting space. As a sales team, it is important to determine which customers to take and which to refer to other establishment. According to Kimes (2010), one important and profitable strategy would be determining the price elasticity to use in the market and then setting the price accordingly. The hotel would then choose the customers who are willing to pay the most. It should use a revenue optimization approach based around the optimal price point in future for every day per channel per segment. Another strategy would be to segment customers where by the loyal customers or return customers are given priority than the first time customers. This would increase trust and encourage them to always consider the hotel, convection or meeting hall as an available space for them. 

Reference

Kimes, S. (2010). Strategic Pricing through Revenue Management, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration The Scholarly Commons, 502-513. Retrieved from http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1348&context=articles

Response to Darrell Green

Hello Darrell,

I like your discussion about meetings, conventions, and expositions. You have discussed your points in details. On the five key strategies used by sales managers in these industries, you have highlighted your points well. One of the striking points that caught my eyes is your fifth strategy. The strategy is that it is important to familiarize the travel agents with the ground people. This is a good move as the client will be free to ask the ground people questions if they have any. It will also make the client feel satisfied due to the hospitality they will receive. I like your idea on how sales team will choose their customers during peak. I agree with you that customers who book in advance should be given the priority. Darrell, if you were in sales team or a manager, would you take advantage of high pricing in this season? 

Response to Denesha Staley

Hi Denesha,

I like your week 8 discussions on meetings, conventions, and expositions. Your points are well elaborated. Summing up on your five strategies, it is evident that a sales manager should explain all they offer, showcase everything, explain their surroundings like local attractions and any other extra service that they offer. I agree with you on the both factors that should be considered by the sales time. In profit factor, I believe this should be the best time for the facility to enjoy their best revenue. Denesha, how do you think the industry should entice their customers with the hiked prices?