Marketing Review — Fall 2008 - (Page 30)

tickets to Hershey Park. Other popular add-ons are spa packages, gift packages, chocolate-covered strawberries, wine, and fruit and cheese trays. Kulina notes that Hershey sold more than 400 “kissable kids” baskets last year—a gift basket that contains chocolates and a stuffed animal. The program has matured to the point where Hershey has been able to determine what items are popular, what needs to enhanced, and what needs to be eliminated in order not to present too exhaustive a laundry list of options. The Web site informs guests of any special food and beverage events that can be added to room reservations. For example hotels to communicate their offerings to guests, and e-mail gives them the opportunity to speak to guests in a targeted way. Hershey is trending more toward the “segmented” market working with an external partner, AIR Marketing, to grow its loyalty base and encourage repeat visitors with special offers. Kulina says that the ability “to be able to speak on a one-to-one basis with our guests” and to reach increasingly segmented markets is key. Making Money From Referrals With Hotel Hershey and Hershey Lodge considered to be the premier lodging venues in the Hershey area, and with no NIS, HEALTH A, GOLF, TEN LONE VE SP RESORTS HA AINMENT, AND STAND-A ARGE ERT MON IN L CLUBS, ENT NOT UNCOM O TS. IT’S OM SPEND T RESTAURAN E OUT-OF-RO R TH RESORTS, FO REVENUE. M TION IC DISTRIBU EXCEED ROO R ELECTRON NT, FO ICE PRESIDE RESORTS STREETER, V —PAM HOTEL AND INTERSTATE TING AND MARKE try consulting firm based in Potomac, Maryland, notes that other resorts are acting like travel agents, such as Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation in Colorado. Pam Streeter, vice president for electronic distribution and marketing with Interstate Hotels and Resorts in Arlington, Virginia, says that each property under the Interstate umbrella has its own opportunities for ancillary income. Resorts have spa, golf, tennis, health clubs, entertainment, and stand-alone restaurants. It’s not uncommon in large resorts, continues Streeter, for the out-of-room spend to exceed room revenue. Opportunities for ancillary income are usually smaller with a corporate business hotel, but, declares Streeter, even there when “you order room service—ancillary income. You use the Internet—ancillary income. You may send out some laundry— ancillary income. You eat breakfast—ancillary income. Maybe if you can’t sleep you turn on the pay-per-view movie—ancillary income. So there are a lot of ways for a business hotel to increase its income, but the ticket prices of these items are typically less than at a resort that also offers teetime, a spa, or a beach cabana.” The Art of Pre-Selling the town of Hershey holds an event, “Chocolate Covered February,” that features guest chefs, chocolate and wine pairings, and chocolate-themed dinners. Hershey is now using a program called “Digital Alchemy” to handle electronic communications and reservations. When guests book a reservation they are sent an e-mail confirmation. Ten days prior to their arrival they’ll get another pre-stay marketing message that lists all of the activities going on both in the hotel and in the surrounding area during their time of stay. This gives guests the opportunity to add some of those things on to their reservation. In other words, Hershey does what it can to keep its guests spending their time and money with them. Kulina also notes that informing guests of events and activities before they arrive helps them better plan their visit. Today’s technology makes it easier for 30 chamber of commerce, notes Kulina, “when someone reaches our call center and discovers that our hotel is sold out or not in their budget range, we have the opportunity to sell about 20 other properties ranging from chain hotels to smaller privately-owned hotels on a commission basis, so we act almost like a travel agent.” In turn, Hershey now collects both a processing fee and a commission. Because Hershey owns the vanity telephone number, 800-Hershey, it fields a great many calls. As Kulina points out, in the past whenever they were sold out they made referrals: now they can benefit from them. Names and information of callers who go elsewhere don’t just vanish into the air either; Hershey retains that information in the hopes these callers will become future guests. Cindy Estis Green, managing partner of the Estis Group, a travel indus- Streeter agrees with Kulina that maximizing income entails “pre-selling as much as you can., whether online or over the phone.” And, with any follow-up confirmation message always ask guests to confirm the services they want to use. As Cindy Estis Green notes, “One of the biggest things that any property can do to generate ancillary revenue is to book it before the guests arrive. Some hoteliers actually call ahead to the guests to remind them to ”make sure you book your spa treatment and your restaurant reservations.” Others have a concierge within the reservations department who calls all arrivals to discuss options with them and helps book activities.” Web sites that have interactive and easy-to-use vacation planners, such as Steamboat’s, can help sell add-ons, says Estis-Green, “but you’re more likely to get a commitment” through a personal phone call. Many hotels make personal calls durHSMAI MARKETING REVIEW • FALL 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marketing Review — Fall 2008

Marketing Review – Fall 2008 Contents The Online Marketer Success Stories Forecasting Trends Ian Schrager: The Revolutionary Man Leaving No Stone Unturned: The Quest for Ancillary Revenue Gaga Gadgets for Execs on the Go: Functional New Portable Technology to Make Life and Work on the Road More Hospitable Effectively Weathering the Ups and Downs of the Economic Cycle Experiments in Podcasting Higher Transportation Costs and a Slowing Economy Shift Hotel Room Demand

Marketing Review — Fall 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.