National hotel chains command massive budgets and instant brand recognition. Competing is all about wiser tactics and finding your way into a competitive advantage when you’re in the region. Engaging local breweries and prominently showcasing the properties as part of a community’s Craft Beer Culture can help deepen the sense of place and can provide another reason for guests to stay in destinations that have strong, vibrant Craft Beer scenes. Whether it’s strategic food and beverage collaborations or tech stacks, or repositioning the hotel… here are five methods to scale efficiently and create guest experiences hard for a national brand to copy.
1. Strengthen Your Position With Third-Party Management Agreements
It is an asset-light solution to Scalability, enabling you to grow without investing in real estate. You do not buy properties, but concentrate on the operational skills, human resources, and marketing assistance. This is the model in which you can add multiple properties to your portfolio in a jiffy, without property owners losing their assets. The economy is on your side. It spreads the Corporate overheads and regional marketing costs over several assets, which yields economies of scale and thus increased profitability. You have a position of strength for negotiating larger contracts, which would not be possible with a single or two properties. Staff can be transferred between sites, which eliminates duplication of effort and still provides a good service. Operational efficiency is a benefit for both you and property owners.
2. Drive Higher Value Through Strategic Repositioning
Acquiring an underperforming hotel and turning it around can deliver substantial returns when done correctly. Repositioning goes beyond simple building renovation. It is a strategic response to the current economic climate that requires careful analysis before you commit resources. Key hotel performance indicators have a nearly 90% correlation with macroeconomic indicators such as gross domestic product and unemployment rates. This demonstrates that external economic forces must inform your repositioning strategy.
Begin by analyzing current market conditions in your target location. Investigate demand patterns, competitive supply, and economic forecasts for the area. Think about a property overhaul, market change, or a change of gears. The building itself may be good, but the location may not be suitable for the current market demand. Your repositioning plan needs to be in line with the direction the market is going, not the direction it has gone.
3. Modernize Your Operations With a Smart Tech Stack
Cloud-based systems for property management, revenue optimization, and guest data enable regional operators to operate with an efficiency that rivals that of larger chains. The right technology investments pay for themselves through operational gains. The data support this investment. Cloud-based hotel management systems can deliver up to a 30% increase in operational efficiency, while artificial intelligence tools can reduce staff workload by up to 70%. These are not incremental improvements.
They represent fundamental shifts in how hotels operate. Focus on systems that integrate seamlessly. Your property management system should interface with your revenue management, customer relations and point of sale systems. With data freely moving between systems, you can have real-time insights that will help you make better decisions. Your staff will have more time to devote to guest service and less time on manual data entry.
4. Build Unbeatable Local Loyalty With Hyper-Localized Partnerships
National chains pursue uniformity as a feature. You can make this work to your benefit. Connect the community and work with local businesses, tourism operators, artists, and food makers to build a truly local brand that guests won’t find anywhere else. These connections make your hotels just a place to stay, but a true experience of a locality.
Consider partnerships like these to build your regional advantage:
- Local food and beverage partners: Work with coffee roasters for your breakfast service and feature craft beverages in your bars. Restaurant collaborations can create exclusive dining packages for guests.
- Display art by regional artists and makers in lobbies and guest rooms, on information cards, to communicate their stories. Have locally-made gifts available instead of souvenirs.
- Tour & experience providers: Collaborate with local tour operators to design unique experiences that cannot be found anywhere else.
- Independent business network: Design concierge program to focus on independent businesses rather than chain businesses.
Every partnership will solidify your connection with your community and provide your guests with something to make them select your properties over the national brands.
5. Partner With Food and Beverage Brands Serving the Hotel Industry
In-room amenities can be a huge lever to deliver luxury accommodation. Your partners for coffee, tea, and snacks can have a definite effect on your guests’ perception and foster loyalty. The same level of care that can be given to local and regional craft beer makers can help enhance the guest experience, providing unique beverage choices that match the destination’s spirit and generate memorable experiences that make the destination a destination worth returning to. The companies listed below have a strong range of quality products, a keen awareness of the needs of the hospitality industry, and scalable solutions that aid in the effective participation of regional hotels.
Pod Pack
Meeting sustainability goals serves as a powerful differentiator in a competitive market. Pod Pack delivers BPI Certified compostable coffee pods, which allow hotels to give their guests a high-quality, convenient experience while enriching their environmental programs. It also has organic specialty selections, FDA-approved, and kosher. The company offers a variety of roast profiles for Keurig-compatible pods, soft pods, espresso pods, and filter packs. Products are certified to the Rainforest Alliance and SQF Level 2. Pod Pack offers established hotel brands custom coffee pods for hotel chains, along with scalable private label solutions with fixed-pricing programs.
Adagio Wholesale
Premium tea service elevates the in-room experience beyond standard chain hotel offerings. Adagio Wholesale provides Wholesale access to dozens of gourmet loose-leaf teas and premium pyramid teabags for use in the hospitality and food service industry. Options range from Earl Grey through to green tea (matcha), herbal tea, masala chai, and decaffeinated. Adagio XL offers competitive pricing and rapid delivery as a result of decades of experience and first-hand importing from various sources. It’s easy to offer guests a special amenity on your WhatsApp platform, which helps you to stand out in an increasingly competitive market.
In-Room Plus
Curated snacks and confectionery create opportunities to surprise guests with unique items. In-Room Plus deals with custom hospitality products in biscuits, savoury snacks, and confectionery (in boxes, pouches, tins, canisters, and glass jars). The second generation of this women-owned business does custom work, gives you in-house design capabilities, using elements from your property and branding. You enjoy the freedom of quick turnaround times, on-time shipping guaranteed, and no contracts. With plastic-free packaging options, In-Room Plus enables you to deliver a more memorable amenity experience than your national competitors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions arise when implementing competitive growth strategies.
How do Third-Party Management Agreements Increase Profitability?
Economies of scale kick in with third-party management agreements because you can bulk-buy, share staff across sites, and find new operational efficiencies.
What are the Most Important Factors in Hotel Repositioning?
Macroeconomic factors such as unemployment and GDP have an almost 90% correlation with hotel KPIs, so you need to take a long-term view when investing in repositioning. Local and regional economic influences are also important.
Are Property Management Systems Worth it?
Cloud-based property management systems can increase operational efficiency by as much as 30%, which makes them beneficial for a lot of operators. The most essential part is that the various components of a system seamlessly fit together.
Your Blueprint for Competing Against the Giants
You do not need a national chain’s budget to compete effectively. That requires more intelligent operations, real ties with local communities, and the flexibility to react faster than bigger players. Having a position in your region is only good if you use it as such. Establishing relationships with area craft breweries and pouring locally made beer can help solidify that advantage, giving guests a powerful sense of place, something many megabrands have a hard time providing. Use these strengths with intention and see how you change the playing field.
