For your hotel, think international!
Which strategies should you adopt to make the most of an international clientele? The difference lies in the details.
Once again this year, France is set to confirm its place as world tourism champion, with 87 million foreign tourists welcomed in 2017. Tourism is booming worldwide, and France is reaping the benefits! So which strategies should you adopt in order to make the most of welcoming international guests?
Translate your website and offer several currencies. Have you ever considered that a good many abandoned bookings are down to your website not supporting different languages and currencies?
Let's say tourists have been won over by your hotel concept, its decor or the meals you offer: if they then browse your website and the content is not translated into their language, or they can't find room rates in their own currency, they will drop you without a second thought and head for competing hotels' websites.
Stand out from the crowd by taking language coverage even further. You can offer brochures and audio tours to give them an idea of what they can experience during their trip. And don't forget that hiring multilingual staff would improve your guests' experience during their stay. You can also add a chatbot (conversational robot) to your hotel website, able to chat with your guests in several languages: read our article here.
Grow your business on social media. On social media, you can define your target audience. Remember to post useful content that will appeal to your potential guests.
You can also tailor your advertising according to your objective, and to the gender and age bracket of the people you want to reach.
You can also translate your posts into several languages, in order to achieve better engagement from your foreign audience.
Most Facebook users check their news feed several times a day. So bear peak usage times in mind when scheduling your posts.
List your property on the OTAs. Work out which online travel agencies (OTAs) your target audience is most likely to use, as this is another way of attracting foreign guests. Ctrip, for instance, is the most popular OTA in China among young travellers, while TripAdvisor is the favourite site of travellers in the United Kingdom. The most popular OTAs are:
- Agoda
- Tripadvisor
- Last Minute
- Booking
- hotel.de
By making sure your hotel appears on these popular international OTAs and that your information and photos are up to date, you will increase your chances of catching the eye of international guests. Encouraging guests who have had a good experience to leave reviews on the OTAs will also help you showcase your property.
Adapt your property to foreign cultures. Because of cultural differences, guests' needs and wishes can vary. The key is to identify the amenities that will help your guests feel as comfortable as possible while travelling in a new country. So when it comes to breakfast, think international and offer different options (American, continental, brunch or buffet, and so on).
Plan ahead, and provide your foreign guests with the essentials they need: you could, for example, supply adaptors for electrical sockets as well as free wifi access.
Get the welcome right for your foreign guests. For your foreign guests to feel at ease when they arrive at your property, you need to get their welcome right!
With StyQR, you can easily create your hotel's digital welcome book, to give your guests all the information they need for their stay: wifi code, door codes, useful numbers, local recommendations nearby and more.
You can translate your welcome book into 8 languages (English, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Your guests access your welcome book by scanning a QR code (or via a URL link sent by email). The icing on the cake: the welcome book displays automatically in the guest's own language!
That way, your guests will feel looked after throughout their stay, with all the useful information at their fingertips and in their own language.
Frequently asked questions
Should I translate my whole hotel website or just the booking page? A traveller won over by your concept, your interiors or your food will still leave if the content isn’t in their language and room rates don’t appear in their currency. The two go together: a translated page showing a price in an unfamiliar currency leaves the doubt intact. So translate the pages people use to make up their mind, not only the booking funnel.
Which OTAs should my hotel be listed on to attract international travellers? Start by working out which ones your target audience actually uses. Ctrip is the most popular OTA in China among young travellers, while TripAdvisor is the site of choice for UK travellers. Agoda, Last Minute, Booking and hotel.de are also among the most visited. Being listed isn’t enough: your information and photos have to be up to date, and happy guests encouraged to leave a review.
When should I post on social media to reach international guests? Most Facebook users check their feed several times a day, so line your posts up with peak connection hours. Translate them into several languages: engagement from your international audience improves. And adjust your advertising to the objective, the gender and the age bracket you are targeting.
What should I provide for guests coming from abroad? Look for what makes them comfortable in a country they don’t know. Adapters for the power sockets and free wifi cost little and settle two irritations on arrival. For breakfast, offer several options: American, continental, brunch or buffet.
How do my guests open the digital welcome book? They scan a QR code, or open a link sent by email. The welcome book displays automatically in the guest’s language, among those you have translated it into: English, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Inside they find the wifi code, the door codes, the useful numbers and your recommendations nearby.
Is a chatbot enough, or do I need multilingual staff? The two don’t come into play at the same moment. A chatbot on the hotel website talks in several languages to a guest who is still hesitating, before booking. During the stay it’s multilingual staff that improves the experience, with brochures or audio tours taking over when nobody is available.
The table below brings together each lever covered above and what it actually changes for a guest arriving from abroad.
| Lever | What the article recommends | What it changes for the international guest |
|---|---|---|
| Website | Translate the content and show room rates in the guest’s own currency | Prevents drop-off in favour of a competing hotel |
| Chatbot | A multilingual conversational bot on the hotel website | An answer in their language before booking |
| Social media | Translated posts, timed for peak connection hours; advertising tailored to objective, gender and age group | Better engagement from your international audience |
| OTAs | Ctrip in China, TripAdvisor in the United Kingdom, Agoda, Last Minute, Booking, hotel.de, with up-to-date details and photos | More chances of catching international travellers’ attention |
| Amenities | Plug adapters, free wifi, American, continental, brunch or buffet breakfast | They feel at ease in a country they don’t know |
| During the stay | Multilingual staff, brochures, audio tours | Someone to talk to, or material in their language |
| StyQR welcome book | QR code or link sent by email, translation into 8 languages, automatic display in the guest’s language | Wifi code, door codes, useful numbers and local tips at hand |
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