It’s a no-brainer that your hotel website needs information and organization that is intuitive and useful for your leisure guests, but can you say you’ve done the same for your meetings customers?.
According to our latest meeting planner survey, there are quite a few features and functionalities that meetings professionals either expect, or would at least like, to see on the websites of potential hotel partners.
Further, planners have indicated they’d like to be able to directly download sourcing materials from hotel websites, including:
- Floor diagrams
- Room measurements
- Photos of past events
- Catering menus
- Testimonials
- Capacity charts
- 360-degree venue tours/videos
That’s why you need to develop and maintain a deep meetings and events section on your hotel website, or better yet, a dedicated “micro-site” just for meeting planners.
But remember, your goal is to push beyond just offering a meetings-focused blog, making sure all the actual sourcing tools meeting planners need will be available online, so they can conveniently access this information once your group-focused content has attracted them to the property.
Among these tailored features, videos are especially important, because they enable meeting planners—especially those who don’t book meetings as a full-time job—to view potential venues from the convenience of their office. According to our survey, meeting planners find videos offering facility views (72%) and self-guided virtual tours (69%) especially helpful when researching venues.
Remember to share your best testimonials and feedback, too. Endorsements and event ideas from peers who’ve previously booked your hotel are also popular offerings, according to the planners we’ve polled.
Tambourine uses technology and creativity to increase revenue for hotels and destinations worldwide. The firm, now in its 34th year, is located in New York City, Carlsbad and Fort Lauderdale. Please visit: www.Tambourine.com
