How do you design a successful rate plan for your hotel? Why are some rate plans more successful than others?
When you create rate plans, try and tap into your inner hotel shopper psyche. Is your customer planning to visit your hotel for business, or pleasure? What are their expectations when they make their initial date search? When they’re visiting your hotel website, what do the images they see on the homepage represent? What do your images and copy in the Bedrooms, Food and Beverage, Golf and Spa pages represent?
Every rate plan has purpose. However, not every rate plan has a valid purpose. Is the rate plan there to, for example, keep your chef happy that you’re promoting the restaurant, or is there a real financial value for the hotel in having it there?
In the presentation below, we’ve included 4 examples of the most profitable rate plans hotels typically offer, along with a breakdown of why they’re valuable and how to use them.
The 4 Best Rate Plans for Hotels from Net Affinity
Regardless of the type of rate plans you’re creating, the name of the rate plan is paramount. Make it is as descriptive as possible. Remember, a lot of your guests are likely visiting your website via a mobile device, so the rate plan description may not be clear or as obvious as it is on desktop. Take a look at your analytics to find out how many visitors you get on mobile, and make sure you look at your rate plans on your phone so you know how they display.
The rate plan names we’ve used above are strong messages for why a guest shouldbook direct when searching for their next hotel stay. You should reinforce this message throughout all your online advertising, and even on your home page with a call-out box or a different feature to draw attention.
