"Blue-collar travel"

Inna22
Level 10
Chicago, IL

"Blue-collar travel"

Just saw a big article in the Wall Street Journal about "blue-collar travel", and how  it now accounts for most of hotel business. It talks about how hotels are changing some of their offerings to cater to this clientele. They usually stay during the week. As I have always had more vacancies during the week, I would love to draw more of these types of the guests in. Can’t really think of anything to make that happen though.

8 Replies 8
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Inna22 I can't read the article without a subscription, but I believe it's talking about construction workers, travel nurses, that sort of thing.

 

The thing is, unless these people are travelling in large groups (that is unlikely with travel nurses, but maybe with construction workers?), I don't think they would book your listings, which are all very large and accommodate a lot of guests.

 

What about other types of business travellers? Do you have any big conference centres or trade show exhibition venues near you? If so, what types of events are they holding, i.e. for what sorts of industries? I wonder if it's worth getting in touch with them? 

@Huma0 the article said most were small business travel teams and construction workers. My prices in the winter are cheap enough for them plus they appreciate the garage. The article said the hotels changed beer brands and cafeteria hours to accommodate. I am not going to actively market my properties to groups for a couple of reasons but wondering why they are not naturally coming to me. I used to have decent size convention traffic before the pandemic

Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Inna22 

 

Well, I have no idea then to be honest. I am doing okay, largely due to a very long term booking in one room and a repeat guest who books another room a few times a year, but, since the Summer Release, it has not been business as usual. So, who knows who is and isn't seeing our listings right now...

We had a construction company rent our place for their crews last year.  It was the only time we ever got damages to our place.  Big trucks running over our bushes, dents in the stainless refrigerator and just left the place dirty.  I am definitely not looking to have this type of guest back.  I would however like to have a professional that can work from home stay for extended periods.  

 

Just watch out for the companies that want to pack your place full of workers.  You may end up spending all your profits on repairs and cleaning.

@John6275 funny that a construction crew was the one to cause damage. I am sure it was not funny to you at the time

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hi @Inna22 

 

Review your listing to see if your copy and amenities highlights your offer for business travellers.

 

Then do some market research to see if there are large businesses in your area that regularly have their employees staying in your location and see if they would recommend your listing.

 

You could also see if there are conference centres that have lists of suppliers for accomodation that they would add you to.

 

You can also do research to see if there are websites for travelling nurses and other key workers.

 

Once you have this information you can invest in advertising to drive traffic to your direct booking channels or Airbnb.

@Helen3 Thank you, all great suggestions. I  not interested in advertising though. I don’t think the effort is worth the gain. I am more interested in making the listing more appealing to those groups

Helen3
Level 10
Bristol, United Kingdom

Hi @Inna22 

 

You can make the listing as attractive and relevant as you like but if this target market aren't using Airbnb then they won't be aware you exist.

 

I work in marketing and comms as my day job, so my advice was based on my knowledge of what's likely to work based on who you want to attract.

 

You don't need to invest in advertising (although this will help massively) you can still set up third party marketing partnerships with the sort of organisations I mentioned in my reply.