Understanding Your Target Market for Hotels and Resorts

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.”
– Peter Drucker, management consultant, and author

Content of This Article

Introduction

In today’s highly competitive hospitality landscape, understanding your target market for hotels and resorts is more critical than ever. For business owners, hotel or resort managers, and marketing professionals, identifying and catering to the specific needs of your target audience can make all the difference in driving bookings, generating revenue, and fostering guest loyalty. This article will explore the importance of understanding your target market and provide actionable insights on how to effectively segment your audience, develop guest personas, and analyze competitors and market trends to create a winning marketing strategy.

Case Study: Kimpton Hotels

Kimpton Hotels, a boutique hotel brand under InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), has succeeded by recognizing its target clientele and catering to their demands. By focusing on a niche audience of discerning, experience-driven travelers, Kimpton has managed to create a unique guest experience that resonates with their target market, resulting in increased bookings and revenue growth.

Some of the strategies Kimpton implemented to cater to their target audience include:

Offering unique, boutique-style properties with individual character and design.
Prioritizing exceptional customer service and personalized experiences for guests.
Emphasizing sustainability and eco-friendliness, which resonates with the values of their target audience.
Providing curated, locally-inspired amenities, such as nightly wine hours and complimentary bicycles.
Integrating pet-friendly policies and amenities, catering to a growing segment of travelers.

4 Strategies to Identify and Segment Your Target Audience

Understanding your hotel or resort’s target market begins with identifying and segmenting your potential guests. This enables you to tailor your marketing efforts to better appeal to each group, resulting in more targeted and effective campaigns. You can segment your target audience using these methods:

1. Demographic segmentation: Sort your audience by income, education, age, and gender. Understanding your potential guests’ demographics allows you to build marketing efforts that meet their needs. For example, a luxury resort may target high-income couples seeking romantic getaways, while a budget hotel might focus on young, budget-conscious travelers.

2. Geographic segmentation: Identify target customers based on their location, such as country, region, or city. This allows you to cater your marketing messages and offerings to guests from specific regions or countries. For instance, a ski resort in the mountains may target guests from nearby urban areas looking for a winter escape, while a beach resort might focus on attracting international tourists from colder climates.

3. Psychographic segmentation: Group potential guests based on their lifestyle, interests, values, and personality traits. This helps you to create tailored marketing campaigns that appeal to the desires and motivations of different types of guests. For example, an eco-friendly resort may target environmentally-conscious travelers, while a wellness resort might focus on guests seeking relaxation and rejuvenation.

4. Behavioral segmentation: Segment guests based on their travel habits, booking preferences, and reasons for travel. This can help you establish tailored marketing campaigns and products for different types of guests. For instance, a family-friendly resort might target guests who frequently travel with children, while a business hotel may focus on corporate travelers attending conferences and events.

5 Ways To Develop Guest Personas and Understand their Needs

Creating guest personas involves developing detailed profiles of your ideal customers, which can help you better understand their needs, preferences, and expectations. These personas serve as a valuable tool for tailoring your marketing efforts, guest experiences, and offerings to resonate with your target audience. To develop guest personas for your hotel or resort, consider the following steps:

1. Demographics: Age, gender, education, income, and occupation are required.. These characteristics can help you identify the different types of guests who might be interested in your hotel or resort and inform your marketing messaging.

2. Travel habits: Describe their typical travel frequency, preferred accommodations, booking patterns, and transportation choices. Understanding how your ideal guests travel can help you create offers and promotions that align with their habits and preferences.

3. Interests and preferences: Determine their hobbies, interests, and desired vacation experiences. This information can help you develop tailored guest experiences, such as themed packages or activities, that cater to the specific interests of your target audience.

4. Pain points and expectations: Understand their common frustrations and what they expect from their hotel or resort experience. Addressing these pain points and meeting their expectations can help you create a more satisfying and memorable guest experience.

5. Decision-making factors: Find out what influences their hotel or resort choice, such as pricing, location, amenities, or internet reviews. You may maximize your marketing efforts by determining what matters most to your target audience.

Once you have developed your guest personas, use them to inform your marketing strategy and guest experience design. You can easily make your hotel or resort stand out by catering to your target audience’s demands and preferences.

6 Key Steps to Analyze Competitors and Market Trends

Understanding your competition and staying informed about market trends is essential for staying ahead in the hospitality industry. This involves gathering information on both direct competitors and the overall market landscape to make informed decisions for your hotel or resort. Here are some key steps:

1. Identify your main competitors: Start by listing the hotels or resorts that directly compete with your business, considering factors like location, target audience, price range, and service offerings. You may also want to include indirect competitors like vacation rentals or home-sharing platforms.

2. Assess competitors’ strengths and weaknesses: Evaluate each competitor’s offerings, guest experiences, and marketing strategies to determine their strengths and weaknesses. This can help you identify opportunities for differentiation and improvement in your own hotel or resort.

3. Benchmark your hotel or resort: Compare your property’s performance, offerings, and marketing efforts against those of your competitors. Identify areas where you excel and where you might need improvement. This can help you set realistic goals for your business and prioritize your marketing.

4. Monitor industry trends: Stay informed about emerging trends in the hospitality industry, such as technological advancements, traveler preferences, and market demands. Read industry reports, attend conferences, and follow trustworthy sources to stay current.

5. Analyze market data: Leverage data from market research, booking platforms, and industry reports to gain insights into key performance indicators, such as occupancy rates, average daily rates, and revenue per available room. This data can also help you make data-driven decisions.

6. Adjust your strategy based on insights: Use your competitive analysis and market trend research to inform your marketing strategy, guest experience design, and service offerings. To stay ahead of the competition and satisfy your target audience, test and refine your approach based on insights.

Summary: Checklist of Things to Do

Conduct thorough market research to identify and understand your target audience.
Segment your target audience using demographic, geographic, psychographic, and behavioral factors.
Develop detailed guest personas to gain insights into the needs, preferences, and expectations of your target market.
Analyze your competitors’ strengths, weaknesses, marketing strategies, and guest experiences to identify opportunities for differentiation.
Stay informed about industry trends and market demands to ensure your offerings and marketing efforts remain relevant and competitive.
Tailor your marketing efforts to the specific preferences and needs of each audience segment to maximize effectiveness.
Continuously monitor and adjust your marketing strategy based on data-driven insights and changing market dynamics.

Conclusion

Understanding your hotel or resort’s target market is essential for business owners, hotel or resort managers, and marketing professionals in today’s competitive hospitality environment. By effectively segmenting your audience, developing guest personas, and analyzing competitors and market trends, you can create targeted marketing strategies that resonate with your potential guests, driving bookings, increasing revenue, and fostering guest loyalty.

Focusing on your target market’s wants, interests, and expectations can help you create a remarkable guest experience that sets your hotel or resort apart. You will attract more guests and build enduring relationships that keep them coming back. So if you want to succeed in the ever-changing hospitality industry, you must always understand your target market.