Hotels boost marketing efforts with technology

Cebu’s hospitality industry players are now utilizing effective marketing measures to ensure high occupancy rate this year.

And one of these measures is the utilization of the power of the internet or the World Wide Web, a powerful engine of communication that allows hotels to attract and tap into different markets all over the world without too much cost and effort, said Mango Park Hotel owner Sergio D. Lim in a recent 888 news forum.

Lim stressed the importance of technology in attracting as many different foreign markets of the world especially in today’s economic meltdown when everybody is slowing down its spending.

“Information technology has helped us a lot. In our hotel, we have been attracting more corporate clientele and slowly we have been building our international foreign markets through our internet bookings. With this tool, we are no longer just confined in specific areas. We can get clients from all over the world and attract them to visit Cebu,” said Lim.

He stressed that at this point, positioning the business is very essential to survive the gruelling effects of the global crisis.

“We expect some belt tightening efforts in the industry this year but we still look at it on a different angle like the growth of the MICE market and the influx of newer markets. We just have to keep our renovations going, upgrading of facilities and the utilization of information technology,” he added.

Even Marco Polo Plaza general manager Hans Hauri agreed that on line bookings have also helped them attract more guests especially on lean months and said that at this time of crisis; the internet is indeed a good marketing tool.

He said that they are preparing short term and long term tools to address the possible slowdown in the industry by looking out for a wider environment through attending trade fairs and collaborating with fair organizers in the international level this year and also maximizing their IT facility through their on-line bookings available on their website.

Assistant manager Carlo B. Suarez of Cebu Grand Hotel said that even if there is an expected downtrend of some major foreign markets this year, new markets are slowly taking shape such as the Australians, Germans, Swedish and Indian markets who are also good spenders which can replace or sustain the growth of the industry amidst these tough times and these are only some of the markets that are reached by their websites.

National Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS) chairman Robert Joseph said that one strategy to survive the on going slowdown of the travel market is to maximize the use of information and communication technology (ICT).

“Stakeholders in the travel industry need to establish an IT facility because it’s already the call of the time. Through IT, you can fill up your rooms without actually meeting clients because of the websites plus they even get paid for advanced bookings,” he said.

Joseph said that this year, tourism industry expects lower arrivals from traditional markets such as Japan and Korea but this do not mean that the industry should stop its promotional efforts but all the more intensify it.

“We have to continue promoting service excellence, values and should try to change attitudes for the better. We have to be very innovative, be very creative. Tourism is not only in 2009, we have to look at it long terms, 10 to 20 years from now so the current state of the economy should not panic players of the tourism industry but make way for more innovations,” he said.