4 MARKETING TIPS TO PROMOTE YOUR SUSTAINABLE HOTEL
You have developed one of the world’s most sustainable travel services and experiences. People should be coming to stay and dine at your hotel. But they are not. What do you do now?
You have put all your energy and time into creating a product and a service that you are proud of. Not to mention, now you need to:
Market and promote your hotel and travel services
Find partners to build alliances and distribution channels
Get feedback and improve
However, you could build a custom system to automate and simplify your marketing efforts. Here are 4 actions to streamline your sustainability marketing to increase your brand’s invisibility and impact.
Don’t just tell. Show what you do.
Answer the age-old question “what’s in it for me”
Join alliances - local to global, intra to cross-sectoral.
Build a dedicated and integrated team.
Don’t just tell. Show what you do on key platforms - owned and earned.
As opposed to constantly describing your business as “ethical”, “sustainable”, “responsible'', “eco-conscious”, demonstrate how you are making an impact by sharing updates that correspond to real actions.
A recent Bain report suggests that a majority of Asian travelers expect to see brands back up their sustainability claims with evidence.
Instead of stopping at:
“We place sustainability at the heart of our business.”
Consider going further with:
“We have reduced our carbon emissions by 15% this year. This means we have reached 85% of our goal to become carbon-neutral by 2025. We also contributed 15% of our revenue to reforestation and wildlife preservation projects in our country."
Seeing is believing, so include images and videos and show the before-after transformation if possible.
Only say something that is actually true. Greenwashing will backfire.
Share your progress and updates via your owned channels - newsletters, social media accounts, and websites.
Pitch your success to the media for earned coverage.
Example: Banyan Tree Mayakoba in Mexico
Answer the age-old question of “what’s in it for me as a guest”
Personalized storytelling makes sustainability feel more achievable for the everyday traveler. It establishes an impression about the functional, social and emotional benefits before a guest even arrives at the destination. In Asia, this could not be more true given that Asian consumers view their health and well-being as a result of their eco-conscious lifestyle.
Instead of stopping at the conventional marketing model:
Functional benefit: value for money, great service, comfortability, or safety. Many people still have the perception that quality is compromised for sustainability. Be sure to show
Emotional benefit: how this experience will make a guest feel – more relaxed, happier, and more themselves.
Social (status) benefit: how spending money on your service or experience enables your guests to make a statement to the world about their identity.
Consider going further by highlighting:
Societal benefit: how your guests’ money contributes to creating jobs and improving surrounding communities.
Environmental benefit: how spending their money on your service helps with contributing to regenerating the surrounding environment.
Examples: The Cayuga Collection and Mana Earthly Paradise
Join alliances - local to global, intra to cross-sectoral - to increase reach and reinforce brand affinity
Many other businesses share your goal of building a sustainable future. There are 48 countries in Asia, and one of the most effective ways of reaching the right audience in your source markets is to collaborate with key local and regional players.
For a strategic alliance to succeed, the two brands must share common values, objectives, target audiences, and promotion channels and there is a clear path that both parties win.
Instead of :
only working internally as an organization to attract new customers.
Consider going further with:
Intra-sectoral partnership: Joining regional and global alliances such as Considerate Collection by Small Luxury Hotels of the World, Beyond Green by Preferred Hotels, Regenerative Travel, Sustainable Hotel Alliance, The Long Run, and Asia’s Next-Gen Hotels to boost your company profile if you are an independent eco-conscious hotel.
Cross-sectoral collaboration: Going beyond your own industry and forming partnerships with key players who compliment your services to broaden your community. Intercontinenal Da Nang works with NGO GreenViet to educate young guests on the importance of environmental preservation, One&Only partnered with high-end swimwear brand Orlebar Brown to showcase four of their exceptional locations from around the world.
Build a dedicated and integrated sustainability team
Sustainability is a mindset, a value that everyone at your company should embrace. Many Asia-headquartered hotel brands such as Banyan Tree, Shinta Mani Hotels, and Tiger Mountain Nepal embody this ethos. By doing so, they ensure consistent brand messaging across internal and external channels, and empower every team member to speak about the brand values authentically.
Instead of:
having only a director of sustainability or chief sustainability officer, who is dedicated entirely to spearheading your company sustainability efforts.
Consider:
building an integrated team or task force around that person to streamline and bring your sustainability mission to life across the organization from employee empowerment, operational efficiency, consumer-facing communications, supplier partnerships, and community relations.
Examples: room2 Chiswick hometel & Nikoi Private Island
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When you’re ready, there are 3 ways we can help you with your sustainability journey.
The Sustainability Certification Program: Increase your sustainability credibility by gaining a globally-recognized sustainability certification.
Decode Asia. From clueless to marketing your brand with confidence to your target Asian travelers. A consulting project to map out your Asia go-to market plan and unlock your growth opportunities today.
Asia Accelerator. Level up your Asia-focused marketing. A brand audit and future-planning project including one-day workshop with your marketing team to develop your next 3-month Asia marketing plan to accelerate your growth.
Our consulting service can cover one or several of the following markets: Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, and Vietnam.