February 14, 2023
In the past, a hard line existed between business and leisure travel. But now the bleisure travel trend — part business, part leisure — is great for guests who may not have the time to take a full vacation, but still want a memorable and enjoyable experience during their business trip.
Below, we’ll discuss why you should implement the bleisure travel trend into your marketing strategy and how you can increase your bleisure travel bookings with support from integrated hotel marketing software.
What Is the Bleisure Travel Trend?
Bleisure travel, combining business and leisure, is on track to replace traditional business travel. As a result, a new type of traveler has been created, one who is neither a business traveler nor a carefree vacationer but a combination.
It’s important that the hospitality industry adapts by offering new services and amenities that make it easy for travelers to move from work to fun without friction.
One way to accomplish this is to implement a feeling of immersion of local experiences to make their trip more delightful and memorable. To achieve this, you can:
- Use products that have been locally sourced for your restaurant or food service
- Partner with local vendors to sell their goods
- Promote local events
Another method for improving your bleisure travel bookings is to tailor your marketing efforts and amenities to bleisure travelers. Consider features that will make your hotel stand out, such as:
- Providing a wellness-conscious room experience for guests
- Offering classes and activities focused on fitness and wellness
- Improving dining and shopping experiences
Best Hotel Marketing Software Features To Entice Bleisure Travelers
Email Marketing Templates for Tailored Messaging
Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to attract new and loyal customers, and personalized emails are another layer to that.
Within your hotel marketing software, you may have access to personalization tools. If so, you may be able to use your favorite templates that can have customized titles, images, text and more.
Modern bleisure travelers are in a rush and don’t have time to read long or stuffy messages. Instead, you can use vibrant, creative, and custom messages to attract customers and highlight deals and offers. Furthermore, you can utilize your custom messages and imagery to guide the traveler along a path of conversion to help increase your bookings.
Upsell Opportunities With a Guest Portal
Hotel PMS solutions that feature a guest portal have many benefits:
- Guests can make and manage their own reservations without needing to contact your front desk
- You and your guests can check and manage payment information
- Seamless communication through automated messaging
Automated communications can boost operational efficiency and streamline your connections with guests. For example, if your reservation software features automated messaging tools, you can schedule and send informative or helpful emails at the right times. These emails can range anywhere from promoting new offers and deals for new customers to asking for feedback and reviews of guests checking out.
Increase Bleisure Bookings With OTA Integrations
If your hotel management software enables you to use an Internet Booking Engine, you can sync it across all your channels and use the advantages of Online Travel Agency (OTA) integrations, so your rooms and rates are always up-to-date.
With channel manager features such as Dynamic Pricing, you can automate this process by implementing set guidelines so you can shift your focus to other tasks and not need to constantly manage your rates and room availability. Dynamic Pricing rules and guidelines can be set to accommodate current occupancy, seasons, or holidays.
Meet the Needs of Bleisure Travelers With Solonis
Today’s traveler expects hotels to accommodate their bleisure needs, and the best way to accomplish that is with the right hotel marketing software that provides all the features mentioned above.
Choosing between the right hotel PMS systems, though, can be overwhelming for hoteliers. That’s why we created the most informative guide to choosing the best software for your needs. Learn more about which all-in-one software is best for your business operations today.