With a strong dollar pushing tourist demand in Europe from American leisure travelers, and a generally strong global demand for new concepts, hotels are poised to enjoy healthy growth throughout the rest of the year.
This growth also means a more robust competitive landscape and so some hotel groups are tackling summer travel with gusto.
Here are two well-crafted multimedia marketing initiatives making waves for the peak travel season.
Starwood Preferred Guest's Weekend Channel
SPG is focusing explicitly on the weekend, targeting those busy workers who may not be able to enjoy a full vacation this summer. By "turning on the weekend," these workers can still enjoy a touch of summer — and hopefully visit more than one Starwood hotel over a series of weekends.
The Weekend Channel is where the brand is promoting its various city and beach escapes, using a full complement of content from partner hotels to fuel the interest.
By encouraging different adventures, such as weekend tech, city runs and local farmer's markets, the brand wants to trigger that immediate wanderlust that leads to a spontaneous weekend vacation.
In order to sweeten the weekend, SPG is also offering 1,000 bonus points for any two-night or more stay that includes a Friday, Saturday or Sunday. The offer expires August 31st and is valid across all of Starwood's 1200 hotels and resorts.
https://vimeo.com/126977838
Morgan Hotels: Book Your Cure
The common refrain here is that a holiday is a sure-fire cure to the work blues. While not blazing any new marketing paths as far messaging, the packaging works well to promote the full complement of hotels around the world.
By focusing on a specific thing a particular hotel does well — such as dancing all night in Vegas – the campaign suggests a personality fit for each of its hotels. As the traveler determines the "vacation mission," they can then pick a hotel to suit.
Morgans Hotel Group has identified an emerging new disease that it likes to call Holiday Deficit Disorder — or the complete destruction of creativity caused by working too long without any inspiration-filled downtime:
Are you suffering from creator’s fatigue? A constant case of The Mondays? Do wake up every day thinking, “Not this again…?” Don’t let stress, fatigue, and irritability break you down. Take action against Holiday Deficit Disorder with a full line of treatment options from Morgans Hotel Group. Relax. Renew. Refocus. Cure HDD with MHG.
The hotel group is offering discounts up to 40% on summer stays with a variety of "treatment options" across its international portfolio.