The world is slowly opening up, but there are restrictions in place, which may limit the choice of countries you can visit and affect your travel preparations. If you are hoping to book a holiday, it’s essential to be aware of the latest COVID travel guidelines. 

If you plan to travel abroad, you’ll need to familiarise yourself with the red, amber and green lists. The travel traffic light system is reviewed regularly, usually every 3 weeks. The status of the destination dictates what you have to do to visit the country and return to the UK. It is worth noting that there may be differences between travel to and from England and other parts of the UK. 

For tourists travelling from England to an overseas destination, it’s wise to take the following steps:

Check the traffic light system to see which countries are on the green, amber and red lists

Check the entry requirements in the country of your choice: in many cases, for example, New Zealand, UK travellers are not permitted to enter even though the destination is on England’s green list. 

Make sure you understand the testing and quarantine requirements before confirming your booking. It is also advisable to read the terms and conditions. Some tour operators and travel agencies are offering free changes or refunds if the destination turns from amber to red, for example. 

Download and fill in any forms that are required to enter your destination (details for each country are available on the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office website)

Make sure you have the NHS App, with proof of double vaccination

The traffic light system is designed to make travel safer. Currently, the guidelines for travel to and from England are as follows:

Green countries: passengers visiting green countries do not need to quarantine on arrival. They will be required to take a test within 72 hours of their flight home to England and take a PCR test on day 2. 

Amber countries: if you are fully vaccinated, the same rules apply to amber countries as green destinations. If you are not fully vaccinated, you will need to take tests within 72 of your return flight and then on day 2 and day 8 and isolate for 10 days at home. You can pay for an additional test to end isolation on day 5 via the test to release scheme.

Red countries: red countries require hotel isolation in government-approved facilities for 10 days. The cost of the quarantine package, which includes the required tests, is paid for by the traveller. 

All passengers travelling to the UK will also be required to complete an online passenger locator form. 

You can find the most recent list of red, amber and green countries at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/red-amber-and-green-list-rules-for-entering-england. 

Travelling is a little different at the moment. If you are planning to travel, it’s extremely beneficial to take steps to minimise stress, simplify preparations and reduce the risk of contracting and spreading Covid-19. Here are some tips to help you get ready for your holiday:

Check government advice frequently and make sure you know exactly what you need to do before you travel, during your stay and after you arrive home. You’ll find the latest information and advice from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/travel-abroad-from-england-during-coronavirus-covid-19. 

Check your airline’s policy on face masks: many airlines and airports still require passengers to wear a face mask.

Check the requirements in the country you are travelling to: rules and restrictions vary depending on where you travel. You may need to wear face masks in public places or when using public transport, for example. You might also be required to have your temperature checked when arriving at an airport or a hotel and social distancing measures may be in place. There could also be curfews for bars and restaurants. 

Wash your hands frequently and take a small bottle of hand sanitiser with you. Try to avoid touching your face and dispose of used tissues and face masks carefully.

Make sure you have comprehensive insurance cover. Some policies will not cover Covid-19 complications, for example, the cost of isolating if you test positive when you arrive at your destination. 

Download the NHS app and check that you have your vaccine pass if you have had both doses. 

Millions of Brits are enjoying staycations this summer. A survey conducted by Sykes Cottages revealed that over 60% of adults were planning to holiday in the UK in 2021. If you’re staying closer to home, it’s essential to be aware of measures and restrictions in place to reduce the spread of Covid-19. 

UK citizens are free to travel within the UK without quarantining or taking PCR or rapid antigen tests. There are some measures to be aware of, particularly if you are visiting a different nation within the UK. The rules are slightly different in England than in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Here are some tips to help you plan a seamless, safe holiday:

There are no restrictions in terms of who you can stay with in England, Wales and Scotland. In Northern Ireland, social distancing measures and maximum party numbers are still in place. Check the latest guidance before you travel or book accommodation. 

Face coverings are not required by law in England, but many travellers may feel more comfortable wearing a mask when visiting shops or using public transport. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, it is still compulsory to use a covering in public places and when using public transport unless you are exempt.

Attractions are open across the UK, but some are operating at a reduced capacity and you may need to book tickets or reserve time slots online. Check with the venue before you travel. You may need to provide contact details when visiting some tourist attractions and hospitality venues.

It is important to note that you should not travel anywhere in the UK if you have symptoms of Covid-19 or you have tested positive for the virus. What are your best tips for grabbing a cheeky holiday while staying safe? Let us know on Insta or tweet us @justhooit!

Latest COVID Holiday Guidelines

The coronavirus pandemic has changed virtually everything about modern life, at least temporarily. It’s affected how we work, how we socialise, and, of course, how we travel -- or rather, how we don’t travel. With the whole country, and largely the whole world, under lockdown, people were unable to travel to the end of their road, let alone go to a tourist destination to have some fun.

That’s all beginning to change now. While we’re still in the coronavirus pandemic, things are looking a lot rosier than they did even several months ago. For the first time in a long while, people can travel, albeit with restrictions. Just as it did with most industries, the COVID-19 era has had a significant impact on the UK seaside industry. In this blog, we’re going to look at the short-term and long-term positive impacts. 

It’s well-known that UK seaside resorts are not faring as well as they did during their heyday; indeed, many are struggling to keep afloat. This was true before the pandemic, but the issue became even more pronounced during the pandemic. For at least the first few months of the pandemic, visitor numbers to once-popular seaside resorts fell off a cliff. Of course, visitor numbers everywhere fell off a cliff, but UK resorts were in a more vulnerable position than others. 

Part of the issue with the initial slump in visitors is that the lockdowns coincided with what should have been a busy period for resorts. Bank holidays have historically been popular times to visit seaside resorts, but the coronavirus meant that during those periods, no one was able to leave their home. Seaside resorts have always been dependent on seasonal tourism, too, but summer 2020 was a period when people were not inclined to travel. The end result was that this period was a tough year. 

While 2020 was a difficult period for the UK’s seaside resorts, 2021 looked a lot brighter. While the UK government did fumble some aspects of their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, they've done better than other countries when it came to vaccinations. The result was that the UK could open up and allow people to resume regular life. This, combined with the difficulty in travelling internationally, meant that many more people were eager to take a staycation within the UK. The majority of the visitors to the seaside are return visitors; this year, there were people, especially younger people, visiting the seaside resorts for the first time. Visitor numbers to beaches were up 30% compared with the same period the year before the pandemic, and this is expected to grow even further during summer 2021.

The upturn in visitors was a highly welcome life raft for the UK seaside industry, who, during the early days of the pandemic, feared that the lockdown could be the final nail in the coffin. The boost brought a level of visitors typically associated with “boom times.” 

Of course, it’s important to keep the rise in visitor numbers in context. While the coronavirus pandemic was a false reality, it’s also possible that the current boom period is also a false dawn. There are several conditions that have made people more likely to visit a seaside resort. 

One is lockdown exhaustion; people want to go out of their house or town and explore somewhere new. Another is foreign travel bans. Even though there are several popular destinations on the ‘amber list,’ the complication around travelling has made international trips unappealing. In order to go, people would need to do - not to mention pay for - multiple PCR tests and also quarantine when they arrived home. In that landscape, it makes much more sense to visit somewhere within the UK borders, with a seaside resort making the most sense.

Finally, there’s an issue that isn’t coronavirus related but which has helped the numbers of visitors during 2021 to swell: the good weather. People are more inclined to visit somewhere in the UK if they can be reasonably sure they won’t be rained on during the duration of their trip.

So is this a one-off? Will there be a backswing at some stage? It would be surprising if there wasn’t. This year has created ideal conditions for people to explore the UK, but there’ll come a point where that’s no longer the case. There will be washout summers, and international travel will return, most likely after the summer. Certainly by next summer. When that happens, people who looked to the UK for a fun getaway will be more likely to look elsewhere. 

However, on balance, it’s possible that the coronavirus pandemic will have been positive for the UK seaside industry. It has introduced a new generation of visitors to all the wonders of the UK seaside, and that’s not something that’ll be instantly forgotten just because the pandemic has passed. What this provides is an opportunity for seaside resorts to grow, but they’ll need to work to make the most of the opportunity. 

So what can resorts do to ensure the current spike of activity turns into a long-term interest and revival for this sector of the UK's travel market? Here are some initial strategies to kick things off.

Refresh Tourist Marketing: marketing is the foundation of getting people on board and in many cases a much more modern and adaptable approach is needed.

Make it Convenient: people will be more likely to visit if there are good public transportation links/plenty of parking, and so forth.

Find a New Angle: some seaside resorts, such as Margate, have reinvented themselves by elevating certain aspects, such as promoting their local arts scene.

Invest in the Basics: people want good food, clean amenities, and safety. That’s something that resorts should prioritise as an absolute no-brainer.

It has been some time since resorts were in their heyday. With the coronavirus pandemic upending more or less everything, this is an opportunity for seaside resorts to cement a long-term interest among domestic travellers. There are no guarantees, but there are many seeds of potential to be explored. Kick it off by getting your resort hotel onto tomorrow's booking offer platform and give those margin-thieving conventional OTAs a kick: join up with hoo here.

The Recovery of the UK's Seaside Industry

The coronavirus pandemic continues to be with us, and despite almost 70 million doses of the vaccine being given in the UK, we’re still being faced with restrictions in our daily lives - one of the most significant being travel. 

While the vaccine rollout has been an overwhelming success in the UK, the rest of the world has some catching up to do. While some travel restrictions have been eased, we’ve already seen with Portugal (once on the ‘green’ list, now moved to ‘amber’), that things aren’t as straightforward as they seem.

So if you’re just as confused about the latest UK COVID travel guidelines, here’s a simple breakdown to help you get your head around it.

Non-essential foreign travel has been off-limits for a while, but on 17 May, the UK Government introduced its traffic light system, which has categorised countries into either green, amber or red destinations based on their case rates and other risk factors, each with their own rules and guidance for travel:

Different countries have different rules for entering, so even if a country is listed as a ‘green’ country in the UK, each country will need you to follow specific guidance, which most likely includes a negative test before departure. Always check the guidance in advance before travelling.

Before you return to the UK, you will need to take a COVID test, and book a test to be taken on Day 2 of your arrival back in the country. If your test comes back positive, you will need to isolate. 

There aren’t many countries on the green list right now, and even countries such as Australia and New Zealand are still operating strict travel procedures that mean those countries are still off-limits for holidays and general travel.

Currently, people are being advised NOT to travel to amber countries. If, however, you do travel to one of these countries, you will be expected to self-isolate for 10 days after your return to the UK. 

You will need to take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8.  There is a test and release option that you will need to pay for, which will allow you to end your quarantine after day 5 if your test is negative.

Amber countries currently include most of Europe, the United States and destinations in Asia and Africa.

Travel to red countries is only permitted under exceptional circumstances. People are being told NOT to travel to a country on the red list. However, if you are returning to the UK from a red list country, you will need to follow very strict guidance.

Before you travel to the UK, you will need to carry out a COVID test, book a quarantine hotel package for 10 days, and book two other tests. Once you arrive in the UK, you’ll need to quarantine in the hotel, and complete two further COVID tests before you can leave. 

Changes to the traffic light system can happen at any time depending on the changing situation within different countries. They will be reviewed periodically, with the possibility of more countries being added to the green list in the coming months. Keep an eye on UK COVID travel guidelines for the latest information.

With government ministers advising Brits to ‘holiday at home’ this year, you’re probably wondering where you should go and what are the top UK holiday destinations this year.

The good news is that there are no travel restrictions between different parts of the UK right now. So if you want to pay a visit to Northern Ireland, enjoy a city break in Edinburgh or jet off to Jersey, it’s entirely possible to do so. In fact, you’ll be helping local economies get back on their feet after a tough year.

Some of the most popular UK travel destinations this year include west Wales, Scotland and Cornwall. Staycations have a lot of appeal, with many self-catering accommodation options available, with luxuries such as hot tubs, swimming pools and barbecues/pizza ovens high on everybody’s wish lists. 

It’s also a great time to enjoy a city break. London is always a popular choice, as is Birmingham (and the world’s largest Primark), Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff. With restaurants, bars and shops open again, it’s a great time to take in some of the UK’s most popular cities. 

With foreign travel off the cards for the foreseeable future, a UK staycation could be the way forward to help you enjoy a summer holiday. Let’s just hope the weather is in our favour this year!

The Latest UK COVID Travel Guidelines

The hospitality industry makes up a third of employment, and back in 2015, in the UK alone, was responsible for hiring around 2.9million people. The hotel sector has also been one of the very few industries which grows enormously each year, as demand soars higher than the number of staff working within it. 

However, with that said, this sector has been known for having a high-burnout rate amongst its employees. With the stress of performing above predictions and their competitors, ensuring a client or customer is always happy. As well as remaining level-headed as technology malfunctions, it can be easy to see why many crack under stress.

For management, this causes a huge problem, because a stressed staff force leads to unhappy customers, as the quality of customer service will decrease when staff are overworked. It will also reduce the staff members productivity and how much they can take in, which is incredibly difficult when the business incorporates new technology or new training. 

When this happens, it puts a strain on the business, management and staff. Without one of these people keeping the place going, it would all fall apart.

As there are several stressful and pressuring factors which can affect this industry, we’ve grouped them as best as we can. While we’ve tried to be extensive, there is a chance we’ve overlooked some, so keep this in mind. 

The long hours and being on your feet all day seem less than desirable, but they can also put significant stress on the mind and the body. Staff are usually also expected to carry heavy equipment or stock, as well as cover other staff at short notice, which often means they do jobs they aren’t qualified for or had training for. 


Staff who join the hospitality and hotel sector, often opt out of the working time regulations set to protect them. This means they are legally allowed to work more than 48 hours a week and are usually not entitled to a minimum daily rest period of 11 hours between shifts. Opting out of this, as many do, also means they do not qualify to have a break every six hours. 

In no other industry are people expected to wait on people where there isn’t a limit to people’s expectations. In hospitality, while no one would ever wish customers to have a bad experience, the fear of doing anything wrong now weighs heavy on the staff member attempting to appease the customer. Especially when what is being asked of them is near impossible. With the rise of social media, one bad review can be costly to a business, and staff members know this and undoubtedly adds further stress to an already stressful job. 

Another pressure on hotels is balancing the rooms. This can include allowing one customer can have a late check-out while another has an early one, ensuring that both customers’ needs are being met, while continuing the running of the hotel. 

In the hotel restaurants, it’s making sure that all the food comes out at once. While ensuring taste, and heat isn’t affected, as well as adhering to the requirements in which it has been ordered. 

Every minute, a caring staff member is thinking about the customer. They are thinking of the next way to above and beyond, and they only have little downtime between appeasing people. 

The nature of hospitality is to serve the best of the best, to their customers, which can be difficult at the best of times. 

Whether it’s a busy restaurant, a fully booked hotel or a congested front desk, as mentioned above, with social media at everyone’s fingers, there’s no room for error. Staff in hospitality cannot afford to make a mistake or the time it takes to apologise, which would smooth over the mistakes. 

Instead, they're facing websites which allow customers to rate them, and the various reality television shows which give an insight into their jobs, while not showing the staff members in the right way. This shift has given a lot of power to customers, taking away the very little power staff in hospitality had. But none of this is helped when staff are dependent on IT systems that crash or require frequent updates. 

During busy times, managers need to cover the worst-case-scenario, and many do. Often, rotas are planned in advance and only changed as the needs require them to do so. It’s why it can be confusing when things still seem to fall apart. 

Scheduling more staff than needed can be overzealous and challenging financially for the business, but, it can lead to happier staff. When pressures become less, and jobs are shared over the working staff force, it can lead to better productivity due to happiness.

It’s also important to ensure management is on standby and can be relied on to defend and have the backs of their teams. When dealing with customers, it can be reassuring for staff to have someone they can bring forward to run things by or help to intervene. 

The other side of management is ensuring the training, and mentoring, of staff, is at the forefront of the business. Without every member of the team, from cleaner to management, the business wouldn’t run, and a profitable business or manager knows this. Nurturing the staff, understanding the need for time off and being there for questions can be both reassuring for your team but can also motivate, and make them passionate about their job.

Working in a place which values you, does a number to your productivity, and with the stresses and pressures we mentioned above, it’s easy to see how being appreciated by your management can help ease some of that from staff members’ shoulders. 

Unfortunately, the nature of the hospitality and hotel industry means we won’t find ourselves able to cover everything in this article. Still, we wanted to provide some useful hints and tips for the most common issues. 

No one likes a difficult conversation, least of all, when you work on the front desk of a business. It can be challenging, but when the customer is still present, hide and mask your emotions as best as you can. Take a second to breathe deeply, without notice to the customer, between speaking or smoothing over the situation. 

When the exchange is finished, remain cool-headed until you can find a safe place to vent and let it out. Tense moments can be made worse by tenser words, adding fuel to the fire which is already burning. Ensure you have a safe place in your workplace, whether that is a staff room far away from customers or a rarely used office you, and your staff members can use when a day has been difficult. Creating this place will be good for staff morale and mental health.

It can be easy to let any of our emotions flare, even for customers or clients. While things can be tense at that moment, following up with a customer a few hours later or the next day (depending on their stay) can make all the difference to their opinion of you and the business. You may even find that later on, they are more understanding of the issue if there was one, or apologetic if things were wrongly said. 

Doing this also shows your dedication as a member of the company and the business itself. It shows you are compassionate and willing to go the extra mile, which can turn a frown into a smile in just a phone call. 

As mentioned above, but it doesn’t hurt to say again, the support of a manager, team leader and even the business can aid confidence in employees when dealing with demanding customers. It can be challenging for anyone when challenged, but incredibly hard when employees are given a script to say, and the customer’s complaint isn’t something covered. 

For managers, make yourself available. Allow your staff members to know how to contact you, and where to find you in busy times, so they understand they can approach you if something was to come up. For staff members, it’s essential to ask if you’re unsure. Being transparent and confident in your words means more to a customer than brushing them off because asking and taking the time to ask questions shows your dedication to wanting to appease them. 

When switching to new software or a new way of working, it doesn’t necessarily mean the old way was wrong. Usually, it just means there is a way to improve on things. This is imperative to growth and the ever-changing times; however, it isn’t always best to throw the old method away entirely. If you’re a member of the management team, assess what could go wrong and apply back-ups to limit the pressures on your staff. 

For staff, think outside of the box if you can. As the people using the system day in and out, mention the ways it isn’t cooperating as quickly, and question if there are other ways things can be done. It’s essential to do this because when things do go wrong, you may have created a back-up method of working which will keep the business running smoothly. Doing so, especially In the hotel sector, can be the difference between happy guests and unhappy ones. 

When your system goes down, and you’re unable to check-in or check-out any of your guests, you may find those arriving become more stressed, and are likely to be less understanding than those who are going home. But, moving to the older way or a paper version can have a significant effect on customer experience, meaning they don’t need to stand waiting for as long as it would for a staff member to fix the issue with them being there. 

As we’ve said throughout the article, it is hard to cover everything, but we’ve tried to cover as much as possible. In the world of hospitality and hotels, as the service grows, so will the issues, but in turn, we can only hope for more good moments, more appreciation, and more gratitude to grow just as quickly. 

It is also crucial as the industry grows, for staff to feel they can voice things too. Allow your staff or team to take a second to challenge best practise; communicate with those around you and open channels of communication, because whether you’re a manager or not, we’ve all been in stressful situations. The stress of the sector will never go, this is the nature of hospitality, but we can continually develop to limit burnout and create a healthier work-life balance. If not just for our staff, but for the experience of the customer too. 

Handling Hotel Stress: Hoo's Guide For Staff And Management

It’s a hotel industry standard but the old saying that “the most expensive room is an empty room” has never felt more relevant than right now. When the lockdown from the Coronavirus eventually lifts, the challenge of filling the empty room will never have been greater.

Average Occupancy rates of 75% - 85% were the norm, pre-COVID 19 – This is typically based on a city-centre location (of varying sizes). Airports and transport hubs can have a slightly higher rate, up to 95%, whereas holiday resort locations are obviously much more seasonal. Many are estimating that it could be the summer of 2021 before we start to see these kinds of levels, but that’s where we’re aiming.

Seasonality is a huge factor on empty rooms, but so are days of the week. It will depend on the hotel, but weekends are typically for leisure guests and weekdays are more corporate. Friday & Saturday nights will likely be the best, most booked days, whereas Sunday will be a struggle (many hotels will try to offer better deals if the duration of the stay includes Sunday night).

How far in advance of the check-in date are most bookings confirmed? Again, this really depends on the hotel location. A ‘City centre’ hotel has a peak around 14 days ahead on average, whereas an airport/transport hub is around 45 days. Resort hotels will obviously have a much higher ‘lead time’ for peak-season bookings. Different types of travellers (business vs leisure) will also book differently but a window of 10–30 days for most bookings (outside of resorts) is typical. The hotel sector keeps up the mantra of “data, data, data” and in this case, tracking actual occupancy against your target allows you to be much more proactive about potential empty rooms. 

Depending on your location, you will be more attractive to a certain type of traveller. ‘City Centre’ and you’ll be more used to seeing business and short-break/weekend travellers potentially; ‘Rural’ and it will more likely be leisure or holiday use; and a classic ‘Resort’ location speaks for itself. It all sounds very obvious but the point is you can’t go after everybody all of the time. Focus on the customers that mean the most to you and know as much about them as you can – their attitudes and needs, the media they consume, etc. Keep on trying to reach them with the right message, at the right time – take into account the day of the week, the season, and any external events that might be impacting or interesting to them. Easier said than done, but this is ‘Marketing 101’ – don’t spend the money until you’ve tried to get this bit right (oh, and never give up!).

For anyone who has stayed with you before, let alone multiple times, reach out to them and be front of mind when they do eventually begin to plan for travel. Give those customers the better deals or some other additional incentive that perhaps wouldn’t be available to someone booking for the first time. Well-thought-out, well-written emails are well-received by customers that already like you. Big businesses call this a loyalty scheme – you can call it just being a great business that wants to share some love. 

Be inventive around your pricing and offers to fit the target customer. Here’s a few obvious ones - book Sunday and get a lower rate for Saturday / Monday night; book ‘X’ nights and get another free or discounted; a straight % discount on a particular day; minimum length of stay restrictions (“MLOS”) on popular days to encourage booking an extra date with the popular date, etc. Also, many add-ons have a high perceived value for the customer but are very low-cost in reality to the hotel – for instance, a cup of coffee actually only costs a few pence/cents to make, and why isn’t WiFi just free everywhere? 

If a would-be guest contacts you directly looking to do a deal on their stay, why not make their day (and yours) by agreeing on a price. To make it easier for you, make sure you already understand your revenue / occupancy targets for that day / week (and how well you’re doing against that) so you know what price will really work for you. At the same time, have a number of low-cost (to you) extras readily available that you can throw into the conversation to sweeten the deal. This does not make you a ‘discount hotel’ – just do it when it makes sense to your business. 

Finally, one rule holds true, above all. If you strive to always surprise and delight your guests, it generates not only a lot of goodwill, but also great word-of-mouth referrals. It will be the best and cheapest marketing you will ever have! 

The Empty Room Challenge

As co-founders continuing to build hoo, Adrian and I are slowly picking our way in detail through the hotel booking journey from beginning to end and the customer communications involved for the hotel. 

As a newbie to the hospitality sector, I assumed the end came when the booking was made in terms of a confirmation and, if requested, a final statement/invoice mail once the guest had checked out. This has been the norm for many years and I suspect still a well-worn mistake by a large number of hotels.

In product/service terms, ‘hotel rooms’ are astonishing in that they must be one of the few products when your customer comes and stays at your house for at least 24 hours and comes to speak with you at least twice in person - once on arrival and once when leaving. There is also plenty of opportunity for them to share their best contact details with you. As someone who has spent the last ten years thinking about Direct to Consumer (D2C) communications, i.e. how to reach customers, communicate with them and get them to take action - this level of interaction is what dreams are made of. 

So, why do hotels not capitalise on this crucial advantage when thinking about targeted marketing, increased upsell and building deeper relationships? 

During the last 20 years (post 9/11), as hotels have largely outsourced ‘get customer’ marketing to OTAs and therefore the initial booking relationship, it would seem the ongoing CRM relationship and journey has also been lost. Have hotels got rid of this expertise, forgetting that the guest experience, the real good stuff, starts once the booking has been made?

Whatever has happened in the past, this is an almost green field for hoteliers and the opportunities are limitless. The world outside hospitality has already woken up to CRM importance and nurturing your customer. For example, even as early as 2017, Gartner explained that spending on CRM technology had pushed it to the largest-spending category in enterprise software. With opportunity also comes challenge, but it's one that deserves real investment.

In short, CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and it’s usually handled by some software. As well as cold hard contact data, CRM systems contain a client history associated with each customer’s profile, often tracking sales, product interest and other relevant characteristics to more effectively close more sales and deliver high quality service to existing clients. 

A lot of the work has already been done for you! Below are some of the more well-known CRM systems which, from initial research, I would recommend to a hotel considering ramping up its D2C comms:

Each hotel will have to think clearly and carefully about when and why to contact, but below are some ideas I have had that, if asked at the right time, in the right way and made easy for me to respond to, could be hotel revenue game changers (while also helping me as a consumer!)…

Before I come to stay, at post booking ask me if you can help me with my transfer? Suggest best ways to travel, provide links (with affiliate codes of course!) and ask me if there is anything that may make my journey easier or better. You never know, a simple question may turn into a transfer booking and a ready-made reservation in the restaurant. 

Could we go further than the ‘bed size’ and ‘smoking/non-smoking’ room personalisation? I am sure there is much more you can ask in terms of your hotel to make my stay better and for you to make room improvements for the future. 

When I arrive - politely ask me why I’m making the trip? Perhaps you can help with something that is on my mind - like that booking I need to make or that place I need to find. I had a brilliant stay in Naples recently where the receptionist and I communicated via WhatsApp - he helped me enormously, was there at the touch of a button even If I was not in the hotel and he politely deleted me after. It felt easy, connected me to local culture, was super-fast and was only there when I asked for it. 

After I have checked in and you have given me a few hours to settle and relax, let me know what is on offer in the hotel or surrounding areas via my phone (if possible). I do not read the big black book on the desk you are still intent on leaving! 

Staying in contact between stays with email campaigns can spark return visits - key customer information like ‘I am a regular visitor to the COMICON’ could spark an email campaign in the booking range before I look elsewhere on an OTA. 

Encouraging positive online user feedback on social media to get free stuff - if increased online reviews mean more guests, then put a value on it and start spending. Giving me a free massage may mean two more direct bookings because I shared the experience on my social network. 

Knowing my purchase history and preferred payment methods at the hotel would save me and your staff a lot of time. If I like to bill my room and use a credit card at the end then make sure we do that every time I stay. 

Always segment! I have to keep deleting emails that talk to activities, events and seasons that do not interest me. It feels like you do not know me. 

A well-executed CRM strategy for any hotel should gain customer loyalty, create a smoother customer experience, and boost sales as well as overall revenue. Starting hoo as hotel owners and with the hotel owner firmly in mind we have already started to map out how we can provide more data that will help inform better hotel CRM strategy. Communication and data is key - and wrestling this relationship back from the incumbent OTAs is now critical.

Customer Service & The D2C Experience: Why Hotel CRM Still Matters

It's pretty much impossible to predict the future with any real certainty. At least, that's what I thought - only, as it turns out, it isn’t.

An unlikely place to make this discovery is a conference for hotel revenue managers – on paper, possibly the driest place you could find in a wet and windy February. 

Nevertheless, as a newbie to the hotel sector, I’d signed up to go gather some disciples for “this new way of doing things that is basically going to save your industry…” – a pretty big claim, especially when nobody else attending knew who the heck we were or what we were doing. Yep, the opening pitch was going to need some work…     

But as I took my place at the back of the main hall (standing room only for those who were 'fashionably late') the keynote speaker was about to step up – a guy called Magnus, job title “Futurologist”… say what now? My ‘inner-cynic’ was rubbing his hands with glee and yet he was going to be left sorely disappointed.

Magnus, as it turns out, is pretty inspirational. He’s sharp, funny, charming – basically the person you’d be happy to invite out to dinner every week, just so you could hear more. He tells this room of revenue managers (me among them) that if we don’t want to become extinct by AI tech doing all our ‘revenue managing’ for us, then we should expect change, in fact we should go looking for it, we should embrace it. Furthermore, he gives us a 5-point plan – it’s easy to follow, so just do that and the future will look after itself. Point No.1 on that plan was simplest of all – ‘Look Elsewhere’. Don’t follow the received wisdom in your sector if you don’t want to become extinct. Look to other sectors for new ideas – look elsewhere.

If I could have rushed on stage at that point and locked Magnus in an uncomfortably long embrace, I would have - he was doing my pitch for me. I was surely going to be pushing at an open door, the hotel sector has got itself in a fix and it just needs to look elsewhere…

95% of hotel room bookings start with an online search.

Searching for hotel rooms is controlled by online travel agents (“OTAs”) but there’s really only two you need to concern yourselves with - booking.com & Expedia.

These two (let’s call them ‘Booki-pedia’) pretty much own all the other major OTA & metasearch brands you care to mention.

Their only real way to reach consumers is to compete against each other on pay-per-click advertising, pumping over £2bn a quarter (their numbers) into Google Ads.

They cover the cost by passing it on to the hotels, charging anywhere from 15-40% (top end if you want to be bumped to the top of the listings) on every booking.

And if that’s not enough – they make hotels sign-up to ‘rate parity’ agreements, meaning the hotels cannot advertise a lower rate elsewhere, even on their own site.

So ‘Booki-pedia’ control the primary marketing channel and the price, and they own most of the competition. Not surprising then, that when travellers search online, they think they are always getting the best rate. 

But this is all to keep hush-hush one big secret…

Hotels will give you a better rate if you go and book directly with them.

It’s obvious now you know it, right? The hotels are already paying huge commissions if you use ‘Booki-pedia’, so they’ll give their guests some of that back if you go direct. And you don't even have to take my word for it.

There are still obvious issues for the traveller (“I want lots of choice and I don’t like to haggle”), and for the hotels (“how will travellers ever find me in the first place?”), but even then, Magnus has given us the answer - ‘Look Elsewhere’.

So, how did this message go down with the Revenue Managers?

Well, Rome wasn't built in a day (certainly not that day, anyway) – some speakers were keen to float the idea that paying 15-40% commission to ‘Booki-pedia’ was actually great value and, when you can see no alternative, then maybe ‘acceptance’ is a good idea. 

However, Magnus signed off with two final thoughts. The first was…

"If you want to create something new, you have to be willing to be misunderstood for a very long time.” 

But, when I spoke to revenue managers individually about what we were going to do, they immediately got it and many are already on board, so hopefully this one won’t hold true. 

The second was, any significant change has a tipping point…

“Change only has 2 gears - nothing & everything”.  

So, we’re coming and we’re pretty sure it will eventually be everything. If you want to hear more, then drop us a note, it’s hello@bookhoo.com.

(and Magnus, wherever you are, I’m a believer)   

If You Want Real Change... Look Elsewhere

Previously when an industry event that I am excited about is cancelled, all of the opportunities, potential contacts and personal development vanish with it.

However, that did not happen when ITB Berlin finally succumbed to the ‘should we / should we not’ responsibility of the COVID virus spread this week and cancelled for the first time in its 54 year history.

This time the cancellation only made me want to come more -  because for the past 6 months a few colleagues and I have become increasingly interested in how the travel industry reacts in terms of bookings, refunds and exchange to these types of changes... fluctuations, volatility and in this case - all out cancellation. And I’ll tell you now - not very well.

There are, as in most of the best dramas, a number of players…

Firstly, you have the thousands of delegates (I think 150k+ were expected here this week) - already booked on trains, flights, transfers and in hotel rooms, who now mostly wish to cancel. Now for those with fully refundable everything (very rare!) - they cancel and move on. For those who have not - they sit at home counting the cost and sending off angry tweets and Insta’s to hotel groups and airlines for showing little compassion and not giving them a 100% refund.

Then you have the hotel owners - who were at one time looking forward to 100% occupancy - suddenly facing a deluge of cancellations and dealing with multi-channel abuse from those that booked the non-refundable option.

Lastly, you have the middle men - typically online travel agents (OTA’s) such as Expedia, Booking and hotel.com etc - who have taken the 15-20% commission (sometimes even more) for the booking, paid most of that to Google (OTAs spent $10.6bn of that hotel commission on marketing in 2018) to be at the top of the rankings for ‘hotel in berlin’. They are reluctant (quite understandably they would argue) to give it back when someone cancels.

I can order a KFC to my lounge in minutes (Deliveroo); order and cancel a taxi from my door in seconds (Uber); make people offers on antiques around me (eBay) and place bets live on the soccer as the striker runs up to take a penalty (Betfair). Yet travel remains slow and rigid - It’s extremely hard to know what the ‘right’ price is and, when something goes wrong that is out of my control, I can’t reasonably cancel and get my money back.

Everyone is committed - travellers, hotel owners, OTA’s and Google – but only the middlemen seem to come out the winners every time. Given the huge transformation in our almost completely digital economy - this just will not do.  

The key here is this - Rory Boland of Which? ( https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/03/why-youre-paying-too-much-for-your-hotel ) says 8-out-of-10 hotels will match or better the price if asked directly but OTA ‘price parity’ agreements mean hotels can't advertise better deals or don’t want to because the competition just adjust their own prices accordingly.

We became interested in this global problem because our background is one of free markets and exchange - where everything has a fair price and can be freely-traded. People become buyers and sellers, where the price changes based on supply and demand and there is always a price to cancel.

We began to think of a world where both traveller and hotel owner (and one day perhaps airline owner) could respond automatically in real time as things change. A world where the coronavirus hits, ITB Berlin is cancelled yet travellers have the opportunity to sell rooms back to hotels or sell them to other people trying to find a hotel for the night. A world where a traveller wishes to send an offer for what they are prepared to pay that goes directly to the hotel’s front desk. A world where hotels understand for the first time what travellers are prepared to pay for their rooms, not just setting prices that are in line with the competition - creating a direct connection with the traveller.

A world where hotel rooms might become a commodity and can be freely bought and sold on an exchange…..but perhaps I am getting ahead of myself a little bit on the last one!

Back to my trip to Berlin - I have tweeted over 100+ times to cancelled travellers and hotel owners to try and see if I can buy a hotel room that is going empty that I could buy off someone direct or make an offer directly for it to the hotel front desk - with no success. The barriers are clear to me - do we (hotel room seller and me) trust each other? How do I pay them? How do I know the room is really available to be legitimately sold? How am I trusted and will the hotel even let me stay in the hotel once I’ve bought the room? (and that’s even if I have managed to change the name ...manually via an outsourced telesales line!).

There are clearly some obstacles to jump - but that’s the exciting bit. When ITB Berlin was cancelled a brilliant group of resilient travel industry enthusiasts started the hashtag #strandedinBerlin (https://www.strandedinberlin.com) and as I write I am off to meet hotel owners, channel managers and travel bloggers as if nothing has been cancelled. Obstacles are there to be overcome - and I look forward to seeing a world where travel can be freely bought, sold, exchanged and cancelled.

Watch this space and please leave a comment below. 

Sebastian Lewis is an entrepreneur, previously working on the EURONEXT and LIFFE Financial Exchanges - visit bookhoo.com to register your interest.

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