Whether your hotel is located in a tourism hotspot and can capitalise on huge events like the Olympics, or it’s smaller and relies on worldwide occasions such as Valentine’s Day, there is always something you can repurpose to create promotions, drive bookings, and generate additional revenue. Both local and global events are constantly on the horizon to provide fresh opportunities every year.

There are a few ways you can use an event to boost the popularity of your hotel and adjust your rates, depending on the event in question and what your competitors are doing.

*1. Make your hotel a source of information*
It may simply be a case of writing a post on a local event, providing details, and FAQs. This will improve your SEO and attract potentially very thankful guests to your website.

Examples could include writing about a music festival and posting the location/directions, set times, regulations, and attractions. People looking to attend the event may find this information on your site and decide to book accommodation with you at the same time

*2. Use event-inspired promotions and extras to attract bookings*
Some events are universal, like Halloween or Christmas, and need no further explanation.

You can still boost your bookings by running themed promotions, offering specials, or adding topical extras to fuel the excitement of guests and capitalise on the fervour that always surrounds such occasions.

For example, on Halloween you might offer extras such as chocolate or other candy, or run a best dressed competition.

With a good pricing intelligence tool, you’ll know if your competitors are doing the same thing and adjust your strategy accordingly, meaning you’ll stay on par with similar properties.

*3. Use social media to engage guests*
Commonly the public will follow certain events on social media such as Facebook where they’ll have their own pages. Posting your own content on the event or mentioning it to your followers will connect your hotel to that event.

If you already have guests that are attending an event, encourage them to share their experiences of their stay via pictures and videos with your hashtag and the event’s hashtag.

This is a powerful form of marketing because everyone who views the posts will associate the pleasurable time at your hotel with the event. It will act as a recommendation, one of the most effective ways to influence travellers.

*4. Create a Facebook event*
More than 550 million people are using Facebook Events each month, meaning the potential to attract interest is quite high, even if your page itself is low on followers.

There are three benefits of creating an event page:

- You easily invite guests from your friends list to the event

- It makes your event discoverable to friends of attendees

- People going to the event will get reminders prior to the event so they don’t forget

Key words:
Increasing Revenue
Event management
Halloween
Christmas