Soon, to many it will seem that the management of vacation hotels and urban ones are very similar, and that the business is well defined in both operations and marketing. Think about it before answering, because although the structure and values of analysis and control are the same, they are two totally different businesses with very particular characteristics.
I am sure that you all will have in mind many managers of vacation resorts, as well as urban hotel complexes. Well, although we believe that these two face the same challenge in hotel management, we will now see why hotel chains need profiles with a lot of experience:
Management of a vacation or urban hotel
Urban Hotels
- They are located mainly in central areas of cities or metropolitan areas as the main demand of their clientele.
- Their main business focuses on the sale of rooms.
- The customer profile is usually distinguished between: Executive clients or tourists.
- They generally enjoy preferential locations in cities, historic centers, airports, and downtown areas.
- The main sources of income are usually: Rooms, restaurants, lounges, meetings, and events.
- Expense control is well defined and there can be minimal staff to manage it.
- Marketing focuses on intermediation channels through tour operators, agencies, and receptive companies, even with guaranteed marketing contracts. Without leaving aside online channels and specialized extranets.
- Their work teams focus on operational profiles; marketing usually goes hand in hand with intermediary partners.
- They are located in well-connected areas with easy access to transportation: airports, train stations, buses, highways.
- Transportation companies have regular commercial lines to their destinations.
Vacation Hotels or Resorts
- They are located in remote areas away from the large urban hubs of cities or metropolitan areas.
- Their main activity continues to be the sale of rooms, although as a whole as a vacation package.
- The customer profile is clearly tourist and family-oriented. They sell leisure.
- They are usually located in strategic coastal areas, on islands, or in secluded areas focused on the natural environment.
- Their main source of income focuses on the sale of the vacation package, and the use and enjoyment of the facilities. They generally differentiate themselves through MICE events (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions/Events), Spas, Restaurants, and complements such as golf courses and recreational activities.
- Expense control is not as defined, since they are generally facilities with many rooms and different business centers that must be active depending on the demand of the resort. They need highly specialized catering staff, maintenance staff, entertainment staff, customer service in their wellness and treatment centers, swimming pools, etc.
- The marketing of these types of complexes focuses on intermediation through specialized tourist tour operators, extranets, and specific receptive resorts.
- Their work teams include, in addition to a high percentage of operational staff, a highly focused commercial and marketing team with experience in promoting their added values in the MICE, Spa, Golf, and Wellness segments.
- In general, given their leisure profile, they are located away from urban centers with, occasionally, difficult access from conventional means of transportation.
- Transportation companies do not always have regular lines of access to their destinations, which sometimes makes it difficult to market their products given the structural circumstances of communication and transportation routes.
Surely many of you will have thought that I have left many details out along the way in these brief differentiating lines, or even that the description itself has been very drastic regarding this last type of vacation hotels or resorts.
The truth is that these two complexes are worthy of studying in more detail, and seeing exactly, from a more analytical point of view, the great differences they contain between them. But given the brevity we need for this article and the language in which I want to show it to the public, I believe the main characteristics have basically been defined.
Today there is undoubtedly a need for great managers who manage not only the operations of their hotel facilities, but also the expenses they generate. A key to success to achieve a positive accumulated result in the important income statement. Hence the need for hotel chains to train and find very specific hotel professional profiles for the management of these types of hotels.
