Maintaining Your Hotel or Vacation Rental Property in a Dynamic Industry
The hospitality industry is one of the most popular industries in the country. Industry experts expect demand for hotel rooms to return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022 and revenues to jump to $168 billion.
These increases are excellent news for vacation property managers but are challenging. The industry has become more difficult to navigate than ever before.
Read on to learn about the three biggest challenges that hospitality managers are facing today.
1. Hospitality industry standards are constantly changing
The hospitality industry is a fast-moving sector, and hotels and vacation rentals must keep up with the changes. For example, technology has advanced incredibly over the past few decades. In order to provide guests with a good experience, managers need to be able to accommodate them regardless of their technological needs or whether they speak English as a second language.
Hotels also need to cater to international guests—this can require additional staff and training programs for the hotel staff members’ skillset to be adequate for the guests arriving at the property each day.
2. Difficulty finding reliable staff and vendors
The hospitality industry has an alarmingly high turnover rate. In fact, it far surpasses the national average of 47.2% at a whopping 84.9%. This poses a problem for hospitality managers looking to run a hotel or rental with any sense of consistency.
Finding vendors and staff for your hotel or vacation rental is challenging. It isn’t easy to find staff willing to work the hours needed in hospitality, and it can be expensive if you do.
Guests have also raised their expectations for customer service, with mobile apps and social media making it easier than ever to communicate directly with hotels and share their experiences on the go. This means managers must build and retain a robust staff that’s available 24/7 to answer inquiries, provide assistance, and resolve any issues that crop up at any hour.
3. Calls go unanswered, leading to lost revenue and unhappy guests
Answering every single inquiry sent via phone, text, Facebook, Instagram, email, and Airbnb can seem like an impossible task. However, slow response times can lead to a nosedive in leads, bookings, and revenue.
A primary complaint of negative guest reviews is a lack of communication from hosts or managers. That negative feedback tends to result in a continued downturn that’s hard for even the most seasoned hospitality managers to bounce back from.
Availability and Effective Communication are Key
A 24/7 call center not staffed with highly trained agents will turn away travelers with questions and concerns. Business owners need their properties seen in the best light possible while maximizing their bottom line. Customers deserve agents who are equipped with the correct information at all times, like RealVoice’s trained skilled agents.
Your goal is to maximize bookings, which requires providing a seamless experience for every traveler you serve—even after they arrive at your property. Travelers want to know what to expect before booking, during their stay, and after leaving your property, so you can’t afford any miscommunications or other mistakes in communication between guests and staff members (or even between different departments).
How RealVoice Can Help?
After-hours support helps maintain a positive image of your property while giving you peace of mind that your guests will receive excellent service.
At RealVoice, we understand how important it is for travelers to reach out when they need assistance. We staff our 24/7 help desks with expertly-trained hospitality professionals who know how to accommodate each caller’s unique needs.
This way, any questions or concerns about your property or upcoming reservations can be answered right away—even at night or on weekends!
Our goal is always to give our clients peace of mind so they can focus on running their businesses without worrying about their customers’ needs or taking time away from other essential tasks. We offer a variety of services to help to your business, learn more about our all of our services here.