Corporate travelers are a growing demographic and a target audience that many within the hotel industry are placing an increased emphasis on trying to appeal to. After all, a corporate traveler may use extra hotel facilities, return to your hotel multiple times and recommend it to colleagues and business partners. In this article, you will learn about corporate travel and find seven tips for attracting more corporate travelers to your hotel.

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What is a Corporate Traveler?

Corporate travel refers to travel where the primary motivation is business-related. This may include, for example, employees traveling to a conference, or a manager traveling to another branch. It could also involve traveling to an important meeting with a client or visiting a particular site for an evaluation.

With this in mind, a corporate traveler is anyone actively involved in corporate travel. Understanding that the term refers to travel away from the usual working environment is crucial. A corporate traveler typically spends more than one day at their destination and almost always requires overnight accommodation.

Why Are Corporate Travelers Important For Your Hotel?

Corporate travelers are a major target demographic for hotels for several different reasons. Firstly, corporate travel is a growing market, with the increased availability of flights and the growing popularity of business events and conferences. Corporate travel is more frequent and extends further than in the past.

Those required to travel for business are often expected to travel to the same area multiple times a year. If a hotel can attract them and make a positive impression, that can potentially lead to return business from them and their employers. On top of this, they may also suggest your hotel to other people they are in contact with.

Business travel can be less seasonal, and events are often arranged well in advance. Securing room bookings ahead of time can help you to manage supply and demand more effectively. Guests who visit the area on business may also spend additional money on things like conference rooms or hiring work areas within your hotel.

Moreover, there is a growing trend for ‘bleisure’ guests who travel for business purposes but extend their stay for leisure purposes. Hotels attracting these guests benefit from prolonged stays and more money spent on additional hotel services, such as laundry, room service, restaurant bookings, and gym access.

7 Tips to Attract More Corporate Travelers

Targeting business travelers is a key priority for many hotels. Below, you will find seven great tips for attracting them.

1. Connect Your Hotel to All Major GDS Systems

Increasingly, businesses outsource travel management responsibilities to professional travel management companies or corporate travel agents. This often means booking accommodations for corporate travelers, and agents usually turn to global distribution systems to find the best hotels and room rates for a destination.

For this reason, one of the main ways hotels can ensure they attract more corporate travelers is by connecting with the main GDS systems. The easier it is for corporate travel agents to find your hotel and check availability, the more chance you have of them choosing your hotel as the solution to their business travel needs.

Our “Global Distribution System (GDS): What Are the Benefits for Hotels?“ article provides more information about the main GDS systems, how they work, and how they can benefit companies operating in the travel industry.

2. Create a Loyalty Program

Another useful tip when attracting more corporate travelers is to focus on new and previous guests. Remember that many business travelers will frequently travel to your area. When generating return business from these corporate travelers, a loyalty program can go a long way.

The specifics of your loyalty program are up to you. Still, loyalty programs are generally expected to reward repeat business with discounts, complimentary upgrades, or even free nights in your hotel. As a bonus, having guests sign up for a loyalty program makes it easier to communicate with them in the future and gather valuable data.

3. The Right Communication for The Right Target Group

A common mistake in the hotel industry is to make all communication with guests or potential guests generic, or aiming communication towards leisure customers. However, one of the best ways to attract corporate travelers to your hotel is to use the right communication for the target group.

Whether it is in your marketing efforts, pre-arrival emails, social media interactions, or elsewhere, communicate with business travelers in ways that are meaningful to them. Ask if they would like to book a meeting room. Promote your Wi-Fi or the views of previous corporate travel guests. Enquire about restaurant reservations or airport transfers.

4. Go Local

When people think of corporate travelers, they often think of business people traveling from far away. Yet, your hotel can benefit greatly from focusing on local businesses too. After all, many of these companies will require local meeting facilities or conference rooms, and hotels are an ideal place for them to look.

Some local businesses may also require accommodation for international customers, business partners, or employees who travel in. There are several ways to connect with local businesses, including arranging business lunches or dinners, arranging special events for local entrepreneurs, and promoting local businesses on your website.

5. Offer Corporate Amenities

Another important part of hotel management is the amenities you offer. Providing amenities that will appeal to these customers is vital for hotels looking to benefit from business travel. The most obvious examples are private meeting areas and easy access to laptop or phone charging ports.

However, you can go a step further. Corporate travelers will likely be busy and may need to fit things in when they can, so any 24-hour services or facilities you can offer will appeal. Try to impress them with your internet speed, the quality of your Wi-Fi, workspaces, express check-ins and check-outs, and on-site food and drinks.

6. Create a Business Section For Your Hotel Website

Many corporate travelers or corporate travel management companies will look at your hotel website for information about what you have to offer. A great way to entice these people is to include a specific business section on your website so that they know you are a business-friendly hotel and have something valuable to offer them.

This is your opportunity to present the right message to them with the right look and feel regarding your site design and the images you include. Make sure you show off any corporate facilities, such as meeting rooms or work areas, and take the time to promote amenities or customer reviews from previous corporate travel guests.

7. Analyze Your Corporate Travelers

Finally, those in the modern hotel industry have access to vast amounts of customer data, making it easier than ever to grasp exactly who your customers are, what their motivations are, what they need, what they like, and what they do not like. This information needs to be used to analyze your existing corporate travelers.

Use data in your property management system, look at feedback on online review platforms, and turn to Google Analytics to understand online habits. Try to identify some trends or details that help you to understand your business travel guests. Where do they come from? How do they book rooms? What times of the year are the busiest?

Corporate Travel Agents for Hotels to Gain More Corporate Travelers

Hotels can actively work with corporate travel agents, connecting to the global distribution systems they use to find accommodation for their clients or a combination of the two. Regardless of the precise approach, these agents can be vital for hotels looking to generate more business from corporate travelers.

In the article “Corporate Travel Agents for Hotels to Gain More Business Travelers,” you will find out more about the role of a business travel agency, their importance for those operating in the hotel industry, and examples of eight of the most important corporate travel agents that you might wish to target or work with.

Many hotels are looking to capitalize on corporate travel as a growing market. By using the seven tips listed in this article, you and your hotel can take steps to attract corporate travelers and/or their corporate travel agents.

More Tips Regarding Corporate Travel

The corporate travel market is receiving an increased focus from many in the travel industry, partly business travelers often spend more money on their travels, especially when their employer covers their costs. However, more importantly, business travel is growing, thanks to factors like globalization and the availability of flights. In the following articles, you will find more information about the corporate travel market:

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This article is written by:

Martijn Barten
Hi, I am Martijn Barten, founder of Revfine.com. I am specialized in optimizing revenue by combining revenue management with marketing strategies. I have over 15 years of experience developing, implementing, and managing revenue management and marketing strategies and processes for individual properties and multi-properties.