10 HOT Hospitality Marketing Ideas from Around the World

By: William Ryan & Max Hitchins The Hospitality Doctors www.hospitalitydoctors.comT

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HOT IDEA #1.

Bangkok Golf

Not exactly hospitality...but Im sure this is an idea that could work in a hotel. I saw this putting rink in a Bangkok sports store. Why in a hotel? I hear you ask. Why not? I reply. Ever had to wait in a hotel foyer? A simple putting rink would entertain as well as be create an opportunity to do some in house marketing.

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HOT IDEA #2. Circle the advertisement and stand out from the herd
What do you do if you see something on the classified advertising page that is of interest to you and you want to mark it for easy recall? Of course you take a texta and circle the ad! Another hospitality industry business we operate is a hotel broking business. When we advertise in the classified columns we circle the ad as part of our copy. This has the effect of capturing the entire page as the readers eye goes immediately goes to the circled section. We cover this kind of thinking in my book The Hospitality Jungle in the Zebra marketing chapter - which is all about how to stand out from the herd when you have low budgets! www.hospitalitydoctors.com

HOT IDEA #3. herd

Motel rooms that stand out from the

Have you noticed how most motels look the same? In the city of Mt Isa, Queensland, Australia the innovative owners of the Mt Isa Motel decided to do it differently. Instead of the usual plain brick (boring) facade on each unit they chose to research the history of early Mt Isa and create replica fronts of the towns original shops. Youll find the Hardware Shop, The Bakers shop, The Butchers shop....etc. etc. It really is memorable. I saw guests happily telling their fellow travellers Im in the Butcher Shop...Im in the Baker Shop... Ive not noticed the same excitement when guests were staying in Room 406 or 201!

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HOT IDEA #4.

Selling the Menu in Japan #1

If you saw Spaghetti Pescatore, Japanese style, on a menu would you like to know what it looked like before ordering it? Many people are understandably dubious about trying something different. Recently I was in the JAL Hotel in Narita, Japan and noted their clever way of explaining and selling their menu to the tourists. They have large display cabinets that painstakingly show exactly what most meals on the menu look like. Whilst Ive seen this attempted on menus in Western countries Ive never seen this very effective display cabinet format used...yet, most Western countries are so enthusiastic about attracting Asian tourism.

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HOT IDEA #5.

Great advertising space

Often Hotels and Taverns occupy great real estate positions. This hotel in the suburb of Drummoyne Sydney capitalises on its position with a large sign telling of an Internet competition.

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HOT IDEA #6.

Great Restaurant table cloth idea

In the Sunway Hotel in Hanoi Lucien Blanchard, the General Manager and Stephanie Andretseheno, the Restaurant Manager, encourage guests to write on the paper table cloth. The idea has been around for a while and Im always impressed when I see it. It was also in the Pan Pacific Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. As well as being a great idea for family style Restaurants it works for businessmen who also like to make notes and doodle at lunches. On departing then simply tear off their notes and take them back to the office.

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HOT IDEA #7. photographs

Tourists want to be seen in typical

Here is another typical Italian village scene. Again it is Portovenere. Note the narrow streets and the contrasting building colors. It is exactly like youve seen in the movies. Perhaps there is a wall in your hotel, restaurant or resort onto which you can paint a mural depicting your town, city, or country. Make sure you have your business name and your town or citys name so travelers can take pictures in front of the sign and talk about your place to their friends.

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HOT IDEA #8. advertising

Identify your business for WOM

Recently we wrote in our weekly email... Perhaps the simplest idea that leads to word of mouth (WOM) advertising is the opportunity for customers to have a photograph taken with something that clearly identifies them as being at your place. Wade Hill, the General Manager of The Governors Restaurant & Bakery 742 Stillwater Ave. Old Town, Maine USA, sent a picture of their identifier. We have The Gov placed in front of our restaurant where we completed a new addition this year wrote Wade. The sculpture is a chain-saw piece done from an eight foot section of an Easter white pine tree. WOW!

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HOT IDEA #9.

Honduras - SuperDome Sportcenter

Nicholas Gonzales, is an F & B Director with Intercontinental Hotel & Resorts in Tegus (officially Tegucigalpa) in Honduras. Prior to Christmas 2001 he shared his latest marketing idea with me. My most recent idea Nicholas wrote was during the qualification round for the 2002 World Cup. Honduran guys are really, and I mean really footy fanatics. So, I created the first virtual stadium in Central America, with real bleachers made just for the occasion.

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HOT IDEA #10: Creating space in Cafe De France

At the recent Seattle Super Summit I met Renan Guillou from the Cafe de France in Wilmington, NC. USA. We got to talking about using wall murals to create an illusion of space. He gave me a post card of his Caf De France Restaurant...and all I could say was WOW! See for yourself. The address is 1121 Suite A Military Cutoff Rd. If you are nearby I suggest it is worth a look.

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