What is hotel positioning? And who decides what the positioning of your hotel is? Understanding hotel positioning is paramount for independent hoteliers striving for success.
In this insightful blog post, we delve into the intricacies of hotel positioning — answering the fundamental questions of WHAT it entails and WHO holds the reins in determining your hotel's positioning strategy. Let’s get started!
As you see in the following illustration, defining a hotel’s positioning is an essential part of every hotel concept we create at MAp Boutique Consultancy.
Once we know what your hotel’s unique Purpose is, and for which People your hotel exists, we embark on defining your hotel’s unique position on the MAp.
Our hotel clients always get excited about this hotel positioning exercise. But, there is a small “downer” you should know: even if we strive to achieve a clear and unique hotel positioning, ultimately it is not us who decides what the hotel positioning is. The hotel positioning is defined by your People, above all, your guests, and this implies that your control over your hotel positioning is limited.
This triangle is called the “Strategic Triangle” that serves to identify long-term business advantages or, as we call it, success potential. Sometimes it is also called the 3C Model, showing the tension field and interplay (therefore we use a triangle) that consists between Customer, Competitor and Company.
And: hotel positioning is the image (place) you own in the minds of your guests, when they compare your hotel with the hotels of your competitors.
Now that you understand what hotel positioning is, let’s walk step-by-step in how we at MAp define a hotel’s unique positioning. The fact is, we are experiencing a crowded marketplace. Therefore, we aim to achieve a hotel positioning that:
Only if you have your defined buyer personas ready (= your target guests) you can answer an important question: How do you find your unique position on the MAp? Therefore, if you haven’t defined your buyer personas yet – now’s the time to do it!
Next, you have to know on which MAp to position your hotel. When working with clients, we like to use a simple and effective positioning matrix. For the purposes of this blog post, let’s keep it simple, and that means you should decide if your MAp is i.e. boutique luxury hotels, family hotels, boutique city hotels, etc.
Once you have defined in which segment to position your hotel, most often you’ll realise that you’re not the first to do so! Even if you’re tapping into a growing market and seeking to serve your specific audience better than your competitors, our MAp advice is to keep digging and to add a further niche into the mix. And, of course, to strive to add something new and exciting to the segment and the hospitality landscape at large.
Once you’ve defined your position on the MAp, it’s time to put it down in words. You can do so by crafting a hotel positioning statement. We’ll give you MAp’s positioning statement as an example.
MAp Boutique Consultancy
TO… Innovative investors and boutique hoteliers that need direction, empowerment and support in getting their ventures off the ground, levelling up and setting a strong foundation for growth
MAp IS… the leader in developing and empowering sustainable and innovative hotels and brands
THAT… makes hotels matter by creating a better future for People and Planet.
What’s yours?
TO… __________________________ (target audience / buyer personas) ________(your hotel) IS… __________________________ (your position on the map) THAT… __________________________ (what you will do for your target audience / buyer personas)
And another blog post comes to an end. Maybe we can summarise what we’ve learned today about hotel positioning best with a quote from Simon Sinek:
“In order to stand out, we have to know what we stand for.”
We hope that after our time together, what YOU stand for is much clearer. And if not, please do not hesitate to contact us in order to find your unique hotel positioning on the MAp.
Through our hotel marketing services, we position your independent and boutique hotel on the global MAp – in a unique, sustainable and authentic way.
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