ANALYSIS ON THE RECOVERY STRATEGY OF HIGH-END RESORT HOTELS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE COVID-19

 

Cao Ning

Shaanxi University of Technology

 

Abstract: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 at the end of 2019, the tourism industry has entered a "cold winter", and the hotel industry has been deeply affected. After stritprevention and control, the hotel industry began to show signs of recovery in March 2020, returning to 70% before the epidemic in the summer vacation. In particular, high-end resort hotels are recovering strongly, far exceeding the overall level of mainland of China. This article analyzes the recovery of the hotel industry after COVID-19 and the response strategies of major hotels during the epidemic to understand the reasons for the strong recovery, and put forward countermeasures on how domestic resort hotels can increase the stickiness of domestic demand and achieve sustainable development after global tourism activities are normal.

Keywords: epidemic; high-end resort hotels; recovery strategy; domestic demand stickiness

 

 

1. Background

In December 2019, the new type of COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, and then spread across the country. The country urgently halted the operation of tourism products, and various operating data faced a cliff-like decline. Up to now, although various industries in China have resumed their daily operations under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, the epidemic has still not been completely controlled. There are still sporadic cases that appear from time to time, and the overseas epidemic has not improved. According to Worldometer's real-time statistics, there are still more than 700,000 new cases of the global epidemic in a single day. The epidemic in India is particularly prominent. The mutant virus has spread to more than 40 countries, and the recovery of global tourism activities is still far away.

 

2. The recovery of domestic resort hotels

2020 is a "cold winter" for China's tourism industry. Nearly 150,000 accommodation units in the industry closed down or closed their doors, the number of hotel rooms decreased by 2.294 million, the occupancy rate dropped by 25.4% year-on-year, and the average room rate dropped by 15.2% year-on-year.^[1] ,Began to gradually recover in late March, and returned to 70% before the epidemic in July. According to data from Str: in the recovery of various hotel markets, Sanya has become one of the few markets where occupancy rates and average room prices have increased year-on-year. The annual revenue per available house has also exceeded 2019, far exceeding the overall level of mainland China. ^[2] See Table 2.1.

 

Table 2.1 Sanya hotel market recovery after the epidem

ic

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Note: The data comes from STR Consulting Company)

The recovery of the hotel market after the epidemic reached its peak in July, and reached new highs in August and September, which has exceeded 11% of the same period before the epidemic. During the National Day, compared with the same period in 2019, the revenue of each available house in Sanya increased by 54% year-on-year, and the occupancy rate also contributed 5% year-on-year growth on the basis of the ultra-high net worth in 2019. ^[3] Sanya is a tourism island in mainland China with tourism as its main industry. It is also one of the few cities with beautiful coastal scenery and a major leisure and vacation tourist destination in the mainland. Inspired by the recovery of hotels in Sanya, a study of the hotel market in popular domestic resort destinations found that in an environment where the domestic epidemic prevention and control is relatively stable, the return of outbound tourists has stronger demand and consumption in the domestic resort market. Popular domestic holiday destinations are the first to recover and the recovery is relatively optimistic, higher than the overall domestic level, as shown in Table 2.2.

Table 2.2 Restoration of hotels in major leisure and holiday markets

(Note: The data comes from STR Consulting Company)

 

As the foreign epidemic situation cannot be controlled at this stage, the restrictions on outbound travel have caused some tourists' overseas travel consumption needs to shift to the domestic market, looking for alternative products at the same level, and characteristic mid-to-high-end holiday destinations have become alternatives. Sanya became

As an alternative to overseas coastal resort destinations, Yunnan has become an alternative in the Southeast Asian tourism market; the high transportation expenses originally used for overseas travel have been transformed into upgrades to accommodation conditions and tourism services, so high-end resort hotels in leisure tourism destinations have become the first choice. Ranked first in the hotel market with a recovery rate of 76%. High-end resort hotels represented by Atlantis Sanya and Banyan Tree Hotel Group have recovered strongly. During the National Day in 2020, the net room price of Atlantis Sanya will increase by 35% year-on-year, and the total revenue of the resort will increase by 34% year-on-year. %; ^[3] In an interview with the management of Banyan Tree Hotel Group, I found that: Banyan Tree Hotel Group’s performance in 2020 is its best year since entering the Chinese market, occupancy rate, average room rate and each room available for rent The overall real estate income has increased substantially; the occupancy rate of Club Med's five resorts in China is nearly 90%, a year-on-year increase of 6%. According to data from Ctrip during the May 1st holiday in 2021, hotel bookings per day have increased by 70% compared to the same period in 2019, with high-star hotels accounting for 40%.^[4] The characteristics of quality vacations are outstanding. According to the Meadin Brand Index (MBI), Meadin Research Institute analyzes the influence of brands on the Internet from the four index dimensions of search, public opinion, operation, and media, and summarizes the top ten top resort hotel brands in 2020, as shown in Table 2.3 Show.

Table 2.3 Top (MBITOP10) Resort Hotel Brands

Brand name	Product features	Customer positioning
Banyan Tree	Banyan Tree Spa、Full Pool Villa	Middle Class Affluent Class
Club Med	GO 、child care service	parent-child family
Atlantis	Water World and Aquarium Family	parent-child family
Narada Resort Hotel Leisure	socialization, localization, entertainment	middle class
Chimelong Special theme room	relying on Chimelong Tourist Resort	parent-child family
Hanbi Tower	Deep Sea Hot Springs	Cutting-edge Consumer Group
Kaiyuan Resort Meeting,	Meeting, banquet, leisure and vacation integration	High-end leisure vacation individual guest
Huajiantang Petty	B&Bs, Resorts	Bourgeoisie Group
Aman	hermit cultur	cutting-edge niche crowd
Kaiyuan Country Hotel	Wooden house, thatched cottage, tent creative experience	parent-child family

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Note: The data comes from Maidian Research Institute)

 

In the post-epidemic era, travelers pay more attention to travel public safety, and pay more attention to surrounding travel and rural leisure travel. While the academic circles are immersed in research on how rural tourism can develop better in the post-epidemic era, the strong recovery of the resort hotel market has made us realize that compared to crowded city tourism, we should choose a high-quality resort hotel based on the slow pace of leisure tourism. Way, relax as the purpose, spend enough time to feel, stay and live longer, and relax the body and mind as a "compensation" for the body and spirit. ^[5] From the past, staying in a hotel for vacation is moving towards " "Living in a hotel and going on vacation" changes, hotels are no longer facilities in tourist destinations, and become new tourist destinations that provide accommodation and leisure activities. According to the "Mid-Autumn National Day Holiday Tourism Big Data Report" released by Ctrip in 2020, during the National Day Golden Week, the total turnover of pre-sale hotels increased by more than 100% month-on-month, and high-quality hotels became the most popular gathering place. ^[6] Judging from the current situation of the epidemic recovery, outbound travel is still unclear in the short term, and the domestic holiday market is more attractive. High-quality resort hotels are the mainstream choice for high-net-worth tourism consumption. Integrated resort hotels are also attracting a large number of family parents and children. Tourists traveling with friends.

 

3. Recovery strategy of high-end resort hotels

The return to optimism in the performance of high-end resort hotels is the result of hotel managers implementing appropriate strategies due to the times and circumstances. Actively responding to the changes brought about by the epidemic after the outbreak, taking advantage of the trend is the main reason for the rapid recovery.

 

·Strict hygiene and safety measures under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control

The success of domestic epidemic prevention and control is the fundamental driving force for the recovery of the tourism industry. Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the state has adopted a series of scientific, effective and time-sensitive decisions and measures to control the spread and deterioration of the epidemic. The people across the country actively cooperate with the needs of prevention and control, do not go out or gather, suspend work and production, and isolate the infection. With the efforts of all parties It has realized the current stable and normal state, and has provided a good environment for the recovery of the tourism industry. After the resumption of work and production, under the active call of the government, tourism companies have also actively taken corresponding measures to prevent and control the epidemic.

The hotel industry implements the "Relaxed Living" plan, explores to create a "Resident Living" model, provides "epidemic prevention and peace of mind services", and guarantees a safe living environment. Post check-in instructions on the official website or reservation page before check-in to inform the epidemic prevention and control requirements; wearing a mask, scanning the code registration information, verifying the health code, and measuring body temperature are mandatory conditions for check-in. The specific prevention and control measures in the hotel are meticulous and thoughtful: the waiting area is set at a safe distance of one meter, the public area provides disinfection alcohol and masks, the non-contact service is implemented during the stay, the check-out destination and transportation are registered, and the whole process is dynamically monitored. In the daily management of the hotel, the housekeeping department conducts multiple eliminations every day in the hotel’s public areas and cross-contact objects and areas to prevent cross-infection, and implement "one customer one replacement" for high-frequency contact objects of guests; the catering department staff strictly Control their gathering in densely populated places, and urge them to do their personal protection work; carry out key disinfection of kitchens and restaurants, and eliminate party food during the epidemic; implement elevators and diversion of entrances and exits during the stay, and implement the separation of dining spaces and meal sharing systems. In addition, a certification system has been established for linen washing plants and other suppliers of key products to block the spread of "contact" germs. Some high-end liquor stores have upgraded the internal network speed of the hotel to ensure the needs of remote video conferences, phone calls, and live streaming.

 

·Increase room premium and stabilize brand image

When the hotel becomes a pure vacation destination, and is no longer a subsidiary product of a vacation destination, a single accommodation can no longer meet the needs of mass consumption. Affected by the epidemic, the major high-end resort hotels did not compete for low-priced products due to the epidemic, but through flexible means of increasing product added value, upgrading services, and expanding marketing channels, they maintained a stable brand image while acquiring new products. market share.

Under the influence of the epidemic, the demand for surrounding travel has been released, and family parent-child, relatives and friends have become the driving force for the recovery of resort hotels. The first-line spending power valued the second-line resources and environment, and began to move closer to the surrounding high-quality holiday products. High-end resort hotels on behalf of the Banyan Tree Hotel Group are deeply engaged in product content, and continuously improve the quality of SPA services in the health and wellness series. Based on aromatic massage and beauty skin care, they can meet the diverse needs of tourists for leisure and relaxation. ^[7], Banyan Tree Health & Beauty SPA It has become the added value of the brand; Atlantis Sanya continues to enrich the integrated system of food, accommodation, performance, travel, shopping, and entertainment to meet the needs of guests for one-stop vacations and increase efforts in parent-child experience activities. The rich activity forms cater to the demands of family outings after the epidemic; Kaiyuan Fangcao has created a camp accommodation experience, allowing guests to get a holiday experience close to nature, and guaranteeing the high-quality hotel services they can enjoy, which unexpectedly wins the favor of the market. Although the major hotels differ in their business models, they are all very distinctive, increasing the price premium ability of house prices. They have not lowered their prices and sold products cheaply because of the impact of the epidemic on the tourism industry.

 

·Make good use of new media marketing to "plant grass" and use head anchors to help consumers "pull the grass"

The epidemic has changed consumption patterns, and new media and live broadcast platforms are gradually replacing the traditional functions of OTA. After the outbreak of the epidemic, the country’s closed management has allowed residents to stay at home, and the online purchase channel for daily necessities has become the only choice. With the needs of epidemic prevention and control, gradually familiarize with the various functions of mobile phone online purchase and payment. , Consumption habits have generated new patterns, and the scope of consumption has gradually expanded to all aspects of purchase ^[8], coupled with a large amount of free time being closed, providing an opportunity for watching live broadcasts, online consumption has become the new normal, "cloud marketing The popularity of "home economy" and the "pre-sale product" marketing model have played a role in boosting the recovery of the hotel industry to a certain extent.

The fixed cost of hotel operation is high, and the lack of guest occupancy has a great impact on the hotel’s cash flow and daily management and operation. High-end resort hotels adopt the form of product portfolio packaging, using new media such as Douyin and various live broadcast platforms for live broadcast pre-sales, and cash in at any allowable time in the future. Chen Miaolin, founder of Kaiyuan Hotel Group, believes that resort hotels are most suitable for live broadcast. Users experience virtual tours around hotels and destinations through wonderful live broadcast content, and purchase guest room vacation packages, SPA and other products online to "stock up" for future travel. . Ctrip Live has brought more than 2 million high-star hotels in the Asia-Pacific region. The average price of pre-sale products is more than 1,200 yuan, and the pre-sale product verification rate has reached 50%. Ctrip CEO Liang Jianzhang won 10 million, 20 million and 27 million transactions in three live broadcasts at Atlantis Sanya, Qianhu Miao Village in Xijiang, Guizhou, and Huzhou, Zhejiang. The domestic head live broadcast Wei Ya held in Hangzhou Cultural Tourism In the live broadcast, 8,000 products were sold out in 30 seconds, which contributed to the "net celebrity road" of high-end resort hotels. In the first live broadcast of Chen Miaolin, Kaiyuan Hotel Group, 1 order was sold every second, and the pool villa priced at 6,898 was also immediately available.

Different from fast-moving consumer goods such as beauty and cosmetics, tourism and vacation products are subject to high unit prices, time, budget, traffic, distance, user location, and many other factors, which lead to a long order decision time and a low transaction rate. Therefore, live transaction of vacation products It is also affected by the attractiveness of the product itself to consumers. How to "seed" the product in the hearts of consumers during the closed period of the epidemic and arouse their desire to buy requires the use of various Internet platforms to allow consumers to "plant grass"

"Planting grass" refers to the growth of possessiveness for a certain object or a certain experience. High-end resort hotels have long been "grass" to most consumers. Although the environment and services are desirable, the unbelievable prices have discouraged some tourists. During the live broadcast during the epidemic, reasonable discounts are given through product packaging combinations, and the pre-sale model is not limited by time. Consumers can buy at low prices first, then plan any time, and redeem the product when all future conditions permit, plus With the leading role of travel KOL (Key Opinion Leader) and head live broadcast, it is logical to "pull the grass".

 

   

Figure 3.1 "Planting Grass" Marketing on Internet Platform

 

As shown in Figure 3.1, the "grass" for consumers requires the product itself to have high-quality content, and at the same time give play to the influence of tourism KOL, stimulate the understanding of the product and the desire to buy, and then through some interactive behaviors, including live broadcast, VLOG Short video display and communication between users, such as comments, likes, and reposts, affect consumers' purchasing decisions, so as to realize the realization of "weeding" and convert them into benefits.

 

4. Break through after the epidemic and increase the stickiness of domestic demand

In the case of restricted overseas travel, external demand for tourism has turned to domestic demand. The current situation is relatively optimistic, and the internal circulation of high-end vacation tourism has been realized. However, after the epidemic is completely over, overseas tourism will inevitably face a blowout development. There is no return of external demand to help domestic high-end hotels retain High-net-worth domestic demand, strengthening the stickiness of domestic demand, and competing with the overseas holiday market are the next steps that should be considered.

 

·Deeply cultivate content to create high-quality resort hotels

Tourism is a comprehensive activity of ears, nose, eyes, tongue, body, and mind. As a holiday destination, it is necessary to extend the stay time of tourists at the destination as much as possible and experience more tourism activities. High-end resort hotels should aim at new consumer needs, create in-depth experience products, focus on the combination of theme features and outdoor environments, comprehensive health care, be a real resort hotel, develop "accommodation + X" products, and enhance the added value of the hotel. Meet all the leisure activities of tourists during their stay. After experiencing the epidemic, people pay more attention to health, safety and hygiene, and start from choosing a city or scenic spot to travel to choosing a hotel for vacation. After the inbound and outbound tourism is fully opened, the resort hotel still needs to rely on the superior natural environment as the background, highlight the original ecological beauty and pure natural environment of the resort hotel, and use the unrepeatable natural environment to give consumers physical relaxation and leisure. For example, before the outbreak of the epidemic, yoga enthusiasts usually take overseas yoga health trips, find a quiet and clean beach on a holiday island, or perform group yoga activities in some resorts with beautiful natural scenery and excellent air quality. Therefore, resort hotels should combine health The recuperation activities provide an environment and venue suitable for recuperation and relaxation, equipped with fitness equipment and equipment; the design and construction of the outdoor space should meet the needs of guests for walking or meditation to relax. In addition, family and parent-child have become the themes and norms of travel after the epidemic. Creating a parent-child holiday theme is not simply arranging a parent-child theme room with some cartoon-element decorations and daily necessities, but combining the hotel’s characteristic resources to develop parent-child interactions. Experience activities to create a unique experience scene.

 

· Targeting customer source groups and precision marketing

Even in resort hotels, different age groups have different needs. The post-60s and 70s have high-end consumption strength, but the consumption concept is relatively conservative; the post-80s and post-90s have gradually entered the stage of parent-child vacation consumption, focusing on hygiene, privacy and interaction; post-00s call for fresh stimulation and diversification. After the epidemic is over, the 80s, 90s and millennials have become the main consumers of consumption. In addition to cultivating product content and creating products that consumers want according to the needs of different consumer groups, resort hotels must also fit the preferences of consumer groups and obtain information Channels for precision marketing.

According to data compiled by the Huajing Industry Research Institute: my country's Internet users have reached nearly 1 billion in 2020, accounting for about one-fifth of the global Internet users. Ctrip survey data in 2019 found that my country's online hotel booking users are becoming younger. The post-90s and post-00s young users have rapidly increased, accounting for 46%. At the same time, post-90s accounted for the first time in the post-80s. The user growth of post-00s should not be underestimated. The trend of online consumption is becoming increasingly apparent, and new mobile media has become the frequency of consumer use. The highest, most dependent, and most convenient medium for obtaining information. ^[9] In order to achieve precision marketing, hotels must actively seek effective KOLs for publicity and drive, help KOLs improve their professionalism in the field, ensure the authenticity of information provided, and gain the trust of consumers. On the other hand, we must combine creative UGC (User Generated Content) for joint marketing. For consumers, the content that the original real users share spontaneously is more influential and persuasive to them. UGC has the characteristics of high participation and interaction. After UGC produces content, it will spontaneously attract secondary dissemination, attract attention, discussion and even follow, so that it can play the role of fission marketing of the Internet. Fliggy’s "Playing Tour" plays the role of both KOL and UGC. The content produced in the "Playing Tour" is evaluated and analyzed based on actual experience accumulation and the perspective of tourists, and provides a user comment platform for communication and interaction. To achieve secondary or even multiple dissemination, and sometimes even attach a purchase window, from "planting grass" to "weeding", shortening the cycle of consumption decision-making, and effectively realizing the conversion of value.

According to data from iiMedia Research, the number of online live broadcast users in China has reached 526 million in 2020, and my country's online live broadcast users are showing a rapid growth trend. The application and development of online live broadcasts have lowered the barriers to Internet users' information acquisition and real-time interactivity. The dissemination makes live broadcast more efficient and convenient. ^[10] For holiday destinations, based on their own interesting and interactive products, the live broadcast platform is used to promote virtual experiences, so as to realize “rough grass planting” for consumers and use the pre-sale marketing model. , To stimulate consumer demand.

 

·Pay attention to low-density tourism demand and enhance tourist care

The epidemic will strengthen consumers’ awareness of health management, with particular attention to health and safety in public areas. Even if the epidemic is over, the panic caused by infectious diseases and the long-term awareness of vigilance that consumers will be more concerned about low population density, especially hotels and tourist resorts, high-frequency cross-contact will aggravate tourists' worries. When the country’s gates are fully opened, even if the current strict epidemic prevention and control measures are no longer implemented, the high standards of health and safety can still be implemented. Diversion, meal sharing, appointments, leaving more space for tourists, creating more freedom and more comfortable environment. In addition, when global tourism activities recover, some domestic demand will inevitably be lost, but there is no doubt that inbound tourists will be welcomed. Due to the current uncontrollable situation of foreign epidemics, when the demand for foreign tourists is released when the country is opened, Dispel the worries of domestic tourists staying in hotels, and truly "live in peace" is an inevitable problem for hotels. In addition to paying attention to and paying attention to low-density demand, it is still necessary to have an awareness of epidemic prevention and control and an emergency response mechanism to improve the response. The care of tourists.

 

Conclusion

Although the current situation of domestic epidemic prevention and control is good, major resort hotels are recovering strongly, and their performance is excellent, the epidemic is not stable. There are occasional cases imported from abroad. The hotel still cannot relax the normalized prevention and control work in daily management, but it is more important This is how to make the prosperity of the resort hotel last, rather than the temporary dividend brought by the epidemic. It is a great opportunity for hotel operators to optimize their products in accordance with the characteristics of the times.