Changing the business field is an important activity that requires extensive work to be successful. In the hotel industry, different types of clients have different expectations of the hotel’s features. Business people are more likely to become frequent customers than tourists, as they usually pay regular visits to the cities where their clients or partners reside. Therefore, while planning the transformation from a tourist hotel to a business hotel, the managers have to explore the areas that need major changes, such as services provided, training, and facility transformation, and to develop a comprehensive plan of changes for each section.
Services
Tourists rarely spend a lot of time at the hotel. They are usually far more preoccupied with visiting the local attractions or going to the beach, so they only return to their hotel room to sleep at night. Business travelers, on the other hand, will usually spend more time in the facility preparing documents, presentations, and performing other work-related actions. Therefore, the needs of these two client populations are different. For instance, before welcoming business travelers to the hotel, the managers have to ensure that the building has secure wi-fi access and low levels of noise outside so that business travelers could work in a stress-free environment. Room service is also essential, as business travelers might not have time to visit a cafe or grocery store and are therefore more likely to order a meal to be delivered straight to their room. High-quality breakfast should be included with every booking: business travelers usually wake up on time for an early morning meal and will be disappointed if it is not provided as part of their stay.
Training
People who travel for business also have different expectations when it comes to customer service. They usually value efficiency more than friendliness, and their requests to the administrator are usually practical. For example, whereas tourists would like to have more information about famous sights or recreational areas nearby, business people are more likely to inquire about transportation and good places to have lunch with colleagues. For a hotel in transition, it is essential to provide additional training to employees, as well as to regularly update them on the information that the guests might require. The optimization of electronic processes would also be necessary to ease the booking, check-in, and check-out processes for busy customers.
Facility Transformation
It is important to understand that business travelers usually stay at the hotel for less than one week. Moreover, they tend to be interested in single rooms rather than expensive suites. To be able to welcome a high flow of business people, it may be a good idea to transform suites and family rooms into single rooms. Building separate conference rooms are crucial for the hotel to be efficient. Initially, these rooms could become the places of group sessions. Gym and swimming pool are also examples of structures that are useful to business people, and the hotel’s management will need to develop solutions to incorporate these areas into its transformation plans.
Overall, to transform from leisure to business hotel, the company will have to address the needs of the business populations by answering to the quality and content interpretations. This would allow the hotel to attract business customers, thus generating more income and increasing its performance.