Make Hospitality A Happy Investment
June 25, 2018
Once upon a time, people looked at property investments with some pretty tunnel-vision glasses on. It was a matter of collecting residential properties, shouldering the stress of being a landlord or lady, and reveling in the fact your wealth was on the up. But that way of thinking has given way to a new type of property investment in recent years – the hospitality industry.
Of all the epidemics out there, the wanderlust bug seems to be on the rise, biting people the world over and for good reason too. Travel has never been cheaper or easier, experiences have never been pushed so high up the priority list and, when people go away, they want to feel relaxed and looked after and able to escape the humdrum of their normal life.
The question is: from a business perspective, what are the most important factors to consider?
- Location is Your Lifeline
It doesn’t matter whether you want to buy a guest house, invest in a hotel or narrow your search down to motels for sale, the location is everything. You want to be close to tourist attractions, in an area that’s popular with both overseas travelers and staycation celebrators, and look for a place that will allow further development down the line. Picking a prime location will safeguard your investment, but having the capacity to grow as you become more successful will allow you to capitalize.
- Bigger Is Better
A lot of investors shy away from hospitality investments that are too big because they are worried about the management efforts needed. But there is very little difference in terms of managing four rooms and managing fourteen rooms. However, there is a huuuuge difference in how much profit you make. You’re making drastically more money for – more or less – the same costs of running. The wages you pay, the insurance you need, the marketing efforts and maintenance jobs – they’re all the same no matter how many rooms you offer. Remember that.
- Marketing Really Matters
In the hospitality industry, you can not afford to skimp on your marketing efforts. The competition is too fierce. In that sense, the secret to being busy, being fully-booked and maintaining good-profits is to invest smartly in your marketing strategies. That means having a dazzling website, great SEO, content and copy that will appeal to the reader, an Airbnb listing that draws attention, an advertisement in local tourist guides and booklets and good relations with local tourist guides and travel agencies. Of course, to make this as effective as possible, you need to know who your target audience is. You need to have a think about the area you’re investing in, who tends to visit that area most, what your nearest selling points are, how many you can sleep and what sort of vacation you cater for. Get all that written down and you’ll have a better understanding of which audience to target.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure you sign up for our newsletter and get your hands on this week’s free coaching session.