Light Up Your Occupancy: Tips for Attracting Guests During Diwali

Indians love Diwali and they eagerly look forward to this festival as it’s a great time to meet family and friends and rejoice in the festivity to escape the mundane work-life juggle.

This year, the festival of lights is clubbed with a weekend, making it a perfect opportunity for all Indians to plan a great gateway.

Not to mention, it is also a great opportunity for hotels to attract guests to boost their business significantly.

Sounds interesting, right?

Diwali and Hospitality Go Hand in Hand

Every year, during Diwali, the global hospitality industry witnesses a great surge in bookings. And this is not just me who’s making this tall statement, there are stats that show how Diwali impacts the performance of Indian hotels.

As per Deepak Harane, regional manager (Pune), MTDC, nearly 60% of MTDC resorts are already reserved for the 2023 Diwali season.

Another study also finds that domestic tourism in India is clearly on the upswing with the festive season witnessing a forward booking surge of 25 percent compared to the previous year.

Bharatt Malik, Senior VP of Flights and Hotel Business at Yatra Online says the room tariffs during this year’s Diwali period are up by 20 percent compared to the previous month.

This makes it evident that the role Diwali plays in the industry is prominent.

Meaning hotels must create strategies the right way to reap maximum benefits. But how?

How can Hotels Prepare for Diwali?

Now that you know how Diwali impacts the hospitality industry, it’s time to get the call rolling. So, here are a few tips on how hotels can attract guests during Diwali and boost revenue.

1. Decide what strategy to use

Planning ahead is a prominent aspect of achieving business goals. And this is the same for hotels as well.

Before you run any offer or campaign during Diwali, first decide how you actually want to pull it off.

Do you want to target a particular group of travelers?

Or, do you want to open up for all kinds of guests?

How about your campaign length?

Various questions may arise while planning for a festival season.  

You have to take the call and decide how you want to go about it.

By strategizing prior, you become proactive and foresee issues or roadblocks that may come your way to take appropriate actions.

2. Create various offers and packages

Now that you have a strategy in place, let me help you with a point that is going to top up your festivity strategy.

Packages and offers are two prominent ingredients of a successful hotel recipe.

Offering discounts and packages quickly draws travelers into your hotel, intrigues them to make a reservation, and helps you boost occupancy.

Have you seen those discounted prices on banners where a higher price is always struck out? Well, that’s a good way to go about it. Further, you can make your offer more intriguing by creating packages that include various amenities.

The idea is to tell your guests that they can save money, and you’re likely to get their attention.

But again, shout your offer message louder way before the festivity starts.

(We will talk more about this going forward. Keep reading.)

3. Be strategic about the pricing

Pricing is a supremely sensitive aspect of an accommodation business.

If you price the rooms higher, the guests will ghost you. And if you lower them without conscious thought, you’re prone to witnessing loss.

Then what should you do?

Sell more rooms at the right price and at the right time.

However, it’s easier said than done. Because hoteliers either don’t have the proper knowledge of setting room prices or they don’t simply care.

To help you master hotel room pricing, here are two of my favorite blogs on the topic. These will surely help you understand this top affair and get it right.

• Powerful hotel pricing strategies
• How to identify if your pricing strategies are broken?

4. Start partnering with ethnic brands

Diwali and ethnic themes are a match made in heaven.

If you are reading this, I want you to know that Indians love connecting with ethnic things. Be it food, stationary, clothing, or anything.

Your role here is to bring that ethnic vibe closer to your guests. And one of the best ways to go about it is by partnering with brands that are in the ethnic space.

But what’s next after partnering?

Maybe allow them to set up stalls in your hotel. People would love to visit stalls during their stay and make a purchase.

It’s a win-win.

Your guests are happy, your partnered brands make money, and you make a commission.

5. Host a special event

People want their Diwali to be memorable. And if they are staying at your property, they would expect something special. 

Events are one of those special things that people usually look for when they explore hotels and gateways.

Diwali special events are a great way to attract travelers. They not only boost your occupancy during the festival but also enable you to earn extra by upselling.

When I am saying event it could be anything that goes hand-in-hand with Diwali. Be it a musical concert, gala dinner, etc.

Also, read: Strategies to Boost Events at Your Hotel

6. Plan around the gifts

How about some gifts for your guests?

Already sounds like a plan, isn’t it?

Many hotels think of this as an expense. But that’s wrong, mi amigo.

Gifts, especially during festivals like Diwali, are a great way to build meaningful and long-lasting business-consumer relationships.

When you give gifts to your guests, they’ll have a sense of being admired and valued. And that’s exactly what drives hotels towards becoming a brand that people love.

Therefore, if you are planning to attract guests during Diwali and make it special, do bet on some good gifts.

7. Have a strong hotel technology stack

In this fast-paced and competitive hospitality industry, technology is going to be your sidekick.

If your hotel is the hero, then technology is a counterpoint that offers something you don’t have.

With the right set of hotel technology (especially integrated technology), you not only streamline and automate your hotel’s daily operations but also become capable of delivering a supreme guest experience.

If you haven’t turned to hotel technology, it is not too late yet.

Analyze your hotel, look for all the pain points, and analyze the technologies that can ease things out for you.

During festivals like Diwali, hotels are likely to have a huge inflow of guests and hotel technology is certainly going to support you throughout.

8. Spread the word through marketing

Next up, bet on marketing as much as you can.

You may have the best event coming up, the most intriguing packages and discounts, a supremely flawless operational infrastructure, and many activities to make Diwali awesome.

But what’s the point if no one knows about it?

Well, that’s when marketing comes into the picture.

Leverage every form of marketing, whether it’s posting on Facebook and Instagram, running digital ads, or even putting up hoarding by the highway. 

Not every guest of yours is on the mobile all the time, so it’s not a bad idea to leverage traditional marketing techniques.  

9. Get the messaging right 

In continuation to the previous point, messaging is also a factor that needs to be addressed.

It’s not just your hotel that’s preparing for the festival of lights, there are numerous hotels that must be doing the same.

And if you want to stand out, your messaging has to be simple yet appealing. It needs to create clarity and align your guests to the big picture.

From discounts on rooms to freebies, the marketing message has to touch up every prominent point and intrigue your guests.

10. Focus on post-Diwali stays

Now, what most hotels overlook is the period after Diwali.

Yes, you heard it right.

A few days post-Diwali is also a great opportunity to drive hotel sales.

There are times when people tend to go on small vacations post celebrations. Wedding season also follows after the Diwali. And you as a hotelier cannot afford to miss it.

Here's how you can make your hotel wedding-friendly.

Be strategic about this too. 

Do not replicate the same offers and packages. 

Do your research and come up with strategies that would go in line with post-Diwali preferences of people.  

A Little Something for International Hotels

While I tried to cover almost everything for hotels in India to attract guests during Diwali, I don’t want to miss addressing the same for hotels in other countries.

For many, festivals like Diwali are a perfect excuse for an overseas vacation and they don’t shy away from extending their work leaves a bit for the vacation.

Meaning, this festival is also an excellent time for international hotels to attract Indians and boost revenue.

Now, before you already jump on the bandwagon and start preparing for Diwali, there’s a little something you must keep in mind.

If I plan to travel to some international destination on Diwali, then I would expect certain things to be the same as we do in India.  Maybe I would want to perform puja, gamble in a casino, and even feast on Indian dishes.

We Indians love our festivals and just because we are traveling abroad, we aren’t going straight to the beach or strolling around the city; we are doing our festivity chores first.

So, if you’re reading this, I want you to know that it’s worth every dime to prepare for the festival of Diwali. Get aggressive in your marketing and spread the word.