March 25, 2014
After scoping out the next widely celebrated holiday, luxury hotel brands have begun crafting Easter offers.
Whether tweaking the menu to reflect appropriate culinary options or designing a fun atmosphere for kids, hotel brands should anticipate a spike in traffic over the weekend of April 18-20. Although the holiday has sacred roots and is revered by many, ubiquitous and secular adaptions, such as the famous bunny, have rendered Easter relevant to a wider audience.
"Most hotels depend on corporate and business related travel for the majority of their revenue," said Ron Kurtz, president of the American Affluence Research Center, Atlanta. "Major holidays like Easter are a time when that type of travel is minimal or non-existent.
"As a result hotels need to create events and themes that will attract family and personal travel to fill rooms," he said. "Events for children, like Easter egg hunts, are helpful.
"Easter is a holiday where extended families like to come together. A special offer for family reunions could tie in to this. Of course hotel restaurants offer special menus for Easter lunches and dinners to attract overnight guests and to boost food and beverage revenues."
Different takes
The Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton, FL, is promoting a range of Easter activities. A Mad Hatter's Silly Spring Party with bounce houses, carnival games, "Bunny Hop" sack races, face painters, balloon artists and live music will occur April 19.
On the following Sunday, guests can attend a sunrise service at the resort's private beach.
The Waldorf Astoria Boca Raton, FL
Children will then run wild as they hunt for more than 10,000 colorful eggs filled with toys and candy.
Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta, Indonesia, is inviting guests to enjoy a "Sunny Bunny Brunch" featuring international and Asian dishes.
Children can enjoy games with bunnies, time with an Easter bunny and a junior chef cake-decorating competition.
From Four Seasons Hotel Jakarta
The brand's Mumbai property is hosting an egg-decorating event and an egg hunt.
As other brands begin to anticipate Easter-related travel, more offers will emerge.
Holidays all-year round
Packages structured around holidays are a reliable way to guide guests to a property. Other hotels generate similar excitement.
Luxury hotels around the world honored the Chinese New Year with themed decorations, events and offers.
Four Seasons showed culinary versatility, Peninsula Hotels dove into Chinese history and Mandarin Oriental focused on traditional tea ceremonies. The two week-festivities helped luxury hotel brands strengthen the loyalties of Chinese consumers throughout the year (see story).
Also, do affluent travelers pay attention to the spate of New Year’s Eve offers by luxury hotels, or do they stick with experiences that they know they can trust?
The massive amounts of money consumers spend on New Year’s Eve and the chance to imprint a traveler with a memorable experience that triggers repeat visits makes the holiday one of the most highly anticipated of the year. Whether New York hotels hosted pre-parties, dinners, parties or holistic events, they all tried to divert some of the thunderous traffic into their lobbies (see story).
"Hotels need to stay focused on the next holiday as that is consistently a time when occupancy is reduced by the loss of corporate and business related travel," Mr. Kurtz said.
Final Take
Joe McCarthy, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York
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