Hi, I'm Gonzalo 👋
Today I'd like to bring you a varied edition packed with info and value: let's look at a traveler trend that can fill your low season, I'll gift you a prompt to look at your pricing with fresh eyes, we'll celebrate what yesterday's event with Cloudbeds left us, and I'll tell you about 7 places where your WhatsApp should be. Let's go!
🌍 I translate the trend: the guest who works from your hotel
There's a deep shift in the traveler that's worth watching closely: bleisure (from business and leisure, the trend of combining business trips with tourism and free time) and workations (a travel style where you combine remote work with tourism).
More and more people are mixing work and pleasure —staying a few extra days after a business trip, or simply working remotely for a couple of weeks from a beautiful place—. And it's not a passing fad: the bleisure market is projected to double in the coming years.
In Latin America this is crystal clear: professionals settling in for a few weeks on a beach in Costa Rica or a small town in Colombia, laptop open Monday to Friday and exploring on the weekend. And the most interesting part for you: remote work is breaking the usual seasonality, strengthening demand on weekdays and in mid season —exactly what's hardest to fill—.
What does it mean for your hotel?
- That dead Tuesday has a potential guest. People who work while traveling don't move around weekends or holidays. It's your chance to fill the days and the seasons that are soft today.
- The basics change. For this guest, fast, stable wifi stopped being a luxury: it's the condition for booking. Add a comfortable corner to work in and outlets within reach, and you're already playing in another league.
- Think long stays. A special weekly or monthly rate, with flexible check-in, secures stable occupancy and lowers the cost of having to sell that room every single day.
Your action for this week: look at your weekday and low-season occupancy, and ask yourself which of these guests you could be capturing that's slipping away today.
⚡ Today's prompt: review your pricing with a revenue manager's eyes
Looking at your rates without context is sailing blind. This prompt turns AI into a revenue manager that helps you see whether your prices stand well against the competition. Copy it and fill in your real info:
«You are a revenue manager with 15 years of experience in the hotel industry. I'm going to give you my hotel, my rates and my competitors'. Analyze three things: 1) whether my prices are well positioned against the competition for each room type and season; 2) where I might be leaving money on the table or, on the contrary, scaring off bookings by being expensive; 3) three concrete adjustment recommendations, with the reasoning behind each one. Here's the info: [paste your hotel's description, your rates and those of 3 or 4 competitors]»
One key piece of advice: AI doesn't know your area's real prices in real time, so don't believe it if it makes them up. The magic is that you give it the data (yours and what you gather from your competitors); it helps you interpret it, not guess it.
🎉 What our event with Cloudbeds left us
I have to tell you how it went, because it exceeded every expectation. Together with Cloudbeds we held our event «The winning algorithm: AI, Revenue Management and direct sales» at the Palacio Paz Hotel… and it was a resounding success: a full room, with more attendees than we expected.
It was a morning of real value: we talked about how AI, revenue management and direct sales combine to make a hotel more profitable, with concrete cases and great conversation among industry colleagues.
Thank you to everyone who made room in their schedule to come. If you missed it, don't worry: we took notes on everything and we'll be sharing the best of it right here over the next editions.
This is just getting started. 🚀
📲 7 places where your WhatsApp should be (and you're surely missing one)
Your best direct sales channel is useless if the guest doesn't know it exists or can't find it. Most hotels have WhatsApp… hidden. Here's the checklist so no inquiry slips away:
- A floating button on your website, visible on every page (not just «Contact»).
- A link in your Instagram bio and a WhatsApp sticker in your stories.
- A QR code at reception and on the front desk, for the guest who's already there and whom you want to keep on your direct channel.
- A QR or card inside the room (in the services folder or on the nightstand): requests, questions and after-sales without friction.
- In your email signature and in every booking confirmation.
- On your Google Business Profile, with the chat button enabled: many people find you there first.
- In your ads and posts, as a direct call to action («Message us on WhatsApp»).
Golden tip: set up the link with a pre-loaded message («Hi, I'd like to check availability for…»). The less the guest has to type to get started, the more conversations you'll have. And more conversations is, simply, more chances to book.
What did you think of this edition?
If you think it could help someone else, share it with them. And if you have doubts, suggestions or a question for me, I'd love to hear from you.
See you in the next edition!
Gonzalo.
