Summer holidays - 5 tips for success in the catering & hotel industry

In our Corona emergency measures contribution We have quick measures for restaurateurs to help you continue to generate sales despite the crisis.

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The time has finally come: Germany is on summer vacation! Not only school children and teachers are happy about this, but also companies from the leisure and travel industry. The long summer holidays have a lot of potential in store for you, because whether at home or on vacation, people want to have a good time. For restaurateurs and hotels, this means a lucrative business with many potential customers. With our 5 tips for success in the catering & hotel industry, you can use the summer holidays to your advantage.

Tip 1: Special summer offers

Summer is a very good time for special offers. Be inspired by the sun, heat and free time. For example, restaurateurs can put a special summer menu on the menu and promote it. No matter which regional cuisine you represent in your company, you will certainly find suitable summer dishes. This not only brings curious new customers into your home, but your regular customers also enjoy a variety of dishes on the menu. For example, offer fresh salads, fish, and vegetable dishes. It is important that you bring your personal touch to the dishes. With so many restaurants to choose from, you need to make your business stand out from the crowd. Through individuality and innovation, you do just that.

The same applies to the hotel industry: Be creative and come up with a nice summer offer. This could be a summer cocktail or a fruit creation at the breakfast buffet, for example. If your hotel has a sports or fitness program, you can offer special courses such as “Beach Body Ready” or “Summer Yoga.” There are no limits to your creativity here.

Tip 2: Promote Your Offers

Proper marketing is almost as important as good ideas. Standing out from the crowd sometimes seems very difficult - but it can be really easy with the right advertising strategy. Use both print and online advertising. Hand out flyers with your summer offer and design a nice blackboard that you can set up. In this way, you attract walk-in customers to your restaurant or café. To generate a wider reach, you should do online marketing. It is important that your company has a good Google presence here. Find out here How you can easily increase your Google ranking

You should also use the various social media channels and advertise through them. You can quickly circulate messages via Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. Post beautiful, appealing images. Your social media followers/fans will like and share beautiful pictures. This increases your online presence and your advertising message is spread. You can also start a giveaway or contest. You set the conditions of participation yourself - for example, you can raffle off a free menu for 2 on a beautiful summer evening. To participate, you must share the image and subscribe to your page. Take advantage of the potential that social networks offer.

Tip 3: Take advantage of the weather

Where does everyone spend most of their time in summer? That's right, in the fresh air. Be it in the park, at the lake or in the beer garden — people like to move all activities outdoors. If you run a beer garden, your tables will be well stocked. If not, you should definitely move a few tables outside. In the evening, your guests certainly enjoy sitting outside - because what could be better than being together with friends or family on balmy summer nights with good food and drink. For you, this means: try to move as many places outdoors as possible and make them appealing. Set up summer table decorations such as flowers and create a cozy atmosphere in the evening with candles and garlands. You can find plenty of inspiration for this on the social media platform pinterest.

Tip 4: Enough employees for success in the catering industry

Don't forget that many of your employees want to go on vacation, especially in August. Families can often only travel during summer holidays because of the children. When planning your summer, make sure that you always have enough staff. Try to avoid overlaps and tasks that only a specific employee takes on are cleanly handed over. You can also call on temporary staff if necessary. In summer time, many pupils and students are looking for a summer job. This allows you to easily compensate for the gaps in your personnel.

It is important that you have enough staff, especially during the holiday season. Evaluate your experience in recent years - When are peak hours? On which days do you need a lot and on which days little staff? Avoid long waiting times with enough staff. Because in order to have satisfied guests, good service must come first. You can also get help with planning - for example from online personnel planning programs such as Planery or HeavenHR. Tracking programs also allow you to see when how many guests were there: all of this is provided for you in simple and understandable graphics. An example of this would be WiFi tracking by Socialwave.

Tip 5: Good service

To take up the point from tip 4 again: good service is essential. After you have ensured that there are always enough employees there, you should ensure that temporary staff are well trained and trained so that everything runs smoothly for the guest. A nice gesture is always a small greeting from the kitchen: every guest is happy to receive this little surprise.

In addition to good staff, in the 21st century, you should also have the service of a WiFi hotspots for guests set. Would you like your guests to stay with you for a long time? Then this is exactly the right solution. Whether the guests are waiting for your appointment and want to pass the time until then, or want to show friends a funny video during the visit. In this age, smartphones and the Internet are part of it - so offer your guests free WiFi. Your guests will be grateful and you'll be able to set your business apart from the rest.

With the guest WiFi hotspot from Socialwave You can also do automated marketing. Since your guests log in via Facebook, email or WhatsApp, your social media presence is strengthened and even your Google ranking is improved through email newsletter campaigns. This means that not only do your guests benefit from the service, but also you.

Conclusion:

Summertime can be profitable, but it can also be stressful. With our 5 tips for success in the catering & hotel industry, you can make the most of your summer vacation. Rely on good service, meaningful marketing and convincing quality. In this way, you make your restaurant stand out and impress your guests.

Socialwave wishes you a relaxing and lucrative summer time!

With our WLAN marketing package, your customers/patients/guests advertise for you, are happy and recommend you to others.