Hotel restaurants face the dual challenges of catering flawlessly to in-house guests while driving sufficient external traffic to grow sales and maximize revenues. Relying solely on a captive hotel audience leads to lost profit potential. Savvy hoteliers implement creative strategies across pricing, promotions, partnerships, technology, and marketing to attract local diners and grow restaurant sales.
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Offer Dynamic Pricing and Promotions to Grow Sales
Adjust menu pricing down during slower periods to provide value that attracts price-sensitive local diners. Use time-based promotions like daily happy hours or weekend brunches to stimulate lagging periods. Manage pricing to protect base demand.
Spotlight Seasonal and Locally-Inspired Dishes
Promote new dishes featuring fresh, local ingredients on menus and marketing to convey seasonality and quality—partner with area farms and purveyors. Frequent menu innovation also encourages repeat visits.
Focus on Customer Lifetime Value
Encourage guest enrollment in your dining loyalty program. Mine data on high-frequency diners and their preferences to personalize offers and experiences that nurture loyalty. Identify your best guests and cultivate them.
Enhance Online Presence and Reservations
An intuitive, mobile-friendly website with online reservations and menus makes dining more discoverable locally. SEO-optimized content brings in traffic. Social media spotlighting food and ambiance builds interest.
Host Special Events and Experiential Dining
Offer immersive dining experiences like prix fixe menus, wine dinners, cooking classes, and specialty food events to create buzz. Consider concerts, DJs, or local music on weekends or slower nights.
Train Staff on Upselling
Educate staff on upselling beverages, appetizers, daily specials, dessert add-ons, and high-margin dishes. Provide incentives for top performers in generating add-on orders and sales.
Gather Guest Feedback in Real-Time
Actively gather customer sentiment and suggestions through table check-ins, surveys, and monitoring reviews. Quickly address any deficiencies and promote wins. Insights inform improvements.
Form Strategic Local Partnerships
Offer dining packages cross-promoted with nearby attractions, shows, hotels, retail, etc. Support local causes to build community integration. Participate in restaurant weeks or community promotions.
Leverage Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Segment your customer database for tailored email campaigns promoting offers aligned to factors like frequency, previous spending, specialized occasions, etc. Automate personalized messages.
Analyze Performance Metrics and Optimize
Set sales targets then track reservations on the books, covers, average checks, sentiment, promotions ROI, and key metrics. Review frequently to inform strategy adjustments.
Refresh the Menu Regularly
Beyond seasonal changes, review your menu deeply on a quarterly or biannual basis. Assess the sales and margin data of each item to inform menu engineering for profitability. Introduce new dishes in promotions to test appeal before adding them to the menu. Refreshing the menu regularly encourages both new and repeat traffic.
Offer Pre-Theater, Late Night, and Bar Menus
Attracting diners during off-peak periods requires creative offerings tailored to those time frames. Pre-theater packages, bar bite menus, and late-night comfort foods bring in diners during slower business hours.
Curate Your Restaurant's Story and Brand Image
Convey the unique story, heritage, and differentiation of your dining venue through the name, interior design, marketing materials, website, staff education, and messaging. This storytelling builds an emotional connection.
Promote Culinary and Service Credentials
Spotlight your executive chef's background, culinary training, accolades, and potential celebrity appeal: tout service staff certifications, international experience, and hospitality education. Prominent positioning builds credibility.
Provide Reservation Incentives and Perks
Incentivize reservations with add-ons like complimentary wines, discounted menus, bonus loyalty points or dessert upgrades. This guarantees bookings and checks during slower periods.
Advertise in Key Tourism and Local Channels
Beyond search and social promotion, advertise in concierge recommendation guides, travel publications, local magazines, city guides, etc. tailored to potential diners visiting or living in the area.
Strategically Manage Online Ratings and Reviews
Actively encourage satisfied diners to post online reviews. Monitor ratings on all channels diligently. Respond promptly to feedback, address concerns, and highlight praise. A strong reputation drives credibility.
Conclusion
The most successful hotel restaurants combine outstanding service and cuisine with innovative tactics to expand their audience, incentivize repeat visits, maximize table utilization and check averages, build local buzz and awareness, and ultimately drive higher sales volumes and revenues. Contact Emersion Wellness to assess your specific opportunities.
By aligning operational excellence with innovative sales and marketing tactics, hotels can significantly expand restaurant revenues beyond just serving in-house guests. Contact Emersion Wellness for expert guidance on boosting your hotel dining profitability.
See Also: What Avenues of Food and Beverage in the Hotel Industry Yield the Highest Revenue?
I'm Nathan Baws, a nutrition nerd, exercise and weight loss expert, and an unwavering advocate for good health. As the founder of Emersion Wellness, I'm passionate about crafting Seamless Weight Loss Programs to supercharge hotel revenue and transform lives. We've pioneered the World's First Plug & Play Weight Loss Programs for top hotels and resorts, sparking a wellness revolution. Beyond my professional journey, you'll often find me hiking, swimming, and riding the waves, embracing every moment in nature. Join me on this exhilarating journey towards diet, health and wellness.