Staycation

At XOTELS we have seen ¨staycation¨ (originating from combining the words “stay” and “vacation” into one) around for a while in the hospitality and travel industry, but the term has garnered more popularity in recent times due to restrictions imposed on travel due to Covid-19.

What is a Staycation?

The term can be used to refer to vacationing near to your home rather than travelling far distances for your vacation (usually abroad or in a different state/province), although no exact distances are denoted in any official definition.

Staycation in itself can mean different things to different people since some inherently prefer to travel close to their home (for various reasons, see examples below) making a staycation the same as a normal vacation in their eyes.

There are numerous benefits to staycations that make it a great option for many travellers, namely:

More ecological way of travel;
- Less pollution due to shorter travel distances (especially when avoiding travelling by airplane);
Saving money travel tickets;
Lower prices for food, accommodation, and activities versus major travel destinations;
Shorter travel distances (less travel time and more time spent at the destination);
Reducing the impact of mass tourism by choosing for less common destinations;
Benefits the local economy by spending your money domestically;
Allows to (re-) discover areas or regions near to your home;

What Staycation Means for Hotels

As a Hotel Management & Consulting Company, we have seen that the staycation segment has grown exponentially during Covid-19.

Therefore, hotels should truly consider taking advantage of staycation travel demand and adopt implementations designed to cater to this segment.

Think of the following initiatives (if done well, all of the below should help you stand out from the competition):

Packages:
- Create offerings that include activities that get lookers excited to stay at your hotel;
- Make sure to cater to various guest types (family, couples, single travellers etc.), since they have different motivations to visit your property;
Deals:
- Should encourage longer stays with attractive pricing and extras;
Marketing:
- Ask yourself: ¨what attracts staycationers?¨:
  - Build targeted ads for their queries;
  - Build landing pages matching staycation related queries in your city/area;
Revenue Management (Note from our Revenue Management Consultants: ¨Be sure to expect short lead times..!¨).
- Since staycations occur closer to home, guests are able to book on shorter notice, requiring less planning and time to travel to arrive at a destination. So, keep an eye on your booking trends to make sure you stay on top of this!

Inspiration: Staycation Examples, Ideas and Activities

Here are some ideas for different motivations your customers might have (depending your hotel´s concept, think both in the budget as well as more upscale segment to maximize your opportunities):

Looking for a city trip nearby their home:
- Inspire and highlight activities to your audience;
Bike or road trip requiring an overnight stay (additional opportunity if you have more than one property in close proximity to each other):
- Do you have amenities such as bike rental? Promote them on your website and packages!
Festival or training weekend:
- Promote the opportunity to relax and unwind at your hotel after a long day of activities.