It’s National Tourism Week - May 1st through May 7th!

Did you know that every year, the first week of May, we celebrate National Tourism Week? National Tourism Week is an annual tradition for the U.S. travel community. It’s a time when travel and tourism professionals across the country unite to celebrate the value travel holds for our economy, businesses, communities and personal well-being. President Ronald Regan signed the Proclamation in 1983 establishing the salute to travel in America.

According to the US Travel Association, prior to the pandemic, the U.S. travel industry experienced 10 straight years of growth due to the strength of the domestic leisure travel, domestic business travel and international inbound travel segments. Travel was a significant economic driver in every region of the country, representing 1 in 10 jobs and generating a travel trade surplus.

What a great time to thank all of our guests for traveling and staying with us!

This is also a great time to:

Reconnect with your local Chamber of Commerce and/or Convention and Visitors Bureau.

If you’re already a member of one or both organizations, when was the last time you personally contacted them? Being a member is more than being listed on their website. Many of these have opportunities to network, learn, or market your property. If you would like to join, be sure to check with your RVPO about pricing.

Join a Chamber of Commerce and/or Convention and Visitors Bureau.

If you aren’t already a member, now is a great time to look into a membership. Be sure to check with your RVPO about the cost of joining. These organizations have lost some members due to the financial crunch of the pandemic and shuttered businesses and they may have some great pricing available. Do some research and find the best fit for your inn. If you’re in a smaller city, you might benefit from a regional or county Chamber instead of one with a handful of small business members.

Visit Demand Generators

Even if you pick one this week, we encourage you to go say hello and drop off business cards and rack cards if you have them. Thank them for their partnership. Ask about upcoming events. Join their mailing list so you know what sort of events might be happening there. If you make your presence known regularly, they might recommend your hotel over the ones who didn’t bother to reach out.

Are You Ready for the Calls

Warmer months are here, and construction is really gearing up in certain parts of the country.

What does this mean to us? A lot of phone inquiries – and hopefully business - will be coming our way!

Majority of the time, when a project is planned, a Project Manager or member of a crew, will start calling hotels and looking for the best rate. WE NEED TO BE PREPARED!

• Make sure your GSRs know your weekly rate, or best rate you want them to have for crews.

• If you prefer, they do not quote a rate, please make sure they are getting call back info for the customer and telling them they will have someone get back to them ASAP with best crew rates.

• Make sure they know how to identify these callers with “What brings you to the area”?

• Buzz words the caller may give mentioning “project”, “big job”, “several people”, “long term”, “cheapest” etc. (You don’t want them quoting weekly or low rates to just anyone)

• Have your GSR quote the best they can, if possible, and get their details to pass along to you/ADOS to secure. (Note: We want the GSR/GM to quote what they can so the caller has an idea of our rate and possibly book on the spot – your ADOS can take it from there in respect to securing VP, getting info to others, prospecting for other jobs, etc.).

• Be mindful that if the caller is just told “I will have someone call you back” we may lose them.

• They are shopping rates and want to book quick and know you want their business!

• Why give info to the ADOS? Your ADOS will call and be able to secure business for not only the customer who called, but will also explore other contacts who may be working on the project, any billing needs, other Project Managers for other jobs in the area or near another RRI West, making sure the hotels information is in the hands of other crew members who may have booked or about to book elsewhere, researching sub-contractors to the project for their potential room needs, get a flyer or info to the PM or their corporate office to share, etc.

Construction is HUGE business for us, and we want to secure all this potential base business as these projects get underway.

We appreciate the GSR and GM support – you are the first contact being made to these people calling us and your help is invaluable! Thank you!!!

CVENT - Sales Update

With 2022 here and hopefully filled with MANY events, we wanted to review CVENT with all our RRI West GM’s.

As a reminder, your ADOS and RM teams no longer have access to CVENT, due to licensing costs. Only the individual properties and the Groups Department have access. Therefore, we want to ensure all GMs know how to login to these all-important RFPs. Again, Groups is looking at these as well, but as they handle these for ALL Red Roof Inns across the brand, we want to be sure nothing is getting missed!

If your property does not already have a log in, please make sure to set one up. You will need to use your @redroof.com email with your Red Roof (not RRI West) Inn number to do so.

Please go to CVENT login, entering your Red Roof email and click “Forgot your login information”, as shown on example below, to reset your password. Once you are given access to create a password, please make the password RedroofXXX (your 3 digit Inn #) so it is easy to remember.

If you read this article, then send Mark Aston an email stating HEART in the subject line to qualify for a Valentine's Day prize. The first 5 GM’s to respond will be put into a drawing to win.

These RFPs (Request for proposals) are looking to see if your hotel can accommodate a block of rooms on specific dates and at what price. If it doesn’t appear that groups have been in to bid on the RFP and it may be something you think we should bid on, the RM and ADOS teams are here to assist you! Just ask - we can help you decide if it makes sense or not to submit a bid for it, help with rates, etc.

If you have any issues getting a login to CVENT or just need help navigating through it, please reach out to your respective ADOS. Thank you!