While other hotels all over the world have been battling with the pandemic and staffing lacks, Aquaria Natal Hotel in Brazil has actually been silently skyrocketing up Tripadvisor rankings.
In October 2019, simply a couple of months before the pandemic hit, the hotel was lagging at # 59 of 116 hotels in Natal. Today, it inhabits the # 1 position on Tripadvisor.
How did a small, four-star property with only 94 rooms outperform all the large, high-end resorts in the Natal area? Throughout a current webinar, the hotels basic, Gefferson Alves, shared his propertys story.
Setting Ambitious Goals and Getting Everyone on Board
Located in Ponta Negra in northeast Brazil, Aquaria Natal Hotel is popular among tourists seeking sunshine, beaches and quality time away with family. Back in 2019, Alves recognized that the residential or commercial property had possible to carry out better on Tripadvisor and may even have the ability to attain the top position.
Aquaria Natal Hotel uses ReviewPros Online Reputation Management solution to keep track of online evaluations, analyze visitor feedback and benchmark evaluation performance, sharing feedback with group members and celebrating achievements.
“But first I knew we had to have the hotels owner on board. After numerous discussions, we managed to convince him that there was no way to accomplish the finest outcomes in hospitality without a highly encouraged, well-paid, well-trained group,” Alves stated.
Staff members needed to know precisely what management and ownership expected from them. And you have to give them the support they require to keep growing and empower them to help visitors with whatever they need.”
The Pandemic Blindside
With the owner now on board, the hotel started rolling out a variety of brand-new efforts to improve performance. Then the pandemic hit. In March 2020, the residential or commercial propertys tenancy dropped from 95% to 15% in one week.
” We closed our property for 4 months, and that was the hardest time ever for us,” stated Alves. “When we reopened in July, it was the very best feeling. Occupancy was very low, and we didnt understand what was going to take place in the future. Still, we decided to keep the property open.” Occupancy got again when high season kicked into gear in December, however then difficult times returned. The hotel was forced to lay off over 40% of its staff members.
Then, a remarkable thing occurred. “With just about 30% of individuals in Brazil immunized at the time, we were not anticipating people to take a trip,” Alves said. “But from July to October 2021 we tape-recorded the best typical rate and RevPAR in the hotels history, increasing over 40 percent in revenue compared to the same period in 2019. It was quite fantastic for us, especially while lots of destinations were still dealing with obstacles due to Covid.”
Programs to Attract and Retain Staff
Alves associates the hotels success to its continued investment in employees. “Although I understand its not really common for other hotels at the moment, we were able to encourage our owner to continue to invest in our team,” he said.
A few of the staff member programs and benefits used by the hotel include:
The hotel was forced to lay off over 40% of its employees.
Alves associates the hotels success to its continued financial investment in staff members. “Although I know its not very common for other hotels at the minute, we were able to persuade our owner to continue to invest in our group,” he said. “Natal is located in the northeast of Brazil and, like in numerous other locations, a lot of individuals do not desire to work for hotels and restaurants due to the fact that salaries are lower than in other markets and the work can be extremely hard seven days a week. Do not wait up until after the guests stay to discover out about issues because it will cost the hotel much more then.
Staffing Shortages.
Aquaria Natal Hotels success with income development and Tripadvisor rankings is all the more impressive when you consider that, like in other areas of the world, Natal has actually been experiencing an extreme labor scarcity in the hospitality industry.
The hotel hired back some of its staff members when company got, but it was still keeping up 35% fewer employees than before the pandemic. Alves approximated that only about half of the employees who were laid off would return; the rest had actually left to operate in other markets.
” It has actually ended up being harder to attract employees in hospitality,” he said. “Natal is situated in the northeast of Brazil and, like in many other destinations, a lot of individuals do not desire to work for hotels and dining establishments since salaries are lower than in other industries and the work can be really difficult seven days a week.
The worker programs not just assisted keep personnel loyal, they also helped bring in brand-new workers and get them on-boarded and skilled quickly.
How to Maintain Guest Satisfaction During the Staffing Crisis.
Drawing from his experience, Alves shared the following pointers and suggestions for keeping guests and workers happy throughout the staffing crisis.
Care baskets for personnel including food products
Medical coverage
Much better work conditions
Great meals at the personnel canteen
Spaces for recreation and relaxing
Many training opportunities
Partnerships with gyms, drugstores and universities to use discounts
Internal language courses (English and Spanish).
Onsite mental health counselling for employees and member of the family.
Prepared for High Season.
With space rates higher than ever and a number one ranking on Tripdvisor, visitor expectations will high this summer, but Alves is confident he now has the group in place to deliver. “We are expecting the very best summertime ever,” he stated. “Its been a lot of work, but its likewise really satisfying.”.
How Is Your Property Attracting & & Retaining Employees?
Throughout the webinar, we asked attendees about the programs they have in place to retain and draw in employees during the staffing crisis. Heres how they responded.
Much better incomes and/or benefits– 53% New employee signing bonuses and/or referral bonuses– 21% More training & & development– 49% More versatile work schedules and/or remote working– 42% No modifications at this time– 16%.
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” If you wish to provide fantastic service to your visitors, first you need to deliver terrific conditions for your partners,” Alves stated. “Theres no magic! When you have an internal group that is well supported with programs like these, it is automatically shown in the quality of guest service. And thats the primary reason we had the ability to move from the # 59 position to # 1 on Tripadvisor.”.
Interact clearly with guests. Dont guarantee what you cant deliver. If you dont provide space service 24 hours anymore, its better to tell guests in advance instead of letting them discover out after they arrive on home.
Interact clearly with workers. Be transparent; they require to know whats going on.
Be present. As a leader, make yourself noticeable to visitors and associates as much as possible. They require your assistance more than ever throughout these tough times. Communicate with visitors and employees often.
Be alert. Dont wait up until after the guests stay to discover issues because it will cost the hotel a lot more then. Constantly be on the lookout for signs of dissatisfaction. Solve issues while visitors are still on residential or commercial property.
Look after your team. If staff arent delighted, guests are going to observe. The quality of the visitor experience is straight reflected by how delighted, flourishing and empowered your employee are.
