How Staycations Are Changing The Hospitality Industry

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly contributed to the rising staycation popularity. With lockdown restrictions, massive event cancellations, and travel bans, hospitality was among the hardest-hit industries. Staycations allowed people to explore their cities while enjoying being closer to their homes.

Even after the pandemic and raising of travel bans, staycations have remained a trend, revolutionizing the hotel and hospitality sector. They’re a sustainable way to travel and experience hospitality. This article explains how staycations are changing the hospitality industry.

Growing offerings

The rise of staycations has seen the hospitality industry increase its offerings to help cater to the expanding staycation demand. The new experiences the sector offers are among the many reasons why Canadians are choosing staycations. Hotels are spicing up their staycation offerings to improve and create fresh and memorable experiences that attract clients and keep them returning. Adding wellness offerings to their packages, including meditation sessions, hot tubs, massages, yoga, nature walks, complimentary bikes, and surfing lessons, makes it easy for guests to relax.

Hospitality companies also provide romantic staycations to celebrate honeymoons, weddings, anniversaries, and babymoons, allowing couples to spend time together. There's also the introduction of family staycation packages for parents looking for weekend getaways with their children without traveling too far. Hotels can include lawn games, movies, board games, and children-friendly lessons like art and craft or cooking in this package to entice staycation families.

Alternative accommodation emergence

Staycations have birthed alternative accommodations in the hospitality sector. Staycationers can try glamping which offers various accommodation styles, including bell tents, glass domes, or yurts. Some hotels even convert old caravans, planes, and buses into staycation sleeping quarters. Camper vans are another way the hospitality industry allows clients to enjoy their staycations. Holiday homes, guest houses, vacation rentals, lodges, cabins, and trailers are other accommodation trends that staycations have introduced in the hospitality industry.

Digitized guest experiences

Staycations, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the hospitality industry adopting contactless and digital services. To adjust to the changing consumer needs while enhancing hotel operations, the sector or hoteliers are upgrading to digital systems and data-led technologies and empowering their staff with results-oriented training to deliver outstanding customer experiences.
With technology-assisted solutions like contactless check-in/check-outs and payments, voice control, and biometrics, hoteliers enable guests to bypass the traditional front desk waiting methods. These integrations are excellent for customer delight while taking guest experiences to unprecedented levels. Additionally, hotels are utilizing AI for food delivery and room service. They're also building their own applications to let guests get more details about the hotel or check in or out of their rooms virtually.

The emergence of hybrid hospitality

The hospitality industry is making the most of staycations by looking for alternative reasons to make guests stay. The industry is changing, with hotels rebranding as co-working spaces. As many companies implement remote working policies, the hospitality hybrid model is changing hotels' space and venue concepts.

Using idle meeting rooms, guestrooms, or lobbies, hybrid hospitality lets people work from other locations besides their homes, providing a more productive work environment. Hybrid hospitality may also involve virtual event hosting. Hotels can collaborate with event production companies to host virtual events via live apps.

Improved cybersecurity

As the staycation trend pushes the hospitality industry towards embracing technology, there’s more focus on cybersecurity. This is because hotels obtain and keep sensitive customer data for long-term use. Additionally, they offer internet services to their staycation guests. This puts the visitors at higher cyberattack risks. Hospitality companies now focus on network and data security to avoid compromising guest privacy and data, safeguarding their businesses and customers. They leverage outsourced cybersecurity services or establish dedicated in-house teams and institute measures like routine system checks, regular risk assessments, and staff awareness and training.

Reduced dependence on seasonality

International tourists often travel during peak seasons because international travel is time-consuming, costly, and requires a lot of planning. The increased staycation popularity significantly reduces the hospitality industry's dependence on seasonality because they promote domestic tourism. With staycations, locals or domestic tourists don’t have to put as much effort, time, and money into holidays, meaning they can take vacations at any time of the year. Public holidays and weekends provide excellent chances for local travel/ short staycations.

Stronger connections with local communities

As more people embrace staycations, the hospitality industry can collaborate with local communities and businesses to develop more sustainable and authentic travel experiences. This may include getting local products for hospitality companies, including resorts and hotels, and partnering with local guides for activities and tours while supporting development projects for the community. Creating these relationships enables the hospitality industry to establish more positive effects on the local communities.

Staycations are the new trend

The popularity of staycations, contactless technologies, and hygiene protocols rose during the pandemic and are likely to keep growing, revolutionizing the hospitality industry. To cater to changing customer behavior and travel preferences, the industry must adapt to the staycation trend.

Endnote

Staycations are positively impacting the hospitality sector. Familiarizing yourself with the changes staycations bring into the hospitality industry will help you learn more.