Hotel Business Review

Mr. Broadhag

Spas, Health & Fitness

Five Valuable Strategies to Effectively Promote Your Hotel Fitness Center

By Kurt A. Broadhag, President, K Allan Consulting

Up until recent hotel fitness centers were seen as an added amenity for guests. In the broad picture these were intangible income generators for the property with little thought given to the allocation of space, design, and budget. Hotel guests would make reservations without considering the quality of the fitness center. Infrequently health conscious guests would be pleasantly surprised to find an in-house fitness center upon check-in. Fast forward to today - more and more hotels are jumping on the "fitness train" committing time and money into the development of their fitness centers - a trend building steam as the realization unfolds that the fitness center is becoming an importance component in the hotel business model.

What caused the shift in emphasis? There are a whole host of factors all based upon a more health conscious society. This shift is further fueled by the large influx of baby boomers getting older and taking an interest in their health. The bottom line - the fitness industry is booming and businesses must reinvent themselves to take advantage of this upward growing trend. Now, it is almost unheard of for a hotel to not have a fitness center.

So time and money is invested in your hotel gym in hopes of satisfying the "status quo." Now these guests will be even more impressed upon check-in. But why not look at the bigger picture, something beyond the star ratings. There is an additional market to try and capture - those making their travel decisions based upon health related criteria. Tapping into the health conscious market and using the hotel fitness center to draw guests will help redefine itself as a tangible, income generator for your property. Following are five strategies you can easily adopt to promote your hotel fitness center both in-house and out.

1. Develop standards companywide

Hotel guests come to expect similar standards with multiple property locations. The gym within these properties should be no exception. Guests satisfied with their workout experience will be more likely to stay at other hotels within the portfolio with similar program components, design, and equipment assuming their thoughts on customer service and accommodations are also positive. By developing standards and marketing the program to your guests you are creating yet another sales tool to tap into repeat guests. The first step of the process begins with developing a general concept for the fitness center and creating a name for the companywide fitness center "experience." Since the major variable within different locations is the property size standards can easily be developed based on the number of rooms within each hotel. With this formula you can determine exactly what amount of equipment can be installed for each property and the general size for each fitness center. The second component would be the brand of the fitness equipment. By creating this companywide standard you can take advantage of discount purchasing by setting up preferred vendor status with the top manufacturers. Other topics to include in the standards include program components, customer service, and cleaning/maintenance protocols. Once these have all been developed the companywide program can be launched and marketed.

2. Develop effective literature

More times than not when consulting with hotel operators I find it nearly impossible to locate information about their fitness centers readily available for their guests. Creating a brochure/information sheet is a simple yet effective way to market the fitness center in-house. Since this information is available within the property it is tapping into a built-in market (your current guests) by creating awareness for the fitness center. This literature can be kept at the front desk available upon check-in and in the rooms within the information binder. Although most hotels list basic gym information in these folders they fall short of marketing the gym, often listing only the location in the property. Effective sales literature should contain full descriptions of gym services, equipment lists with manufacturers, photographs, and even 3D overview renderings. Photographing fitness centers is difficult given the prospective and depth so the 3D image is a great way to give an overview of the gym layout. Developing this literature is fairly inexpensive with the only costs incurred relating to design and printing but once developed this material can be used for a number of different types of marketing.

3. Tap into the web

The web is becoming an ever important vehicle in marketing. Guests look to the internet to not only book rooms but also research hotels and read reviews. This form of marketing is the easiest way to sell the hotel fitness center to people who have yet to stay at the hotel and look to the quality of the fitness center as a factor when making their decision. Tapping into the web with the hotel fitness center advertising involves a number of marketing tools. Incorporating the fitness center information with design components used in creating your literature within the hotel website is an inexpensive marketing tool. This information can be placed on a separate web page dedicated to the fitness center. It is important to create this new page in such a way that maximizes the search capability since the major goal of this webpage is to draw people to the hotel site that are searching for properties with top quality fitness centers. One example is creating a keywood/phrase list attached to the webpage such as "hotel fitness center" that will increase the chances of the site appearing on a search engine. Another tool is to buy advertising as click-throughs on the major search engine guaranteeing your site will pull up in the top of the search. Basically, the key is to create an informative site and drive traffic via search engines to the hotel webpage to attract new guests.

4. Enlist the help of the equipment manufacturers

Fitness Equipment manufacturers are a great source for marketing. For one, they have their own marketing department and have developed a vast library of marketing material. This information, such as equipment photographs and specs, can be incorporated into the hotel fitness center literature and website. In addition these companies often have their own design department which can be helpful in creating things such as both 2D and 3D layouts of the facility. These layouts, as mentioned earlier, are a great way to give guests a bird's eye view of the facility not possible via photographs. One key point to take note of is the fact that this relationship should be developed early on in the design phase of the hotel fitness center for a number of reasons. First, active people interested in the gym are familiar with fitness equipment and brand names. Choosing equipment from the top manufacturers allows you to incorporate their branding though the use of their product name and logo promoting their equipment in your facility. This client/vendor relationship can be taken even further if a deal is reached to choose a preferred vendor for your equipment needs. With this in place equipment manufacturers are more willing to work with you on marketing their product. This can even go so far as them marketing your gym as one of their "showcase installs" directing potential guests to your property.

5. Stay current on the trends

Like most industries health clubs must constantly reinvent themselves by incorporating the latest trends to keep their clients satisfied while at the same time marketing to new members. Sometimes these trends involve new equipment while others are simply a new program component that can be easily adopted into your pre-existing space. One example is the current trend of a complete wellness program attached to the fitness center stemming from a renewed interest in general well-being. Although the wellness component of the fitness center has been around for years it is gaining popularity in the smaller market segments. Incorporating this new trend into your facility and marketing it as such can be as simple as offering your guests a yoga or meditation class or as in-depth as creating spa services around the fitness center. Another example of a hot trend is the greening of the fitness industry. There are a number of different green products on the market, both fitness specific and also design elements that, when incorporated, can be used to market your hotel fitness center as a green facility. Regardless of the trend it is important to quickly adopt it into your current program and use it as a main marketing tool.

Marketing the hotel fitness center is not much different than marketing the hotel as a whole. The campaigns two main goals are to create a presence with current guests in-house while at the same time attract new business from those making their lodging choices partially based on the fitness center. It is important to remember that it does little good in marketing something that does not have the support of management. Marketing hotel fitness centers with poor design and upkeep is a waste of time. The real first step in marketing begins with proper design of the fitness center so that it creates a certain level of standard worthy of a marketing campaign. Once this is achieved you create the easiest and cheapest form of marketing - satisfied guests spreading the word.

Kurt Broadhag has over 16 years of experience in personal training and gym design. He is president of K Allan Consulting, a firm specializing in health club design and management. K Allan Consulting works in unison with property owners, architects, and interior designers to address fitness solutions and develop functional workout environments. The company specializes in two-dimensional and three-dimensional fitness facility renderings, consulting from conceptual design to final installation. Kurt obtained his LEED AP certification and has authored articles on green fitness center design. Mr. Broadhag can be contacted at 310-601-7768 or kbroadhag@kallanconsulting.com

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