The importance of hotel imagery in travelers’ decision making

Every hotel during these times seems to be in cut-throat competition with regards to getting guests and having maximum bookings. To succeed in this, the hotel managers should closely look into the working through the major factors that influence the guests' when they are willing to make the booking for their stay, including the imagery they use.

There can be vastly different things that the guests have in mind during this process. But according to several surveys in the hospitality industry, it has been proved that the high-quality images of the hotel property have significantly played a role in the decision-making process of guests.

One of the crucial reasons this can be true is that we rely on visual data to a considerable extent while trusting anything. It could be the reason many guests sometimes compromise on even the pricing factor if they see that the property images are better than the ones they are getting a cheaper deal from.

However, some of the other reasons that play a part in the decision-making process are:

OTA Presence

It is undeniable that almost every other traveler first enters the primary keywords related to the destination and the most apparent pages that pop up on the different travel aggregators (OTA). For example, if your hotel is listed on leading OTA platforms, then there are more chances of building trust with your potential guests about the service you must be providing.

A pro tip here is to ensure that each OTA has updated high-quality images of your hotel uploaded on their page so that you might catch the attention of a lot of potential guests right from there.

The reviews

The reviews matter a lot when it comes to online hotel booking. They are the only legit source for potential guests to find out about the experience of the previous guests at that particular hotel. Make sure you have an excellent online reputation and an online presence by responding to every type of review received.

If possible, make sure you upload the images in the review response to build more trust in your potential guests' minds for your hotel.

(Read more about responding to negative reviews here.)

Images

As a hotelier, the best way to work on the hotel photography aspect is by thinking from the guests' perspective. For example, suppose you were someone who had to book a stay; which elements of the hotel would you wish to take a look at before booking the stay. Once you have an answer to this, you will be able to work your best with the photographer to click the latest images of your hotel required.

Here, one of the key points to remember is to invest in a good hotel photographer and not just get it done by a non-professional, as the outcome of both would be entirely different

(Read more about Things to consider before choosing your hotel photographer.)

Now that you have got the idea about the critical decision-making aspects of the guests, let's talk about the specific areas of the hotels you shouldn't miss out on highlighting and the reasons for it.

The Rooms:

The prominent part of highlighting the hotel property through images should be highlighting what the guests' rooms look like. Focus on every detail of the room, from the washrooms to the bath area and the beddings or the small cute set up on the balcony. Include them all in the images and highlight the different options the hotel has like Suite rooms, standard rooms, etc., for them to choose the best fit and highlight each specialty in the description.

The extra recreational part:

Most travelers prefer to choose a hotel with some additional aspects for recreational activities like a pool, a jacuzzi, a sports room, poolside barbeque facility, a waterpark, spas or gyms and much more to have some extra fun during their vacations. Thus, you must get the best shots of these areas to attract the maximum number of guests to your hotel.

In house restaurant facility:

Many hotels tend to have in-house restaurants for the guests to have their dining sorted and make the most of the ambiance, be it a seaside view or some aesthetic lights or a hilltop one. Highlight the best part of your restaurant and how it will add so much to their experience.

These were some of the fundamental aspects of keeping in mind the imagery aspect while attracting maximum guests to your hotel. However, suppose this feels a little difficult to invest time in. It would help if you considered sourcing the work to experts like Websrefresh that provide A to  Z hospitality services, including Hotel photography and ORM. At the same time, you can focus on serving the best of the best to your guests! Finally, book a call now to discover more about it.

Previously, Websrefresh advised readers about the ins and outs of copyrights.