babs harrison
Spa 2.0: How to Find Profits in the Emerging Wellness 2.0
Babs Harrison | October 23, 2018
By Babs Harrison Face a stark reality: many resort and hotel spas disappoint management and owners alike when it comes to guest usage and the resulting profits. Word of advice: it will only get worse for those pursuing a rigid spa menu of services and activities. Spa just isn't a universally powerful guest magnet anymore, in part because of the sheer number of spas, in part because a "been there, done that" indifference has spread across many potential guests when they think about a spa vacation. Wellness is a powerful magnet - it's new, there's major buzz, and many swear by its benefits. That's why for those ...
The Joy of Publicity
Babs Harrison | August 3, 2018
By Babs Harrison It's the "in" thing to say these days - "oh, we don't need traditional media, we're on social media, and isn't traditional media all fake news anyway?" Listen up: hoteliers and spa operators still need traditional media. The smart ones know it. As for the others, well, they will learn that they needed to be playing in traditional media all along. Earned media are a building block in just about all effective marketing campaigns, certainly for high-end travel products. This is 2018 and, obviously, every property now needs a multi-pronged PR strategy. Social media must figure into this -...
Supercharging Hotel and Spa Storytelling in the 21st Century
Babs Harrison | July 16, 2018
By Babs Harrison The power to tell a compelling marketing story is in the palm of our hands. Literally. Your cellphone. And it just keeps getting better from there. This week I spent one and one-half days in downtown Phoenix at a traveling Facebook training for small businesses called Community Boost - it's scheduled to visit 50 cities by the end of 2018. Find out when it's coming to your town and go, I'll tell that to GMs, DoSMs, PR managers, not just staff with digital in their job titles. That's because a big message from the Facebook training is that the power to communicate our stories - via Facebook, also Instagram...
Beyond Spa – Embrace the Wellness Revolution
Babs Harrison | June 8, 2018
By Babs Harrison Spa directors are in a funk. Many see declining bookings and just about all see diminished buzz but face reality: the pendulum has swung and the spa that had been so in maybe 10 years ago now is plummeting towards obsolescence. There's a stampede of guests occurring - just not for the same-old spa services. Smart properties already are enjoying boom times. That's the boldfaced message in a New York Times story by reporter Elaine Glusac headlined "Your Next Trip Might Change Your Life." Once upon a time, a pampering vacation involving lots of massages, some Sanskrit chanting, a twirl of a crystal, an...
