Location has always been important in hospitality, but choosing the right hotel site involves much more than finding somewhere close to popular attractions or transport links.
Hotels serve different types of guests, from business travellers and tourists to event attendees and people visiting friends and family. Each has different reasons for choosing where to stay.
Understanding those demand drivers, alongside local demographics, visitor movement, competitors and surrounding amenities, can help hotel operators make more informed decisions about where to open, how to position a property and which audiences to target.
Understand what drives demand
A busy location doesn’t automatically make a good hotel location. What matters is understanding why people visit an area and whether that demand is sufficient and sustainable.
Business districts, airports, conference venues, tourist attractions, universities, hospitals and major leisure destinations can all generate demand for accommodation, but often from very different types of guest.
Understanding the characteristics of a location and the people it attracts can help hotel operators assess whether the opportunity fits their proposition. It can also highlight differences that aren’t immediately obvious when comparing potential sites.
Look beyond the immediate location
The surrounding area can have a significant influence on the appeal of a hotel. Restaurants, bars, shops, entertainment, transport connections and other amenities can all affect a guest’s decision, depending on the reason for their stay. A business traveller may prioritise convenient transport and proximity to a commercial centre, while a leisure guest may place greater importance on attractions, restaurants and entertainment within easy reach.
Looking at these factors geographically can help operators understand the wider environment surrounding a potential site rather than evaluating the property in isolation.
Understand how people move through an area
Knowing what surrounds a location is useful. Understanding how people actually use the area adds another layer of insight. Footfall and movement data can reveal when an area is busiest, how patterns change throughout the week or year and where visitors have travelled from. This can be particularly valuable in locations where demand fluctuates considerably.
An area surrounding a conference venue, for example, may experience peaks around major events. A coastal location may be highly seasonal, while an airport or city-centre location could show very different patterns by day of the week. Understanding these variations can help hotel operators assess the nature of local demand rather than relying on headline visitor numbers alone.
Know your competition
Competitor presence is another important part of evaluating a potential hotel location. A high concentration of hotels can indicate strong existing demand, but it can also mean entering a highly competitive market. The number of competitors alone doesn’t provide the answer as their location, positioning and proximity to key demand drivers all help build a more complete picture of the market.
Combining competitor information with demographic, movement and other location data can help identify areas that appear well served and those where there may be opportunities for a different proposition.
Match the hotel to the location
Finding an attractive market is only part of the decision. The proposed hotel also needs to suit it. Different locations may support different formats, price points and guest propositions.
Understanding the customer profiles and demand drivers surrounding a potential site can help operators determine not only where to open, but what kind of offer may be most appropriate. For hotel groups considering expansion, analysing the characteristics of successful existing locations can also help identify other areas with similar potential.
Use location insight beyond site selection
Location Intelligence can continue to add value once a hotel is operating. Understanding where guests come from, what brings people to an area and how local demand changes can inform marketing and customer acquisition.
For example, if a hotel knows that a particular venue generates significant demand from visitors travelling from certain parts of the country, that insight could influence geographically targeted campaigns around future events. Operators can also compare performance across locations and investigate why apparently similar hotels achieve different results.
Making more informed hospitality location decisions
There is rarely one factor that determines whether a hotel location will succeed. Demand drivers, customer profiles, accessibility, movement patterns, surrounding amenities and competition all contribute to the overall opportunity. Looking at these factors together gives hotel operators a more complete view of a potential location and a stronger evidence base for investment decisions.
Periscope® brings together demographic, consumer, competitor, movement and location data to help businesses compare potential sites, understand local demand and make more informed decisions about where to grow.
See how Periscope® can help you evaluate locations and identify stronger opportunities for growth.
