In late April and throughout the month of May, hotel brands began to communicate their strategies for welcoming back travelers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, including rolling out enhanced hygiene programs to assure guests and staff that properties are safe. Now, as more states gradually open up and travel slowly picks up, brands are launching marketing campaigns to encourage travelers to get back on the road.
On May 28, Accor’s lifestyle program, ALL – Accor Live Limitless, announced a new global campaign, Reignite the Love of Travel, which includes a short film designed to reassure guests and create a desire to travel and a social media campaign through which travelers will be invited to share dreams and inspiration, which will be combined to create a second ALL montage-style travel film.
“During the lockdown periods everywhere, we have been surprised to see so many people on social media sharing their craving for travel with such uplifting humor and creativity: it was heart-warming for us to see that they were missing us as much as we were missing them,” said Steven Taylor, chief marketing officer of Accor. “The message of our campaign then came naturally as we invested to prepare for the immediate holiday season as well as for longer-term bookings. Seeing the quick business recovery in China, we wanted to do our part to reassure our guests and to reignite the travel desire.”
On May 29, Red Roof launched its Redi to Road Trip summer program and microsite, which includes state-by-state road trip itineraries and activities as well as discounts at Red Roof properties. Redi to Road Trip caters to travelers’ needs by focusing on close-to-home locations, cleanliness, value pricing, and proximity to outdoor activities in key areas.
“2020 will be the year of the car. Americans have faithfully sheltered in place for the last several months and are ready to now hit the road and confidently stay with hotels they trust implicitly,” said Marina MacDonald, chief marketing officer, Red Roof, adding that the program is designed to give travelers confidence to book rooms to visit friends and family as well as neighboring states, parks, and beaches.
These announcements follow an industry-wide social media campaign that the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) recently launched to encourage travelers to start planning future trips.
