Hands down, collaborating with hotels can be one of the most fun and rewarding collaborations an influencer can ever do. The number of ways you can collaborate with a hotel are endless and adding a sponsored stay on top of that, it’s the best! But the issue comes in when you’re pitching to a hotel and you’re having trouble actually landing the collaboration. You feel optimistic about your pitch looking great and you’re certain they will say yes, but then it doesn’t turn out how you expected.
Ensure your target audience aligns with theirs. This is number one for every collaboration you pitch as an influencer. The key is influencer marketing from the brands side is collaborating with an influencer because they have the kind of people following them that is perfect for that brand’s product or service. As an influencer that is pitching, it is your job to ensure that your audience is perfect for those brands before pitching to them.
Don’t pitch during peak season. For example, summer in Europe…eh, your chances aren’t so great unless you pitch well in advance. Winters in Colorado, same thing. Peak seasons are the best time for hotels to fully book out their rooms with paying guests. It’s money making season for them so the chances of them giving away a complimentary room to an influencer are slim.
Be flexible with your dates. Maybe the hotel cannot offer the days you pitched but there are other days that work better for them. For most hotels, this tends to be weekends. Weekends are money making days for them where their rooms can be at full occupancy with paying guests so influencer stays aren’t the priority on those days. Be flexible and open to weekdays.
Be flexible with your itinerary, too. In exchange for a hosted stay, oftentimes hotels will like for you to promote in your content one of their top offerings. Whether that’s their rooftop restaurant, their on-site spa, day trips from their hotel, and more. If your itinerary is already pre-planned to the max, you most likely won’t be able to fit this in for them.
Build a relationship with them. Maybe they can’t host you at this time but they can offer you a food and beverage voucher or a media rate per night if you stay with them. This is a great way to work with a hotel once and build that relationship with them so that you can land a better deal with them the next time around.
The overall key to hotel partnerships is flexibility. You have to be flexible with what the hotel can offer you. That doesn’t mean settle because there are way too many hotels in the world for you to settle but it’s important to keep flexibility in mind when you’re pitching. The most hotels you collaborate with, the easier pitching will become for you.
Travel industry expert who helps you secure paid and sponsored partnerships with top-tier hotels, airlines, tour operators, and tourism boards.