As we approach the holiday season, hospitality businesses worldwide prepare for one of the most significant opportunities of the year: holiday events. Whether it’s a lavish New Year’s Eve gala, a cozy Christmas gathering, or a Thanksgiving feast, these events provide unique chances to showcase a venue’s capabilities, strengthen customer loyalty, and increase revenue.

Delivering exceptional holiday events is key to creating memorable experiences for guests. Let’s explore the significance of these events, the challenges faced by hospitality providers, and how technology can help elevate holiday celebrations.

The Significance of Holiday Events

1. Building Brand Loyalty

Holiday events are a golden opportunity for hospitality businesses to connect with their guests. A well-executed event can leave a lasting impression, fostering loyalty among customers. When guests experience exceptional service, delicious food, and a warm atmosphere, they are more likely to return and recommend the venue to others. The emotional connection formed during these festive gatherings can transform one-time visitors into lifelong patrons.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: Make every holiday event unforgettable with a comprehensive sales & event management system that provides powerful tools for hospitality venues of all sizes. With convenient event booking, menu selection and comprehensive logistics management, guests will be guaranteed a truly memorable experience.

2. Enhancing Revenue Streams

From banquet halls to restaurants and hotels, holiday events can significantly impact revenue. Special menus, themed decorations, and entertainment can drive up sales during peak seasons. Furthermore, these events often encourage guests to spend more, whether on additional drinks, upgraded meals, or premium services. For hospitality businesses, capitalizing on holiday events means not only boosting short-term profits but also setting the stage for long-term financial success.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: Hospitality businesses can now promote their holiday events through downloadable apps that are tailored to a property’s brand, allowing the property to showcase their amenities, promotions, seasonal events, and more directly to their guests.

3. Strengthening Community Ties

Holiday events often bring together community members, fostering a sense of togetherness and shared celebration. Hospitality venues can position themselves as community hubs by hosting events that cater to local traditions and preferences. This strengthens relationships with residents and enhances the venue’s reputation within the community. When businesses actively engage with their surroundings, they create a loyal customer base and contribute to a vibrant local culture.

Challenges in Delivering Exceptional Holiday Events

While the benefits of holiday events are clear, the challenges of executing them cannot be overlooked. Many hospitality providers face obstacles that can hinder their ability to deliver exceptional experiences. Here are a few common challenges:

1. Staffing Shortages

One of the most significant challenges in the hospitality industry is staffing shortages, particularly during peak seasons. Many businesses struggle to find qualified personnel to manage increased demand during holiday events. This can lead to overwhelmed staff and compromised service quality. Ensuring that every team member is well-trained and equipped to handle high-pressure situations is crucial for maintaining exceptional standards.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: Leveraging technology that can adapt from staff-facing to guest-facing mitigates staff shortage challenges during the holiday season and elevates technology investment impact.

2. Logistical Complexities

Holiday events require careful planning and coordination, from menu selection to decorations and entertainment. Managing these logistics can be overwhelming, especially for businesses that lack the necessary tools and resources. Without proper planning, venues may face issues such as last-minute changes, inventory shortages, or miscommunications among staff members, all of which can negatively impact the guest experience.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: Don’t let food waste and spoilage spoil your holiday spirit. With a modern, advanced inventory & procurement solution, hospitality businesses can control the quality and consistency of their product purchases and inventory levels to help ensure they have all the ingredients for food & holiday retail management success.

3. Rising Guest Expectations

Today’s consumers are more discerning than ever. Guests expect high-quality service, unique experiences, and personalized attention, particularly during the holiday season. Meeting these expectations can be challenging for hospitality providers, as they must balance cost management with the need to create exceptional experiences. A route many hospitality businesses take is to purchase multiple best-of-breed software systems from multiple vendors, which can lead to fragmented guest experiences and ultimately negative reviews and diminished loyalty.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: By adopting solutions that move beyond best-of-breed applications to embrace best-of-experience outcomes, hospitality businesses can shift their focus to a holistic guest view. This in turn enables staff to gain insights that enable them to deliver highly personalized service as well as up-to-the-minute offers, creating moments of holiday hospitality magic.

Leveraging Technology to Elevate Holiday Events

Technology plays a pivotal role in ensuring the success of holiday events. By integrating advanced software solutions into their operations, hospitality providers can streamline processes, enhance guest experiences, and ultimately deliver exceptional holiday celebrations. Here are several ways technology can help:

1. Efficient Staffing Solutions

An effective workforce management system can help hospitality businesses address staffing challenges during peak holiday seasons. By utilizing scheduling software, venues can forecast demand based on historical data and plan accordingly. This ensures that there are enough staff members to meet guest needs while optimizing labor costs.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: It’s important not to underestimate the service that AI can provide when it comes to properly forecasting demand and staffing requirements during the busy holiday season. By incorporating solutions that leverage Dynamic Pricing technology, properties can optimize revenue by getting ahead of fluctuations in demand. Similarly, through Dynamic Availability, another AI-driven capability, properties can change their menu mix based on demand, adding a new dimension to revenue improvement.

2. Streamlined Event Planning

Event management software can simplify the planning process for holiday events. These platforms allow hospitality providers to coordinate logistics, manage timelines, and keep track of budgets all in one place. Mobile applications can facilitate real-time communication among team members, allowing for quick adjustments in staffing as circumstances change.

By automating repetitive tasks, businesses can free up time to focus on creative elements that enhance guest experiences.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: Just as it’s important for guests and front desk staff to have a unified experience, it’s equally important to include employees throughout the property. With the right collaboration technology delivered directly to a staff member’s mobile device, staff members can assign and manage tasks for engineering, facilities and housekeeping with real-time alerts, bringing their teams and guests together through the right contextual information delivered to every department.

3. Enhanced Guest Engagement

Personalization is key to creating memorable holiday events. Property Management (PMS) systems enable hospitality providers to collect and analyze guest data, helping them understand preferences and tailor experiences accordingly. By leveraging this information, venues can offer personalized recommendations, special offers, and targeted communications that make guests feel valued. Engaging with guests before, during, and after events fosters loyalty and encourages repeat business.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: The more fragmented the tech stack, the more challenging it becomes for IT departments to maintain synchronization. When transactions occur in silos, achieving a holistic view of the guest becomes difficult, leading to missed opportunities to serve them according to their preferences. By partnering with fewer vendors that provide solutions across multiple touchpoints, businesses can keep their guests front and center throughout their holiday hospitality journey, ensuring they never lose sight of their likes and dislikes. This shift allows businesses to move from being transactionally efficient to forming emotional connections.

4. Integrated Point-of-Sale Systems

An integrated point-of-sale (POS) system is essential for managing transactions smoothly during busy holiday events. Advanced POS solutions that streamline order taking, payment processing, and inventory management are integral to leaving positive, long lasting guest impressions. This reduces wait times for guests and ensures that staff can focus on providing exceptional service.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: By leveraging an integrated, omnichannel enterprise POS platform, staff are equipped with real-time insights into sales data, enabling businesses to make informed decisions on the fly, such as adjusting seasonal, holiday menus based on popularity.

5. Feedback and Analytics

After the event, gathering feedback is crucial for continuous improvement. Utilizing survey tools and analytics software enables hospitality providers to collect guest insights and evaluate their performance. By understanding what worked well and what could be improved, venues can refine their strategies for future events. This commitment to growth demonstrates a dedication to guest satisfaction and fosters loyalty among patrons.

Holiday Hospitality Pro Tip: Insights available anytime and anywhere that synthesize siloed guest experience information into meaningful understanding enable staff to enhance economic and operational performance, helping them create the right guest experiences before, during, and after visits.

The Future of Holiday Events

Delivering exceptional holiday events is not just about providing a festive atmosphere; it’s about creating meaningful experiences that resonate with guests long after they leave. As the hospitality industry continues to evolve, embracing world-class, modern technology will be essential for businesses looking to thrive in this competitive landscape.

Empowering hospitality providers with the tools they need to elevate their holiday events and deliver memorable experiences is vital. By addressing staffing challenges, streamlining event planning, enhancing guest engagement, and leveraging data-driven insights, hospitality businesses will be better positioned to navigate the complexities of holiday celebrations.

By prioritizing guest experiences, fostering community ties, and utilizing innovative, integrated technology, businesses can create celebrations that leave lasting impressions. In doing so, they not only increase revenue but also build brand loyalty and strengthen their position within the hospitality landscape.

Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from http://www.hotelexecutive.com/.

About Agilysys

Agilysys exclusively delivers state-of-the-art software solutions and services that help organizations achieve High Return Hospitality™ by maximizing Return on Experience (ROE) through interactions that make "personal' profitable. Customers around the world use Agilysys Property Management Systems (PMS), Point-of-Sale (POS) solutions, Food & Beverage Inventory and Procurement (I&P) systems and accompanying hospitality ecosystem solutions to consistently delight guests, retain staff and grow margins. The Agilysys 100% hospitality customer base includes branded and independent hotels; multi-amenity resorts; casinos; property, hotel and resort management companies; cruise lines; corporate dining providers; higher education campus dining providers; food service management companies; hospitals; lifestyle communities; senior living facilities; stadiums; and theme parks. www.agilysys.com