Hotels love empty rooms and people that aren’t even there.

I see it every day and I am sure you have too. But you may not have consciously thought about why a business that exists to service people never actually show pictures of people. I checked out quite a few hotel websites in Los Angeles this morning and the results even amazed me. The short list is at the end of this little blog entry.

They all have a lot pictures, which is good. I saw beautiful pictures of hotel rooms, empty lobbies, exterior beauty shots, meeting rooms with pads and pencils, and empty restaurants. I am sure they spent a ton of money on getting just the right amount of furniture into each shot. I did notice that one thing was missing from all the photos; people.

I am sure you have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words. It is definitively true in the hospitality industry. In most hospitality websites and brochures the empty images tell a different story; “We are desperate, no one wants to stay with us so please come.”

Actually, I have seen a few photos of people on hotel websites or brochures. But they are all photos I have seen before as promo shots for other hotels. How come? Oh, that’s right. They are using stock photography. Pictures of people that have never even been to the hotel.

Where is the professional marketing mind, the warmth, the emotions, the reasons to stay? Photography should trigger an emotional desire to book and stay. With more and more people using the web to plan their next trip, it becomes increasingly more important how you market yourself online.

By the way, I am not a photographer. I am a professional marketing expert.

This is just a few of the links for the hotel websites I browsed this morning. Please note that I am sure these are great hotels with wonderful management, employees, rooms and restaurants. As a matter of fact, I know these are great hotels. To see how we did it for a restaurant client, please visit our last project: http://www.bacidiroma.com

The list:

http://www.metroplazahoteldowntownla.com

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1004&EM=VTY_WI_bonaventure_1004_overview

http://www.kawadahotel.com

http://www.millenniumhotels.com

http://www.omnihotels.com/FindAHotel/LosAngelesCaliforniaPlaza.aspx

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1598

http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-0937-sofitel-los-angeles/index.shtml

http://www.crowneplaza.com/h/d/cp/1/en/hotel/laxca?rpb=hotel&crUrl=/h/d/cp/1/en/hotelsearchresults

and the list goes on and on and on…

Tags: advertising, hotel, Marketing, models, photography, restaurant, website