Exploring Staycation and its Facets

Staycation has gained reasonable traction globally since about half a decade. Most accepted definition of it is – ‘an experience where families stay in a hotel at a driveable distance from home and partake in fun activities or just relax and enjoy being pampered’. It is also called ‘Holistay’. In a post COVID-19 scenario, we can expect that, the travel bug phenomenon might take a back seat. To fill that gap, potential customers and travellers would come out of their confinement, opt for a day or two at a luxury hotel to enjoy the Anatara Experience or even hotels amongst the Msheireb Downtown hotels in Qatar such as M Gallery, which depicts a lot of Qatar heritage at every step you take in the hotel. Few new hotels are considering ‘leisure time consumptianment’ spots to the extent of building a theme park concept around the hotel.
As business picks up worldwide, travel for business is going to gain traction but with a twist. The term ‘Bizcation’ might be a new in trend as adding the leisure factor to a business travel or trip has been a practice from before. The Bleisure Travel – a business and pleasure experience can be the trump card up the sleeve for many hotels to expand their spectrum of services to customers as well as to expand their customer base. Even the corporates are likely to incentivise their employees through such a innovative move as well. Afterall, most people on a business trip usually like to check out the food and beverage spread or have a nice spa day, a relaxing swim in the pool or at the end of a long tiring business day, just to relax with the mini bar contents to keep one company as they browse the channels across the Hotel Television. Amongst the brands gaining traction worldwide in In-Room entertainment in hotels is the brand Roomnet – the Apple experts in Hospitality who enhance the experience of a customer interacting with a hotel TV, streaming their favourite content and giving a personalized experience. Say goodbye to classic television in hotels!
Afterall, the quality of experience is what stays in our mind more than the price paid and with this principle in mind, hotels should innovate and invest in expanding the horizon of their offerings to guests and make them walking advertisements of their brands and experience! A new loyalty programme or added points perhaps?