Hilton’s marketing targets "bleisure" customers

Hilton Worldwide, the hotels group, is targeting “bleisure” customers who still need to travel during the pandemic, but are mixing business and leisure as they do so.

“All of our efforts on the marketing-side … have been focused on fishing where the fish are. And, right now, where the fish are … is in value-based leisure and ‘bleisure’ business”, Chris Nassetta, president/CEO of Hilton Worldwide, said on an earnings call.

Why it matters

The hotel industry has been dramatically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, as business travel rapidly declined and holiday-makers stayed at home. Finding opportunities among the cohorts of people who are taking trips is, resultantly, a critical goal.

Understanding the current “bleisure” market

• At present, the main part of the “bleisure” market involves “small businesses that really don’t have the choice but to travel to keep their businesses going”, said Nassetta.
• These individuals have “more mobility” than in the past, as they are not “locked into” being in the office every day, or to their children being in school.
• From Hilton’s marketing and Honors loyalty program to its promotional effort, it is placing considerable emphasis on this audience.

Looking ahead

“We’re obviously working on the plans to not go immediately back to where we were, but to start to migrate back to a more normal approach as demand patterns become more normalized”, said Nassetta.

Sourced from SeekingAlpha