By hosting a festival or gathering outside, alongside blooming landscaping and inviting outdoor seating areas, you might be able to drum up new business for your hotel. You get a chance to showcase your facility’s patio or slick outdoor lounge to people who might otherwise miss it. In the process, you might entice your guests to host their next event—be it a wedding, a birthday party or a corporate retreat—in the same space.
So how do you ensure you’re doing this well? What should you keep in mind when you’re planning your next outdoor party? Are there strategies that can help you use the event to your hotel’s advantage?
To help answer those questions, here are six tips to ensure everything goes smoothly and you highlight the season’s strong points.
- Keep things simple but impressive. You can’t go wrong with an easy dress code that keeps guests comfortable. Skip the black tie and opt instead for warm-weather style. Along those lines, choose a fresh, simple menu that showcases seasonal items such as ripe fruit, vegetables and other foods that are easy to eat even on hot days. Think salads and sandwiches and dishes you don’t have to cook. As a bonus, these types of foods are usually easier and faster to prepare, too. Then, to give simple foods a special touch, focus on presentation and making buffet tables or small plates pretty.
- Emphasize ambiance. The biggest appeal of an outdoor space is ambiance, and it’s difficult to overestimate how much ambiance affects the way your guests feel. From lighting to decorations, use your skills to make your space as fun and attractive as possible. Whether that means hanging lanterns and stringing lights or placing candles on tables, use lighting to give your event a special feel. Likewise, pay attention to little details such as menus or place settings. This is what your guests will remember—and what they’ll likely be posting about on social media at the event.
- Provide plenty of beverages. On hot days, guests can get dehydrated fast, so protect them from overheating by supplying a steady stream of drinks. Water is a must—and lots of it. You may also want to offer other refreshing, cooling drinks such as lemonade, iced tea or spritzers. On especially hot days, you could also provide fans, complimentary flip-flops, hand towels and cold desserts such as ice cream.
- Make a backup plan in case of rain. It’s difficult to predict the weather, so the best plan is to expect anything. If it turns out to be a rainy day on your scheduled gathering, what will your backup plan be? You might go with a white tent that protects guests from getting wet, or you might move the party inside to another venue you’d like to show off. Either way, plan this backup strategy ahead of time to minimize stress on the day of your party.
- Offer shade on hot days. As great as sun rays might be, there’s a lot to be said for some shade. You want to keep your guests from overheating, heatstroke and sunburns. Consider adding outdoor umbrellas or similar shade structures to your space. These will provide your guests a retreat from the harsh rays, as well as add extra visual appeal. This makes people feel cared for and gives them a better overall experience.
- Consider worst-case scenarios. Part of effective planning is considering all the possibilities. So before hosting your event, think about potential problems. Do you need permits? What noise restrictions apply? Are bugs an issue? What happens if there’s a problem with the food? Consider what could go wrong, and make plans for how you’ll respond if they do. By planning ahead, you set yourself up to stay stress-free and to make the event successful even when something less than ideal happens.
Whether you’re throwing a blogger mixer or a public relations industry luncheon, using an outdoor event to generate buzz about your hotel is smart. Beyond following the steps outlined above, remember to treat every guest like a star and pay attention to the little details that make for a big impact, such as take-home cookies or valet parking. Your overall goal is to make a strong impression guests won’t soon forget. When your guests leave impressed with your facility, you’ve boosted your reputation and helped spread some advertising for your venue.
Brent Derbecker is the National Sales Manager of Skyspan Structures in Carrollton, GA. With a reputation for elegant umbrella design and durability, Skyspan Structures specializes in the design of commercial umbrellas and outdoor shade structures for your business.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or its parent company, STR and its affiliated companies. Columnists published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concerns.