Hotel kids clubs. Just extra service or also extra source of revenue?
Is your kids club making money for you? Do you regard it as a necessary service for your guests with young children or do you also see the potential to turn it into a good stream of revenue? With a strong storytelling concept, captivating and creative activities and inspiring design, your kids club could be far more than just another extra service for the family audience, it can become a self- sufficient revenue generator that ensures the loyalty and business of your guests for generations to come.
Missed opportunity for repeat business
Most hotels have a dilemma when it comes to children’s entertainment. They need a kids club for their family guests, but don’t want to spend too much on it. From my experience talking to a lot of kids club project managers there are 2 main reasons why kids clubs are not given the attention they deserve. The first is a lack of expertise within the hotel regarding what a kids club should be, contain and look like. The second is simply because it is not regarded as being of high enough importance to spend a reasonable budget on. The end result is more than often just a fairly nice piece of design without a heart and soul or the pedagogic expertise to really capture the imagination of the children. This is a missed opportunity, as winning the hearts of the children is vital for repeat business. Win the kids over and they will win over their parents, your clients, to return back to the hotel next year. Wow them and you’ll have a guest for life. Kids become adults and have kids themselves. Give them the holiday they will never forget. With a cool, fun and creative kids club. With interesting and inspiring activities. Happy kids make for happy holidays as every parent will confirm. So take the time, energy and money to create something special. It could reward you with repeat business and customers for life.
Captivating kids
Kids love a good story, so it makes sense to weave a great one into the fabric of your children’s concept. A story is the most simple way to captivate kids. Unfortunately, most kids clubs do not tell a story and are put together by a designer who is not a specialist in the family sector. A story should also be immersed into the design details of the kids club and the activities offered in the club, so that it becomes one big giant adventure, instead of a series of unconnected activities and areas. Immersing storytelling into a kids concept should be kept fairly simple and be relevant by using local myths or legends that can give children extra insight into the country or place they are staying in. Creating fictional characters that act as fun educational ambassadors is also an effective way to add some extra narrative power to your concept.
360 degrees of family fun
The hotel kids club of the future should be more than simply an extra service for guests with young children. If linked correctly to the rest of the hotel, such as the food and beverage and bedrooms and when coupled with a strong loyalty programme, they can become a great way to increase client retention and loyalty and ultimately become good revenue generators through an increase in repeat business. Kids clubs can also generate extra revenue through merchandising, paid family excursions organized by the hotel, dedicated kids club menus in the main restaurant and kids branded room service menus. A good family hotel should provide 360 degrees of family fun. From the moment a client books, to the moment he returns home. A guest should be made to feel as if the hotel is 100% dedicated to providing the perfect holiday for all the family during every phase of his holiday.
Expertise and consulting
When the toilets are blocked, you call a plumber? When a light is broken an electrician. But when a kids club is required, quite often a design agency with no real knowledge of the family sector is used. Pool managers are promoted to kids club managers and put in charge of kids club creation projects. Without the expertise that’s needed or the correct guidance, the end results are what 90% of current kids clubs look like. Pretty design, with no real substance. Uninspiring, unimaginative and ineffective. A missed opportunity. To get the most out of your budget and really create a kids club that get start generating loyalty and revenue for you, consult an expert with the knowledge, skills and creativity to create the kids club your hotel and guests deserve!
Author: Carl Mills is Storyteller & Marketeer at Stoerrr – Kids Concepts. Stoerrr is working for 5 star international Hotels & Resorts & commercial Playgrounds.