The hospitality industry has experienced a boon “thanks” to a strong economy coupled with a higher employment rate. As a result, people are traveling more for business and pleasure. In order to show gratitude to these travelers, promotional product suppliers emphasize that products with a high perceived value inspired by retail trends—such as personal items, totes, journals/notepads, and edibles—are vital to the success of this market segment.
Grethe Adams of Southern Plus speaks to the value and retail inspiration of these items by emphasizing they should be “Instagram”-worthy. “On that note, incorporating social media in the campaign as well as printing the social media channels on the actual items is a good idea,” she says. She emphasizes that millennials represent a big portion of the spending in this market and therefore are driving the trends. “For lodging, this means the emergence of a more subdued luxury with a focus on efficiency, gourmet on-site dining, and personalized service. With a strengthening global economy, business travel is also on the rise. Building loyalty among this group is particularly important. Adding perks for points and staying top of mind is key—for both individual travelers as well as for conference and meetings planning.”
Boutique hotels are a growing trend that is here to stay, Adams continues. “The interest in making each trip a memorable one and to fully immerse in the local culture are part of the reason why these hotels are gaining popularity,” she says. “Also, the boutique hotels’ ability to provide a more personal experience is important to the millennials.”
When it comes to restaurants, where nearly half of Americans’ food budget is spent eating out, the need to reach out to their neighbors is important in this very competitive space, Adams adds. “Handing out tote bags at local festivals provide great visibility during the event and after,” she comments. “Another way to connect with the public in a lasting and meaningful way, if you’re a neighborhood restaurant, is to provide lunch coolers at the beginning of the year to the local area school kids. With every lunch packed and eaten, your establishment is connected with family mealtime.”
Webb Collection’s Jake Peterson also speaks to the high perceived value trend in hospitality. “As suppliers, we need to do a better job of showing products and giving ideas that have the ability to make the recipient feel extra special when they see or open their gift,” he affirms. “By offering quality products at a good price that are useful, we are creating a successful program for suppliers, distributors, and their clients. Hospitality gifts—when done right—have a great message, a beautiful imprint, and will be used over and over.”
Notepads are a classic essential for the hospitality industry, according to Amberlea Barnes at Drum-Line, Inc. “Many hotels place small branded notepads with as few as 10 or 15 sheets of paper in each room,” she states. “When a guest jots a note, the hotel brand travels with them for multiple impressions.” She adds that journals are also popular and useful promotions for event planning. “Convention centers, hotels, and other special event venues include full-color photos and detailed information about their services,” she comments.
Hospitality food trends include customization and higher quality merchandise, Larry Wilhelm of Custom Chocolate maintains. “Clients want to send gifts that can't be found elsewhere. The more unique the gift, the more memorable it is.”
Tom Riordan at Maple Ridge Farms echoes Wilhelm’s sentiments. “We continue to see the demand for high-quality chocolate increasing,” he says. “Our chocolate sales increased by over 25 percent last year.”
There is an array of new and best-selling items in the hospitality product category. Webb Collections’ new custom kits have been a great new option for the company, according to Peterson. “We show three to four different suggested kits in our catalog and on our website but are consistently talking about our ability to create the perfect gift set for your clients,” he explains. “Our overnight kit has been a great selling product. Being able to offer the essentials— shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion—and also able to add on a toothbrush, compact mirror, dental floss, mints, lip balm, lint roller, sleep mask, mani/pedi sets, drinkware, or even custom coffee pods to create a useful collection of items to hit any price point.”
Unique/trendy pieces are performing well at Southern Plus, including the 7076 Santorini tote—a slouchy, soft, raw-jute, and cotton canvas bag, Adams notes. The company’s higher-end AOC-48 Auto-open/close umbrella is doing very well in this market segment. “Additionally, one of our new bags this year, the 7081 Activa Tote, is a great travel companion with its super lightweight performance fabric and zipper closure and has done well with this industry,” she comments.
Bay State has several great items for hotels/inns, notes Josette Bosse of Bay State—including a Quick Shine Shoe Polisher with a remarkable applicator that cleans, shines, and preserves leather and vinyl; and a Traveler’s Toothbrush in an impact-plastic, protective case that fits easily into purse, pocket, or travel kit that features medium soft, white bristles.
Wilhelm of Custom Chocolate recommends hospitality items that give the gift a local flavor, such as its state-shaped gift baskets and novelty-shaped gift baskets. Alexandra Roe at Hospitality Mints points out that the company’s White Buttermints, Chocolate Buttermints, and Chocolate Pastels with Custom Wrapper are always a crowd-pleaser. And, Riordan of Maple Ridge Farms adds that the company’s new item, Chocolate Sea Salt Cashews, has been extremely well received.
Since hospitality is all about showing appreciation, suppliers emphasize that samples and gifts not only thank clients for their business, it is an effective method of self-promotion. “Gifts remind clients that their promotional distributor can source excellent high-quality holiday gifts for them,” advises Wilhelm of Custom Chocolate. Both Roe of Hospitality Mints and Maple Ridge Farms’ Riordan add that samples are vital to secure orders.
When it comes to hospitality items, Adams at Southern Plus emphasizes that the items should be memorable. “Items with high visibility and re-use rate will provide the best return and reach a wider audience which could greatly improve the success of the promotion,” she states. “For this market, connecting with the customers at the heart level will make a much stronger and lasting impression. Try to identify the potential customer base’s passions and likes and connect with that feeling in the promotional message.”
Expanding on these sentiments is Webb Collection’s Peterson, who concludes, “I think hospitality gifts appeal to the recipient’s emotions. Getting something unexpected while traveling is going to leave them with a memory—a feeling of appreciation and gratitude.”
Case Studies
Larry Wilhelm, Custom Chocolate
A distributor has a large Security Products client with offices and employees in five states in the upper Midwest. This distributor presented the idea of Custom Chocolate's state-shaped gift baskets as an employee appreciation gift for each employee. These gifts met the customer's budget requirement of about $50.00 per gift. Each gift basket is configured with chocolates themed for that state and will contain a custom card and is decorated with festive red ribbon. Custom Chocolate will drop ship these gifts to each individual employee in early December to arrive in time for the Holidays.
Grethe Adams, Southern Plus
A well-known corporation recently held a national conference for its top salespeople and needed a bag to hand out to each attendee that would hold all their materials. They planned to give each attendee an event shirt, binder, notepad, writing instrument, water bottle and USB memory stick. They were looking for something large enough to hold it all, with 2 exterior water bottle pockets and pen loop. They found the Alumni Tote (7064) from Southern Plus was the perfect fit. It offered every feature they were seeking and more, with the look that suited the professional nature of the event.
A five-star resort that frequently hosted Fortune 500 corporate events wanted to reach out to these guests to entice them to visit again on family vacations. Aside from ensuring the stay was enjoyable in every way, they wanted the guests to leave with a tangible reminder of their great stay. To tie in with relaxing family vacations and pampering, the beautiful and serene 7076 Santorini Tote combined with the lightweight kimono style 9170 Venetian robe was a perfect gift. As an added incentive, included in the bag was an offer for one-half off, one-half day at the spa on the next stay.
The promotion was a huge success with a large percentage of the corporate guests returning within the year for a private stay. Also, the totes provided added exposure for the resort as the guests used it for shopping, running errands, the gym, etc. during the year.