This post goes out to all our savvy hotel travel partners. 

Nowadays, as we venture away from our homes and towns, we’re looking more than ever for authenticity and quality in ourselves and the businesses we choose to frequent. We want to know that we’re supporting hotels with like-minded values and ideals. 

During the last few years, businesses have also reassessed goals and values, and are eager to share renewed visions with their customers. We believe the best way to do that is through our stories. 

Stories are best told through images, the preferred language of the brain and used everywhere from education to advertising to politics. We want to use images in the form of stunning photographs by local photographers to showcase your story, helping you connect with your audience in three authentic ways: through your brand, your guests, and your partners. 

Your brand

Your brand is not just about your look and the area of the marketplace you inhabit. It’s about your character and the experience your guests come to expect. As many brand designers try to impart to the companies they work with, a brand is less about what services you provide and more about that consistent experience your customer desires and depends on.

This is why seeing your story is so essential. It’s through the lens of your unique story that your brand will shine. It tells people who you are, where you come from, what you value, and what you want to deliver. 

Let’s look at three approaches you can take to photographic storytelling.

Your facilities

It goes without saying that your facilities and physical space tell much about who you are and are primed for storytelling through evocative images. Potential customers want to see everything, from the big to the small, from your grand ballrooms and glassy pools to the flowers in the lobby and the light fixtures in the rooms. 

You’ve put time, money, and passion into your hotel’s appearance. Let it speak for you, and don’t censor it. If you have a vision, stand by it, knowing customers will appreciate your authenticity. The CEO and co-founder of Angle, Valerie Lopez, knows much about building a brand and being vulnerable. Her advice: “Show the essence of your brand and don’t be afraid to have a voice.” 

Discerning customers know that every business has its own character. They want to learn yours upfront and mesh with it.

Your team

If Tripadvisor has taught us anything (and let’s be honest, it reveals a lot) it’s that often a hotel’s staff lifts a stay from ordinary to extraordinary. How many five-star reviews relay tales of that one staff person who went the extra mile or repeat guests being so pleased to be greeted by the same, familiar faces? 

The real joy of travel is the people we meet and that definitely includes the staff at the hotels where we stay. They are there on site helping us, often connecting with us even before we arrive. In fact, when I’ve had to choose between a cool AirBNB and a hotel I’ve stayed at before, it’s been the staff and their friendliness that has made me choose the latter, even if it costs more.

Let your story shine through the faces and voices of your invaluable team. 

• Share photos of staff on your website and social media. Their smiling faces and uniforms will give your guests a sense of familiarity and loyalty even before they arrive.

• Share photos and quotes by individual staff members or teams. By hearing their perspective guests experience the diversity of the hotel, finding ways to identify with your brand.

• Share their achievements. We all love to see people celebrated. Not only does your staff deserve to be recognized, but guests want to invest in their individual stories, as well.  

• Let staff and teams host takeovers. Collaborate with staff members by letting them take over social media for the day. This offers guests a secret glimpse into different areas of the hotel and the opportunity to hear the hotel’s story through different voices.

Sustainability

Today’s consumers are making a conscious effort to preserve this planet for the future and taking new habits with them on their travels. As such, they are gravitating more and more towards businesses that demonstrate similar values. This includes hotels.

Let your story reflect your brand’s efforts with sustainability. Show off those solar panels, your efforts to reduce laundry, your recycling scheme, and the compost pile and garden behind the kitchen. Inspire guests to connect with the hotel’s surroundings and city, ensuring they have an authentic, amazing time that introduces them to local artisans and artists. Finally, help influence those travelers who perhaps haven’t thought about how sustainability is possible during travel. 

All this can be relayed via elegant, expressive photographs included in confirmation emails and newsletters or featured on your website and in the hotel information book found in-room, all of which are too often just words and no pictures!  

Your guests

Another reason that TripAdvisor is so popular is that it has allowed us to see traveler photos, giving us a glimpse into even more features, details, and views the hotel itself might not have shown on their website. But what’s missing from most of these photographs are the travelers themselves! 

Future guests want to be able to picture themselves in the setting of your facilities, getting a sneak preview of the amazing experiences they will have there. This is why your current and past guest photos are invaluable. Not only do they convey your brand’s spirit and attitude in an authentic, visual way, they create a strong emotional connection to your brand through the power of shared experience and imagery.

One way to foster more guest-generated content is to provide your customers with the opportunity to have a photoshoot with a local photographer. This simultaneously supports the local economy, boosts the hotel’s reputation, and most importantly, gives your guests amazing photographs to take home with them, and share with you! 

We encourage you to have a flexible pro photographic policy. Then showcase your customers with their consent and proper photo credit. You can even incentivize customers to share and post photos of themselves in the hotel, offering giveaways and features. 

Your partners

Establishing a collaborative relationship with partners like Angle will not only help you with sustainability but also help take a load of work off yourself and your amazing team (now featured on your website and social media!). You’ll get access to the best professional photographers in the industry who will capture your distinctive brand and tell your unique story.

What we do:

• Connect your hotels with local professional photographers to tell your brand’s story and capture your guest experiences.

• Use our growing ecosystem of premium photography services to offer brand content and user-generated images in over 500 destinations.

• Provide guest-generated content for your marketing and distribution needs.

Everything we’ve talked about here, we can do it for you! Your story deserves to be told in stunning photographs, and your guests want to see this story. Our own mission is to make this happen, to actualize the dreams of you and your customers.