Here’s Why Pop-Up Stores are Great Opportunities for Hotels

For hotels, success ultimately lies in providing a positive guest experience. With turnkey space, including readily available Wi-fi, heat, air-conditioning and restrooms, let alone plenty of tourists and guests popping in automatically throughout the day, opening your hotel up to pop-up stores is a no-brainer. Here’s why: 1. It builds brand awareness Timeliness and relevance are two key factors in building buzz about your hotel and expanding your reach. This drives interest in guests and non-guests alike, as well as garners attention from the press. Whether it’s working with a brand that has a large, established audience or leveraging the excitement of a pop-up event to drive lots of press, hotels will benefit from the extra attention. The Paramount Hotel chain is one hotel brand that has taken advantage of this opportunity, hosting serial pop-up stores with The Tony Awards and Paul Frank. For both, this pop-up store was it’s first-ever, and the added buzz around each also contributed to the hotel’s brand awareness, especially through a social media halo effect. 2. It enhances the guest experience Providing a positive guest experience is crucial for any hotel. Pop-up stores provide a unique way to enhance the experience and make it more memorable for guests. The Mulberry Project pop-up store brought a renowned team of master cocktail mixers to Colibri Boutique Hotels’ La Zebra in Tulum, Mexico, an experience the guests wouldn’t soon forget. With well-crafted, expertly mixed, exotic cocktails for the hotel guests, this pop-up concept added luxe and exclusivity to their hotel stay. As Shannon Sheppard, Director of Sales and Marketing for the trending NYC 11 Howard hotel told Skift, “While pop-ups do generate revenue for the hotel they enable 11 Howard to build partnerships within our local community, create an immersive interactive experience for guests and connect with new audiences.” 3. You can test or introduce new concepts Just as pop-up stores are a great way for retailers to test new markets, hotels can use them to the same degree. Whether it’s testing the addition of a retail concept in your hotel space or reinventing the guest experience in some way, a pop-up store can give you a sample size big enough to gain insights and small enough to not harm your brand. As the hotel market is increasingly competitive, testing pop-up concepts will give you enough leverage to enhance the guest experience and even show local neighborhood support. 4. You can forge new relationships Hosting pop-up stores gives your hotel the opportunity to work with different brands and partners. Plus, it’s an opportunity to tap into the local community, or intentionally expand internationally. As collaboration is key, partnering with local, national and international artists or retailers will get your name out in front of a new and global audience. These initial relationships could also bud into long-lasting partnerships that scale bigger than a single pop-up. List your hotel or event space here!