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Those are some of the strategies listed in the marketing plans for Beaufort's City Loft Hotel that students in the University of South Carolina Beaufort's hospitality program created this semester after spending months researching tourism trends and attractions in the northern part of the county.
Students presented their plans for the boutique hotel Tuesday to a panel of industry professionals, including a former president of Coca-Cola International, as part of a final project for their hospitality marketing course. Matt McAlhaney, owner of City Loft Hotel; Bob Moquin of the Beaufort Regional Visitor and Convention Bureau; and John Hunter, owner of an Australian hotel and the former Coca-Cola International president, critiqued the plans.
Student Caroline Welliver said 40 percent of the people who visit Beaufort stay two to three days, and visitors generally are married and have college degrees. She and her group suggested City Loft promote a package geared toward history buffs that includes a carriage tour and picnic lunch near the waterfront.
"It's an educated group," she said. "A lot of people come in for the history, to see the sights of Beaufort."
Another group suggested the hotel take advantage of Beaufort's history with Hollywood films and create packages centered around walking tours of filming spots. McAlhaney said City Loft has identified packaging as an important marketing strategy but hadn't considered building a package around film.
"One of the gems that was pulled out of this was a movie tour," he said.
Students also encouraged City Loft to take advantage of online social networking and frequently update websites such as Facebook, which has more than 400 million active users.
"That's just a big number to ignore," student Paul Soverio said. "You've got to pay attention to the Internet and update Facebook. I think that's a good avenue to get clients and find people who would continue to patronize the hotel."
John Salazar, associate professor of hospitality management, said giving students a chance to present their ideas to professionals and get feedback is valuable.
"It's no longer just an academic exercise," he said. "It takes what they're been learning from the books and applies it to the real world."
McAlhaney said it was evident from the presentations the students put time and thought into developing strategies to help a local business thrive.
"At the end of the day, each group understood the boutique hotel concept and what was necessary in terms of marketing to articulate the City Loft Hotel experience," he said. "And some even understood the cost associated with the marketing necessary to articulate the experience, which is equally important, especially in a startup."
