This year, China's hotel industry ushered in a nostalgic boom in the bloom of the TV series "Flowers". Shanghai Peace Hotel, Huating Hotel, Jin Jiang Hotel and other hotels have opened a dialogue between history and reality in the ups and downs of the plot. It is because of these memories and touches that the hotel room where the main character lives in the TV series has become a new tourist check-in place, and related experiences** are also sought after by the market, making people interested in exploring the history and culture of the hotel in more depth.
Nostalgia has become a hot spot for consumption
Nostalgic experience refers to the psycho-emotional experience of nostalgia for past things, people, places, etc., which arises from the awakening of individual memories. In the process of the practice and application of this concept in various industries, consumer behavior has gradually formed.
Why has the nostalgic experience of hotels become a new hot spot for hotel consumption?
Nostalgic experience consumption is becoming more and more popular in the market at present. In the tourism industry, the main areas of consumption related to nostalgic experiences are tourist destinations, restaurants, theme parks, and hotels. Among them, hotel consumers can enter the nostalgic experience through sensory perception, memory evocation, emotional triggering, and reflection in the process of visiting and staying experience.
Hotels are experiencing a shift from a primary focus on functional needs to emotional ones. People are no longer satisfied with the convenience and comfort brought by high-quality rooms, exquisite cuisine, and perfect supporting facilities, but are increasingly pursuing emotional value. And those hotels with deep cultural and historical heritage have become the products favored by consumers.
Consumers' boredom with homogeneous products has led to the need for personalized experiences. As society becomes more diverse, consumers are also looking for more differentiated products. Many hotels have witnessed the economic development, technological progress, cultural identity, and social value of the region in the process of changing times, and when consumers see these unique values, such hotels have a stronger market competitive advantage.
Experiential programs add to the appeal
The nostalgic experience is the unique attraction of some old hotels, as a scene with historical, cultural and artistic expression, these hotels can awaken people's memories of the times and provide unforgettable nostalgic experiences, which have an interdependent and inseparable relationship with the nostalgic experience.
First, the nostalgic experience is an important embodiment of the historical value of the old hotel. The nostalgic experience often occurs in the perception of the contrast between the old and the new, which forms the core consumer experience of this type of hotel. The formation of nostalgic experience stems from the historical memory awakened by consumers in the hotel due to sensory stimulation, which requires consumers to have a certain understanding or interest in the history of hotel development and even the history of the city. Established hotels mainly use exhibitions with a sense of age or other carriers that can express the history of the hotel as a medium to create specific scenes and create a sense of atmosphere, so as to activate, awaken and reproduce the memories of consumers, so that consumers can't help but enter a state of immersive nostalgia. With the emotional rendering of seeing things and people, and touching the scene, it is easy for consumers to "get closer" to the hotel and may generate further brand preferences.
Second, nostalgic experience is an important embodiment of the cultural value of old hotels. The core element of a long-established hotel is culture, and the nostalgic experience is an important embodiment of cultural continuity and inheritance. This type of hotel brings consumers a memorable feeling through the exterior of the building, the interior decoration, the staff clothing, the objects, the commemorative activities, the historical and cultural furnishings, and the exhibition explanation. Consumers can not only gain knowledge in the process of visiting, lodging and dining, but also have a sense of immersion and satisfaction.
Third, the nostalgic experience is the unique competitive advantage of established hotels. The consumption of the hotel is an embodied consumption, which requires consumers to experience and feel it in person. In addition, the hotel belongs to the category of community-based life services, which has the characteristics of repeated consumption. Compared with other consumptions, hotel consumption has distinct characteristics of time and space connection, which in turn brings about corresponding time memory and spatial attachment, which in turn becomes a unique consumption decision-making factor. For example, the old hotels that have been out of the circle because of "Flowers" have a relatively long history of development and profound cultural heritage in China, carrying the memories of many people, coupled with the spread of new **, which in turn detonates stronger nostalgia and strengthens the competitive advantage of such hotels.
Strengthen the brand power of products
How to use popularity to become popular from Internet celebrity? In the Internet era, hotels should seize the opportunity of traffic and tell stories and memories of the times in their own unique way.
First of all, it is necessary to dig deep into the cultural connotation of the hotel, combine the needs of consumers, and create deep nostalgia and cultural experience products. The hotel should adhere to the history as the foundation, culture as the background, according to the changes of the times and market demand with a keen eye to continue to capture and constantly insight into the emotional needs of consumers, mobilize consumer senses, create immersive experience products, and draw out consumers' nostalgic feelings, so that the check-in is not just a simple framing and taking pictures, but through a certain way to form a two-way interaction between the hotel and consumers. For example, to enhance the consumer accommodation experience, to provide cultural and creative hotel products, and to highlight the historical characteristics of the hotel in the guest room layout.
Secondly, it is necessary to innovate hotel marketing methods, with the help of new methods, so that the old hotels have new development. In the context of the new era, hotels should fully understand the portrait of consumer groups, have a scientific market positioning for the hotel, update marketing methods in a timely manner, and realize cultural inheritance, utilization and innovation. According to the theme type and specific development history of the hotel, combined with the characteristics and interests of the consumer community, select the appropriate new Internet operation platform, show "who am I" to consumers in a more intuitive, rich and full way, and arouse the collective memory of consumers in a nostalgic way and generate empathy. At the same time, the hotel should independently plan and hold various forms of activities in combination with historical anniversaries and holidays, and appropriately introduce new traffic, such as co-branding with well-known brands. This will not only bring traffic to the hotel, but also have a significant role in promoting the optimization of hotel services and brand development. However, it should be noted that in the process of development, with the increase of the number of hotels, attention should be paid to the balance between the scientific protection and rational utilization of hotel cultural resources.
Finally, it is necessary to improve the quality of hotel services, build long-term brand value, and cultivate consumer brand loyalty. Hotels should also introduce new products and services in a timely manner according to the hot spots of the ever-changing times, so that hotel consumers can always have new discoveries and new experiences, so that hotels can retain consumers. Through the operation and management of historical events, cultural connotations, brand image, etc., we continue to show the core elements of the hotel with the imprint of the times and culture in a variety of ways, form an emotional connection between the hotel brand and consumers, create a unique brand culture of the hotel, and realize brand value-added. (Authors: Gu Huimin, Li Zhe; Affiliation: School of Tourism Science, Beijing Second University of Foreign Chinese; Editor: Song Yuqiu).