It’s no secret that the hotel industry has taken a hit during the pandemic. As the travel industry bounces back, what’s the best way for hotels and resorts to compete in a post-COVID world?
Our parent company, WhiteWater, posed this question, and the analysis is clear. Hotels with aquatic amenities attract more guests and see higher revenue than comparable hotels in their market. After installing aquatic amenities, hotels and resorts report seeing increased occupancy, more leisure guests, and an uptick in food and beverage revenue.
We may be biased here, but when it comes to using an aquatic attraction to bring in more guests, is there anything better than a FlowRider®? We don’t think so. Let us paint the picture—here’s why wave machines are a no-brainer for competitive hotels:
1. Organic Marketing & Surf Machines
The decision of where to vacation starts before families consciously do research; it starts with scrolling through social media, and FlowRiders are extremely social-media friendly.
If you look up “FlowRider” on TikTok, a platform that caters especially to millennials and Gen-Zers, the top post, by @alexojeda, has 1.9M likes and 14.5M views. The below post demonstrates tricks guests can learn on the FlowRider and tags one of our fantastic hotel clients, Kalahari Resorts.
@alexojeda Riding the FlowRider at #KalahariResorts 🐘🏄♂️ | Which level would you wipeout on? 😂 #surfing #flowrider #waterpark
This type of viral user-generated content is extremely valuable to attract families to your hotel, and nothing is more shareable than someone shredding on the FlowRider surf machine. When was the last time a video tagging your hotel received nearly 15M views?
Once families make the decision to vacation, the conscious research begins. Many travelers turn to reviews from online travel agents when choosing a hotel, especially when booking in a location they don’t know well. A FlowRider helps drive five-star reviews by appealing to a wide audience and cultivating a positive experience for guests.
2. Broadening your Demographic
We’ve seen it all around the world, nearly everyone loves to take the FlowRider for a test-ride. With the option to bodyboard or flowboard (stand-up), you can appeal to all your guests.
Most guests start with bodyboarding and move to flowboarding once they get more comfortable. Bodyboarding attracts a lot of kids and more timid riders—people who aren’t necessarily seeking the major adrenaline rush of flowboarding. There’s almost no learning curve for bodyboarders, and bodyboarding keeps guests coming back for more because it’s fairly easy to learn very impressive looking tricks.
Flowboarding, on the other hand, appeals to the thrill-seekers. There’s a steeper learning curve, but the feeling of flowboarding with no help quickly becomes addicting. We’ve observed that this really keeps the tricky teens and many adrenaline-seeking adults occupied for hours on end.
With a fun new skill to master, kids and teens will be obsessing over when they can get their next session in on the FlowRider. Happy kids mean happy parents, staying, spectating, and spending more time and money on site, which will drive up the average daily rate of your hotel.
3. Community Cultivation
Owning a Flowrider immediately grants you access to an exclusive community. Flowboarding is an addicting skill. Our die-hard riders can only be described as fanatics, and they’ll travel near and far to test out a new wave.
One of our amazing customers, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, has seen incredible benefits from the FlowRider fanatics. The Facebook group, Royal Caribbean FlowRider Society, incites the group to come back year after year to work on their skills with friends they’ve met on their trip.
The FlowRider also attracts locals who will inevitably become hooked on the sport, which creates a new revenue stream in passes for non-guests to ride the wave. By opening one of a few FlowRiders in your area, you’ll capture your entire local flowboarding market. With Flow Leagues, Teams, and Tours, the possibilities to attract FlowRider pass and food and beverage business are endless.
For the many indoor FlowRiders or for the outdoor FlowRiders that enjoy good weather year-round, there is no off-season for the sport. Strategically placing FlowRider events during the off-season for your hotel can help create an uptick in revenue from passes, and since this sport tends to attract spectators, you can expect an uptick in food and beverage as well.
While the number of FlowRiders around the world is always growing, there are still less than 100 hotels around the world with this premium attraction. Adding a FlowRider will put you on this exclusive map, and we’re confident your local community, vacationers, and our flowboarders will certainly check you out.
As you can see, the story usually goes a little something like this: a family sees the hype around your FlowRider on social media, books their trip, gets hooked on the sport, and joins a community reminding them to return to your hotel or resort year after year.
So, you are thinking of adding a FlowRider to your pool deck. You may be asking the following questions:
- How much space do you need?
- What is the power, water, and staffing required?
- What do you need to know about safety?
At FlowRider, we’re here every step of the way to make sure your project runs as smoothly as our rides. Click here to connect with an awesome member of our team to walk you through these logistics and answer any other questions you have!
