Entrepreneurs who completed their business plans were twice as likely to succeed in growing their businesses. Hotel business plan:
- Determines if your business idea is viable.
- Outlines what to do and why.
- Offers investors insight into your business idea and confidence in your success.
- Maintains focus as you implement your plan’s tactics.
- Sets key goals for your team.
Your plan should vary as your firm expands. Your first draft guides strategy and inspires investors.
hotel business plan sections
Your hotel business plan must include the following elements, whether you’re opening a boutique hotel, B&B, or 5-star resort.
Executive summary
Your business plan’s executive summary is most important. It should briefly outline your business’s goal and success.
Include your hotel’s purpose statement. Capella Hotels & Resorts blends history, discovery, individualism, and the unexpected to provide guests with the ultimate experience.
Include a one-sentence vision statement that outlines your hotel’s purpose. Capella Hotels seeks hospitality excellence.
Your executive summary should summarize your plan’s goals and objectives. Therefore write it last.
Company analysis
Your company analysis might reveal your hotel’s competitive advantage. Consider your hotel’s uniqueness. Why should guests choose you over your competitors?
In this part, define your brand and its aims. List your property’s rooms and categories. Will you offer dorms, singles, and suites? Explain your additional revenue sources, such as in-room dining, welcome beverages, and airport shuttles.
Use narrative to show your enthusiasm and what your hotel will provide to the hospitality industry.
Industry analysis
Business owners must prepare for outside factors. To uncover micro and macro trends affecting your firm, analyze your hospitality market. Look at:
- Economic tendencies
- Ecological trends
- Political trends
- Global health trend
- Tech trends
Determine how each trend will affect your firm and how to avoid risk or capitalize on possibilities.
With tech-savvy visitors, new software providers, and labor issues, hotel digital check-in technology has expanded. Thus, your hotel should investigate visitor engagement options.
Examine the hotel industry’s history, size, and projected growth. This research will affect your plan, notably marketing, and finances.
Customer analysis
Which hotel guests do you want? It’s hard to please all guests, so select your target market. Once you identify your target guests, you may create amenities, services, and marketing materials to attract and delight them.
Ask yourself:
- How should my guests be? Business or vacation?
- What demographics? Gender, age, marriage, etc.
- What interests my audience? Watersports, hiking, relaxation, museums, animals, etc.
- My target market values what? Sustainable, contactless, customized, localized, etc.
This section will help you create a guest experience that meets expectations.
Competitive analysis
Hotel location affects competition. To assess your hotel’s competitiveness, do competition research here. Ideally, you should have three direct competitors and two aspirational competitors.
SWOT your competitors:
- Where does your property outperform competitors? Why would tourists choose you? Price, amenities, location, tech, etc.
- Weaknesses—where does your property lag behind competitors? Price, amenities, location, tech, etc.
- What industry trends can you exploit? What local events or partnerships can you leverage?
- What are your top property threats? Recession, war, travel restrictions.
A detailed analysis can strengthen your competitive advantage and create a plan to address your weaknesses and risks.
Marketing Plan
No business without a demand. A hotel marketing plan details how to reach your target audience to boost bookings. Your marketing strategy should contain three primary channels:
- Paid media for property promotion and bookings. OTAs, SEM, retargeting, and metasearch advertising are included.
- Your hotel website, social media, blog postings, and SEO.
- Media coverage and internet reviews are examples of earned media.
Operations plan
How will you operate daily? This section of your plan lists your team’s main duties and your hotel’s offerings. Consider:
- Staff and supervisors needed
- Job Duties
- Service standards (see our downloadable SOPs for ideas)
- Inventory management.
- Need hotel technology solutions? PMS, channel manager, booking engine, payment terminal, revenue management, guest engagement software, etc.
- What services and amenities would you provide?
Describe your operating plans and stakeholders.
Management team
This area is crucial to potential investors, regardless of whether you’ve employed your staff. Identify essential persons and their duties.
Outline these roles:
- General manager, front office manager, housekeeping manager, maintenance manager, and revenue manager.
- Hotel sales team
- Housekeeping and front-office staff
- Concierge
- Valet
- Maintenance
Your team depends on hotel size. Determine your five-year hiring needs and team members.
Strategic Plan
To maximize revenue, hoteliers must optimize seasonal occupancy rates. Strategize how you’ll manage:
- Pricing How will you price your different room types?
- How will you maintain high and low season occupancy? Will price and marketing change?
- Revenue management—how? What rules/alerts will alter rates? Technology for revenue management?
- Online reputation management strategy? Online reviews—how will you collect and respond?
- Your distribution mix? How will you drive multi-channel reservations?
Financial plan
Financial predictions are your hotel business plan’s hardest but most crucial component. This section should include:
- How much do you need from lenders to start a hotel? Business licenses, furniture, down payments, etc.
- How much will your firm need to operate? Staff, guest acquisition, mortgage, utilities, SaaS, etc.
- Income statement—what will your income, expenses, and profit be in the first 3-5 years of business?
- Cash flow projections—how will your business make and lose money? Show your startup capital.
- Balance sheet—assets, liabilities, equity.
Investors care most about your financial plan. Show your business’s ROI here. Include an appendix with financial and reporting details.
planning tips
- Start with your favorite part! Avoid pressure to cover all the things above in order.
- Contact a successful entrepreneur. Advice from a fellow entrepreneur is always useful. Ask a successful local businessperson for advice.
- Concise. Each section of your plan must be concise. Include additional research and documentation in the appendix to keep your business plan clean.
- Avoid industrial jargon. Jargon may be irrelevant to your investors.
- Have a distinct advantage. Explain in one sentence what makes your property special. Your marketing materials will emphasize this benefit.
- SMART goals. Set concrete, quantifiable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals to stay organized and attain milestones.
- Remember your plan. Use your plan—you spent hours on it! As you establish and grow your business, refer to your plan and accept change.
- Show passion. Explain your interest in hospitality. Passion inspires investors to believe in you.
Starting a hotel requires what?
After reading this article, what’s next? Start your business with these products.
- A vision. Determine your business kind.
- Business plan. Business plans keep you on track.
- A spot. Build or refurbish a hotel.
- Capital. Need upfront capital? Remember that startups need cash flow to cover expenses for the first few years.
- Business permissions. Occupancy permits, alcohol licenses, food service licenses, sales tax licenses, etc.
- Technology. Select a scalable hotel management platform.
- Home furnishings. Your home needs the right furnishings, electronics, appliances, etc.
- Staff. Hire trustworthy, brand-savvy workers.
Last words
Your business plan guides your new venture. Enter the industry prepared by understanding the market and competition. Slowly invest in the right people and technology to expand your firm.
