Raffles Dubai PR manager Sarah Omolewu. Raffles Dubai PR manager Sarah Omolewu.

Hotel PR professionals are being increasingly relied upon to positively increase the numbers of guests coming through their doors, a group of experts said at a Hotelier roundtable.

“Previously it was about how much exposure we received; now it’s about footfall that is actually coming through the doors as a result of the PR campaigns,” said Sarah Omolewu, public relations manager at Raffles Dubai.

“Some of the marketing budgets have been cut, but with PR they’re looking for more of that ROI in terms of actual money coming into the doors,” she said.

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“We’re doing things now with promotional codes and initiatives with facebook and social media. We’re trying to find ways to track who is coming in and how much money is coming in at the end of the day, as opposed to how many people are hearing about what you’re doing,” said Omolewu.

Derryn French, director of market communications at Le Meridien and The Westin Mina Seyahi complex in Dubai, agreed that PR had to contribute to the amount of revenue generated by the hotel.

“Gone are the days when you could do a ‘nice to have it’ advert and a bit of PR around it; I think now everything has to be around a call to action. There really has to be an ROI and people are looking at how many people come into your hotel rooms and what the occupancy is and how that particular call to action is manifesting in terms of revenue to your hotel,” said French. “You now have to justify what you’re doing to contribute to the success of the business.”

As a result, the structure of PR within a hotel environment has changed, added Armani Dubai director of public relations Sarah Walker-Kerr.

“The role of PR is considered at a higher level nowadays, more on a corporate level. People take more notice as well and you have to be part of the strategy making and decision processes that are in the hotel. You’re the one that has got one foot in and one foot out of the company, you’re that bridge, and the role is becoming more measured in terms of performance and overall strategy of the properties as well,” said Kerr.

For a full report on hotel PR, see Hotelier’s roundtable in the May issue of Hotelier Middle East.