In our hospitality industry trade media mini series, we speak with Zoe Monk, editor of Boutique Hotelier to discover the thinking of the publication and the news and content that engages its audience. Learn more about Boutique Hotelier
How the publication is made up and its key audience
The subjects and topics that captures readers attention
How to get featured editorially and advertorially
The industry awards
The developments in the sector
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Programme Notes
This episode has been automatically transcribed by AI, please excuse any typos or grammatical errors
Ryan Haynes:
Hello and welcome back to Travel Market Life. And in this mini-series, we are looking at the Hospitality trade publications. We're going to look at the different publications that cover some of the industry. So, check out through the list on our podcast channels, of some of those interviews that I've had. In today's episode, we speak to Boutique Hotelier,
Ryan Haynes:
And joining me on the line is Zoe Monk, editor of Boutique Hotelier Zoe, thank you ever so much for joining us today. And Boutique, today's been going for quite some time now and you've really carved the shape into the market. we really help. Tell us all about your publication, please.
Zoe Monk:
Well, thanks for having me, first of all, we launched actually 10 years ago, so we are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year. So next month we would've been writing about hotels for, you know, a decade, which is crazy now thinking about it. But we launched, first of all, we launched a website with a daily e-news alert. So, we send out five sorts of hot stories from the industry to people working in hotels across the UK. So, it's 3, 4, 5-star luxury hotels in the UK. So, from the website platform, we sort of then expanded to do the monthly print magazine and we've been going ever since.
Zoe Monk:
Even during Covid, we were still printing our magazines. We find people still love reading a magazine. They love having a tangible thing to read and show off and say, look, I'm on the front cover.
Ryan Haynes:
I guess that's the one thing that is so different about this industry, isn't it Zoe? It is the fact that you know, people are in the office, Hospitality is a people business, it's on-site. Yeah. And so, magazines actually being able to pick them up, I guess they are, they're still shared, but at the same time being online means it comes through in their email inbox or they can do the search and, and they can come across the stories that are really important to them. Yeah,
Zoe Monk:
Exactly. I mean we've really tried hard to sort of grow the brand across all of those platforms. So yeah, we, the magazine still has tremendous value for people. They put it in their staff rooms, and it brings a real boost to staff morale if they're working at a hotel, and they see it featured. And yeah, obviously, you know, we really try to be the first with news online. we really work hard on doing exclusive stories, speaking to the industry, and just making sure that we are that real sort of valuable news source that people will come to hopefully our 10-year legacy. What proves that so far?
Ryan Haynes:
Absolutely. I mean, I say 10 years, you need to evolve, you need to look at how the market is developing itself. But let's look at your audience for a second then. Who would you say is your core audience? Who are you? Who are your readership in general?
Zoe Monk:
We try and focus on the owners and the operators of the hotels. So, the real sort of key decision-makers, the people holding the purse strings. We are a free publication. We are, we are not behind a paywall, so paywall. So, our content and our business survive through advertising. So, you know, yeah, companies will take an advert in the magazine or some sort of advertising, that sort of thing. And we really pride ourselves on that. So, we keep our content completely free. And we know that through our relationships we are going out to these owners and operators because we go and speak to them. We get out in the market, and they say, oh yeah, I read about that. I saw your story. you know, so, so we are going to the senior team, the general managers, the hotel managers, all of that sort of border level that we are And, we know that we are reaching them.
Zoe Monk:
So yeah.
Ryan Haynes:
What top sort of topics really sort of resonate with your audience, the ones that get them most excited or the ones that you get the most interaction with? Because I guess nowadays with digital you can actually see that.
Zoe Monk:
Yeah, it's funny, I mean a lot of the sort of people-led stories are still very interesting to the industry. So big management changes at hotels are always going to get the clicks. you know, someone wants to know the gossip about where this, where the GM is heading. So hopefully we can get the scoop on those sorts of things. Also, obviously at the moment, a lot about sustainability. So, we wrote a story the other week about the Hand and Flowers Tom Carriages place and how he saved X amount on a new energy-saving initiative. So that did really well for us. I think a lot of businesses are obviously starting to think about that.
Zoe Monk:
New hotels are always a winner. New openings when you get anything big brand-wise do well. So obviously anything Robin Hudson touches turns to gold Trends. So, you know, anything that designs. Trends that people enjoy, any sort of top 10, those sorts of articles do well for us. So yeah.
Ryan Haynes:
I mean as you say, you do a lot of your own content. You're getting a lot of press releases coming to you every single day, and you are out there in the industry talking to people trying to find out what those stories actually are to bring them to life. Now, how do you, how would you advise people? What advice do you give to get featured in Boutique Hotelier?
Zoe Monk:
I mean, it sounds obvious, but just email me a couple of paragraphs and directly to me, Oron, we will pick it up, we will read it, we will get back to you or just again, old school, pick up the phone, give us a call. We are usually in the office; it goes directly to our mobiles. If not, you don't have to. I, I think a lot of independent hotels think that unless they've got some real sort of PR cloud behind them, they're not going to get featured. But that's just not true at all. We love hearing from the hotels directly and that's really the sort of relationship that we want to nurture. And it doesn't have to be a really perfectly well-written press release to be featured.
Zoe Monk:
That's our job. We, you give us the news And, we will write it for you. So, so literally just a few lines, a couple of lines about something And we will follow up with you. It can be about anything, anything new you are doing at the hotel, whether it's you are trying, you know, a new staff initiative to boost morale, something like that. And you're starting to see results. Anything that you can back up with like stats, so you know, staff retention levels for example, something like that is, that's your hook, you know, that's what I want to hear about.
Ryan Haynes:
Vendors always want to get in the news featured as well. What advice do you give to suppliers in the industry to get into a Boutique Hotelier?
Zoe Monk:
That coveted hotspot on Boutique Hotelier? Well, for suppliers it's obviously hard because we do prioritize our advertisers and we're not, you know, we're not ashamed to say that because, you know, the, the ones that support us financially, we, we will support them editorially, and we do choose brands that align with us in terms of the business model and the fit. So, but from a general perspective, I would say that anything stats-led or survey-led or data-led, I know there are a lot more press releases being framed that way that I do see a lot more of, which I'm much more likely to write about than it being, oh, you know, this person's just come up with this new product for the hotel, would you like to write about it?
Zoe Monk:
The chances are probably not because I get a lot of those. So yeah, if you can tell me something really good that you found out about the users of your product, then yeah, again, anything trend-wise that you can see. So, you know, a mattress supplier for example, they might have seen demand for mattresses in suites go up, you know, that's a new story, so send it to me.
Ryan Haynes:
Lovely. Wonderful, thank you. So, you have the awards ceremony coming up very soon and I know we do. Yes. So, tell us all about the Boutique Hotelier Awards.
Zoe Monk:
So, the Boutique Hotelier Awards is our third year of this particular format of the awards. So, we give out 16 category awards, half to suppliers and half to hotels and staff members within the hotels. So, we have a ceremony on the first night of the independent hotel show. So, everyone's in town, they're all up for it, and they go to the show, they go to their two awards. Then they'll come straight over to us, hopefully. And it's a three-course dinner as you can imagine. you know, drinks are flowing. It's just a fun night and we find that hopefully, people will bring their teams.
Zoe Monk:
That's really what we want to see. People, managers, and owners bring their teams along to celebrate together. And yeah, we get a lot of nominations in, then we do the lists and hopefully, then open up the voting and the winners are decided by vote. So yeah, it's always a good night. A lot of work.
Ryan Haynes:
Well, I'm, I'm looking forward to it because it's going to be one of the first times that I'm going to be able to get there. And Travel Market Life is one of the media partners for independent hotel shows. So, I look forward to seeing you at those awards and good luck to anyone who's been shortlisted. Don't forget to get those votes in Now. Zoe, I mean, you were away on maternity leave, you came back, you had dealt with the COVID before you went away. So, what developments have you seen in the sector, on your return and what is particularly exciting? You,
Zoe Monk:
I mean, I think in general, we saw a lot during Covid, didn't we, about when Hospitality venues were allowed to reopen. It was a lot about separation and keeping guests enclosed in space due to, you know, germs, contamination, all of that. That's all gone. However, the sort of need for that private space that's still within the confines of a hotel and on the ground, the demand for that sort of space is absolutely through the roof. I'm finding. So alternative accommodations, you know, we've seen it, if you think about it, this isn't really a new thing, like Hoot and Glen were one of the first and they did their tree house.
Zoe Monk:
Well, they were probably the first to do the tree houses, they did them donkeys years ago. And it's now really that everyone else is sort of doing the shepherd tots the tree houses. And it is, it's really interesting to see because the, the different types of accommodation that you can put on grounds is amazing and, and it all sort of plays into this immersive experience that more guests want. So, so they want to be part of the grounds and that then carries through to sort of a lot of out-outside dining experiences. So, you, you're getting, what I'm seeing as well is a lot more immersive kitchen garden dining menus and things like that.
Zoe Monk:
So, you'll sort of sit in the evenings sort of surrounded by twinkly lights and really in the grounds. And a lot of these places just look so fantastic and the, the menus are just obviously all sort of trying with that theme as well. The Grove in Hertfordshire, they, they do like this feast on cloud nine I think it's called. And they do, they've got sort of these hot air balloons that just stationed in the grounds, and you can just sit and have dinner in one of those And I. It is just like it, it is an experience, isn't it? I think people are trying, businesses are trying to go further than just doing gimmick team activities as well. So corporate days are, are not boring conferences anymore.
Zoe Monk:
There are a lot more, again, activities, and experiences in general the industry. I'm just seeing so many exciting new openings as well, like ones that particularly are Grove of Narberth. Those guys have obviously opened their second hotel and they're in the process of doing the refurb. So that's, that's been really exciting to see. The guys at the Beckford group predominantly pubs with rooms, but they're doing their first hotel, the Gallant, and they're obviously opening their second, I'm like, name-dropping all these people now thinking.
Ryan Haynes:
You're well connected, and you are going stateside as well as part of the developments at Boutique. Hotelier. Tell us more.
Zoe Monk:
Yeah, we're going to go across the pond and give it a bash. Hopefully it, you know, ends up not like the Spice Girls who completely failed, but yeah, we are launching Boutique Hotel US. We are live online now. We were sending out three news alerts a week. So that takes the same format as the UK one, which is five news stories from the sector, and we are going to be officially launching a print title at the Independent Hotel Show in Miami. So, they are doing their first USA edition. So, the London show is going out to Miami. we are going to be there. It's just really exciting for us now, now we've got a bigger team.
Zoe Monk:
We feel like we're really ready to sort of grab the market with both hands.
Ryan Haynes:
Excellent. Well, I wish you all the best luck of because that's just around the corner. And I know how hard it is to get things off the ground. So, it's great that you've got a partnership with the Independent Hotel Show, which is where hopefully I'll be seeing you on October 16th and 17th this year in London. And Independent Hotel Show itself is looking to go global as it takes on both Amsterdam and Munich in 2024. So, thanks again Zoe for joining us today and actually sharing insights into what it is to be Boutique CO and all the types of content that really gets people excited and interested.
Zoe Monk:
Thanks for having me, Ryan. Appreciate it.