In our hospitality industry trade media mini series, we speak with Brooke Tremain, editorial assistant of The Hotel Magazine to discover the thinking of the publication and the news and content that engages its audience. Learn more about The Hotel Magazine
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 developments in the sector
For more visit The Hotel Magazine
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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. I'm your host Ryan Haynes. We are hosting a miniseries looking at the industry and hospitality trade media. We're going to be speaking to The Hotel Magazine today for the other publications that have been featured. Go to the podcast channel and look at the descriptions to see which ones you might be interested in learning more about
Ryan Haynes:
Joining me now is Brooke Tremaine, the Editorial Assistant of a relatively new publication, The Hotel Magazine. Hi there Brooke. Thanks ever so much for joining us. Please tell us all about The Hotel Magazine.
Brooke Tremain:
Well, thank you so much for having me, Ryan. So yeah, we are The Hotel Magazine and we're a trade publication. We're aimed at the hospitality service industry. And. we are looking at talking to our readership, which are decision makers and management of hotels. We provide our readership with the latest business information, latest And. we go out monthly to our readers And. we include all the latest industry-leading trade associations with advice and new ideas to propel their business.
Ryan Haynes:
So, you are both a digital publication and also traditional print at the same time. So, you actually land on people's desks?
Brooke Tremain:
Yeah, we do. And I think that's quite rare nowadays, but our print is really popular. We actually go out to 7,000 printed and then 10,000 digitally. But online, our publication looks the same as the glossy Magazine, but it's obviously just on, on the internet instead of in paper.
Ryan Haynes:
Which is, yeah, I mean, as you say, it's nice to be able to flick through. If you're sending it to management, then they can actually share it with their teams and it's quiet, as you say, different when it comes to hospitality. cause it's a people business. People are in office. They're not all working from home like a lot of us office workers nowadays. So, the impact can have been much bigger, I guess, than some of the digital content that you're able to produce at the same time. But let's have a look at the topics and the subject matters that you've covered because The Hotel, Magazine is quite broad.
Brooke Tremain:
Yeah, definitely. It's a very broad Magazine And. we try to hit as many spots as our readers are looking for as possible. We produce a yearly media pack, and this will lose the sort of structure our writing throughout the year. However, we are open to changing this according to the latest sort of industry demands and developments. I mean, since Covid we've become a very proactive title rather than reactive, just because the pandemic taught us that we need to be prepared for anything in this industry. And our readers really do rely on us as an influential voice.
Ryan Haynes:
Yeah, I say the Hospitality industry has expanded so much in recent years, as you say. Yeah. And, and they had to think on their feet as much. And when it looks at hotels, you know, a hotel isn't just a place that you rest your head for the night that it's all about. There are experiences that you have. So, you are not just talking about rooms, are you? There are so much more other types of content that's in The Hotel Magazine.
Brooke Tremain:
Yeah, definitely. So, to try and sort of cover everything we can, but make it still very in-depth. We cover two to three topics per publication. So, make sure it's filled up with as much information as possible. And the brands that we include in the publication will tie in with these topics. And that's how our sort of media pack helps the brands that work with us sculpt the message that they want to give to us per month. I think we've definitely found the issue of sustainability has been highly sought of, sought after amongst our readers. I mean, hoteliers are having to look at ways to go green to help elevate their reputation and just stay ahead of the curve because it's going to become a necessity and it kind of already is.
Ryan Haynes:
Yeah, I mean we, you know, there's so many different reasons why you might go sustainable. One is, as you say, the reputation and attracting the guests to your hotel. The second one is going to be increasing regulation and around sort of like how the hospitality business operates. But then it's also cost. We've just seen the sheer impact of energy prices over the last year, but also rising costs from suppliers, inflation and all sorts that, the more sustainable you are as a business, the more you're able to control some of those costs. Absolutely. And are there any other sort of areas and topics that are really capturing people's interests, but maybe through your online content or through the ways in which you are actually receiving content from the industry itself?
Brooke Tremain:
I think another huge talking point is definitely technology. As more and more brands are emerging, they can help the day-to-day operations of a hotel run smoothly. It's just something we have to talk about, and it can really elevate the overall experience of a guest and all parts of the hotel can be helped by technology. Even we did a big housekeeping 101 feature and there's a technology designed for housekeeping staff to make sure that it's scheduled correctly, which means that the hotelier can drop down the staff that they need, but make sure that they're using their time efficiently.
Brooke Tremain:
And it's really helpful for the housekeeping staff as well. And it can also allow later checkouts for the guests. And the guests know the exact time the housekeepers come in at all different areas of a hotel. Now sort of can be elevated by technology, but we also like to try and look at how you can maintain the all-important human touch and sort of strike that balance between going digital and remaining personal.
Ryan Haynes:
Yeah, I mean this is exactly that. We looked at Travel, Market Life last year around that whole idea of the human touch. And through our series hoteliers voice, actually a lot of the hoteliers that we spoke to, it is about how do you build that tech stack in a way that actually, you know, delivers that digitalisation the vision seats for staff while providing the experiences for guests. At the same time remaining personable, remaining a person-to-person business. Because at the end of the day, if you're a guest, you turn up to a hotel, it's pretty weird if no one's there to greet you bs. Maybe if you're an Airbnb and an apartment, it is quite a different experience. But when it comes to hoteling, they do definitely expect that personal service there.
Ryan Haynes:
The important part of technology as well is just making sure it works in line with your brand. If you are a brand that is sort of aimed at a business traveller, they might want that digital check-in and they don't want to talk to anyone. They've been on a 10-hour flight, they want to just get in, get their room key and go up to their room. Whereas if you are a resort for someone that's there for leisure, they might want that sort of guest experience where they go to the desk and the concierge lets them know about the local attractions. So, you've got to really sculpt it to your audience.
Ryan Haynes:
Yeah. Now talking about sort of like your audience, how do you sort of get, how do you get featured in the publication? What's the best way for a hotel company or a supplier to sort of be in the publication in print?
Brooke Tremain:
Yeah, so as I mentioned earlier, Ryan, we are a very proactive title. So, we are always looking for new voices to be featured in the Magazine and we want as many as possible. So, we get a range of opinions and different voices that are readers sort of need to hear about because they do come to us as an influential title. So, to get featured, we have a range of different articles in the Magazine and there are different ways to get involved with them. Firstly, for our wider features, we do roughly two to three per publication. And this will really delve into a topic, whether it's food and beverage, or how to elevate your spa facilities or technology.
Brooke Tremain:
So, for that, myself and my editor Jade, I will reach out to feature contributors each month and we'll weave them in as expert commentary throughout the feature. Now we find these by press releases, if we've seen maybe a mission star chef who's just joined the Pan Pacific, he might be a good voice to go in the food and beverage article. Or if we've heard about sort of the latest tech advancement, like the housekeeping tech I mentioned earlier, we've reached out to them for expert commentary because they will be an expert voice on that topic. So, for the larger features, we are really looking for experts in the field that we are talking about And, we do just find these through press releases on Instagram.
Brooke Tremain:
We have a social media manager that sort of looks for people who are thriving in the industry at the time and she'll let us know. And we are contacting them. Yeah. Or just general press if we see something that stands out to us.
Ryan Haynes:
Excellent. I always think it's important to explain to people, you know, how they get, how they're visible to editors and editorial departments. And it's not just about reaching out directly, it's how visible they might be on their social media channels or across other media as well. Because you say we're all reading different things and we're all being influenced. I in many different ways and learning in so many different ways. So, Brooke, tell me some of the developments that are exciting you in this industry.
Brooke Tremain:
I do think the most sort of exciting development from a business perspective and how hoteliers can really excel in their business is through technology. Even electrical vehicle charging. We've done a lot on that recently. Not only is it sustainable, but it's also staying ahead of the curve with technology as well. And it can be daunting sort of subjects bringing this into your hotel, but once you have that structure, there's so much opportunity for your hotel will get put on maps where guests are trying to find a hotel where they can charge their car at the same time. So, it increases your bookings, it elevates your reputation, and it's something that you are going to need in the near future anyway.
Brooke Tremain:
So, technology from a business perspective, collecting data, making bookings seamless. Yeah, just really grasping your venue's potential and letting it so with technology.
Ryan Haynes:
Excellent. Yes. No, I fully agree. Obviously as a tech expert and here as part of Travel, Market, Life we focus on digitalisation within the Hospitality industry. So, thank you Brooke for all of that. It's, it's wonderful to learn about The Hotel, Magazine. We've put the link into the description just below in the podcast so all of you can check out the digital version. And is there any way if they want to receive the print version they can do?
Brooke Tremain:
Yes, of course. So just go online or get in contact with one of us. We're on the sort of contents page of the magazine and we can sort that all out for you because the printed copy really is lovely. I mean, it's my favourite.
Ryan Haynes:
Excellent. That's beautiful. Thank you, Brooke.
Brooke Tremain:
You so much for having me.