Travel Like a Local: Your Hotel’s Neighborhood is Your Best Amenity
“Authenticity” has been bouncing around the hospitality sector for years now. It signals a desire for travel that feels genuinely of a place. And the emerging “Travel like a local” trend takes this a step further. Luxury visitors don’t want to roll up in a tour bus, see a famous site, and buy a sweatshirt. They’re looking for something deeper and more akin to living in a place, if only for a little while. Can your hotel cater to these guests?
What do these travelers really want?
For these travelers, typically adventure-seekers with a higher budget, “local activities, dining options, and opportunities to explore new places are ranking nearly as high as traditional factors like cost, safety, and accommodation quality” according to Hospitality Horizons. This represents an extension of the personalization trend we’ve been witnessing. As such, it’s hard to pin down, but can be boiled down to several factors.
Slice-of-life experiences in a community, which might include a local artist’s studio, a popular market day, or tasting an artisan product where it’s made.
Personalities that characterize a place, rather than professional tour operators.
Deeper connections to culture, history, and stories. The place may be beautiful, but what makes it tick, and what do the locals enjoy?
Can your hotel cater to these travelers?
To attract these valuable guests, shift your focus from “generic luxury” to “place.” These travelers are looking for a property that acts as a gateway to its surroundings. Your hotel must demonstrate that it understands the local rhythm, and show that their arrival immerses them into the community.
Ways You Can Get Started
- Partner with local guides: This could include anything from a fishing charter to a local artist who can plan a route to studios, public art, and their favorite coffee spot.
- Source hyper-locally: Stock products from the local bakery, distillery, or coffee roaster. Hang art by area artists. Choose soaps and toiletries from local makers. Feature these sources prominently on site and on your website.
- Curate insider itineraries: Create guides that ignore the major tourist traps. Highlight the quietest park bench, the best “hole-in-the-wall” lunch spot, or the specific time of day when the light hits a local landmark perfectly.
Your Hotel Website Should Tell a Local Story
Visitors to your website are researching their stay. They’ve browsed online and probably have a shortlist of potential hotels. Use rich, sensory detail that describes the experience of staying in your neighborhood, whether that’s the scent of the nearby flower market, the ocean breeze on the balcony, or the bustle from the busy street below.
Create dedicated pages for local flavor, starting with the types of stays you support. The guest should see themselves enjoying every stop, where an itinerary takes them to unexpected corners of the community.
Think:
- Weekend Art Crawl
- An Insider’s Guide to Regional Food and Wine
- The Best Hikes Most Tourists Ignore
Showcase partnerships and connections that demonstrate that a stay with you is an invitation to experience the community. Encourage them to be respectful. This signals that you’re opening doors to trust that you’ve earned.
Remember: Humans will read this content. So will the AI agents searching on their behalf. Your website must act as a structured data source, supported by schema markup and experience-led FAQs. When a traveler asks an AI for a “hotel near the best independent record stores” or a “stay with a focus on local history,” your site should be the one providing the answer.
Test These Stories in Paid Media
Work with your agency to launch test flights of ads across social and search platforms that focus on these experiential narratives. You might find that a video of a local artisan partnership drives more direct bookings for a specific customer segment than a generic “Save 15%” ad. By targeting customer segments that prioritize “vibes” and authenticity, you can reach the guest before they begin their search on a third-party platform.
We’ve done this work before. While it may feel overwhelming to overhaul a website and ad campaign with content for the Travel Like a Local crowd, the marketers at O’Rourke can bring it to life efficiently and in stages. Reach out to us today to discuss ways you could attract and book more high-value guests.