Storytelling via social media has shaped and driven engagement of hotel food and beverage offerings, said Scot Turner, founder and managing director of Auden Hospitality, a food and beverage, hotel and restaurant consultant. Turner spoke during a session at the F&B Theater at The Hospitality Show and Bar & Restaurant Expo Texas at the end of October in San Antonio.
Turner believes that, in the current hospitality landscape where Gen Z and millennials have become the dominant decision-makers, the ability to effectively tell a brand's story has become a key differentiator.
"F&B is seen as an amenity and not as something that's going to drive revenue in hotels," he said. "And in a number of cases, it's functional and not fun. Who wants to go to a restaurant that's functional and not fun?"
Turner cites the success of independent restaurants like Fallow in London and Cali BBQ in San Diego as examples of businesses that have leveraged social media platforms to connect with their target audience. Fallow, for instance, now sees more bookings through YouTube than through traditional third-party aggregators, due to sharing its story with potential customers. Similarly, Cali Barbecue Media's founder, Sean Walsh, regularly goes live on TikTok, showcasing the restaurant's operations and building a loyal following, despite the location not being in the most desirable part of town.
Inspired by these independent operators, Turner has taken a proactive approach within his own company. He has hired a dedicated videographer to capture and share the stories of Auden's work with clients, with the goal of posting at least two videos per week across LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok by the end of 2024. This investment in content creation and storytelling reflects Turner's belief that it will be a crucial element in the future of hotel food and beverage.
Beyond social media, Turner also emphasizes the importance of creating Instagrammable experiences for guests, particularly when it comes to breakfast. He suggests that hotels should move away from the traditional, uninspired breakfast buffet and instead collaborate with local food providers to offer unique, visually appealing options that guests will be eager to share on their social media platforms.
Similarly, Turner encourages hotels to evolve their meeting and event spaces to cater to the needs of the new generation of travelers. He suggests incorporating elements like Zoom pods, podcast studios and content creation areas, which would allow guests to seamlessly integrate their digital lives with the physical hotel experience.
Hotels must embrace a more innovative, agile and guest-centric approach to food and beverage if they hope to remain relevant and competitive in the face of changing consumer preferences. By empowering their teams to tell authentic stories, create visually engaging experiences, and leverage the power of social media, hotels can recapture the sense of excitement and community that once defined the industry's iconic food and beverage offerings.
"wWe have to embrace a different mindset," Turner concluded. "We have to start thinking like restauranteurs and less like hoteliers. We have to start telling our own stories, and we have to rewrite the rules of hotel F&B, because the way we've always done it isn't going to get us anywhere in the future."