The role of photography in Hospitality marketing

No photos this time. While I'm not exactly impartial regarding this subject, it doesn't mean that I can't have a valid point of view. So, here goes.


We've all heard of the common guest complaint that the photos represented a distorted view of a property - basically, they made it seem better than it was. Yet, I'm sure that the converse of this must be far more prominent . . . . . but who is going to tell their host that the place looked like a dump on Expedia and they only booked the location as a last resort, but were pleasantly surprised as to how nice it was?


The lost business because of poor photography is probably more than anyone can imagine. But it's a hidden reason and therefore, incalculable. It seems that paying for decent photography is considered a last resort, or an evil necessity, by some. The number of Resort Condo sales efforts that I have seen where the shots were taken by someone in the Real Estate Sales office, are staggering. I've seen numerous million dollar plus Condos featuring nothing more than underexposed snapshots from (presumably) the Agent's "Point and Shoot" camera. Ouch!


Decent photography should pay for itself many times over and the cost of such should be considered to be an investment, not a liability. Howard J. Wolff, a Senior VP at WATG (big deal Architects) recently Blogged about "Design as a Differentiator - What are the Drivers?", and his observations are as true of Photography as they are of Architecture and Design. I'm going to steal some of his points here and quote him.


"Today's travellers are looking for four things: a connection with people and places; physical and psychological comfort; a greater choice of guestrooms and amenities; and convenience. And they want to feel that they are getting these things at great value. Owners, operators and developers who understand the public's changing demands stand the best chance of capturing the lion's share of business in today's competitive environment. Successful destinations mirror the co-existing desires of their guests."


Well said Howard, and it is photography's job to provide tangible illustration to entice and satisfy a potential guest's desires from a location, as you have outlined. This is not to diminish the role of good copy. I think that photography is just a learned talent, while writing is a real gift. The ability to use words that allow us to conjure up mental images is an amazing ability and the perfect companion for good photography. They're like ham and cheese. Either one is good by itself, but put them both in a sandwich and they're even better.


Given the current financial debacle, new projects are being cancelled left and right, while some of the larger, long term ones like Cap Cana in the DR, are laying off and slowing to a crawl, and even swanky Destination Clubs like Lusso are going into Chapter 11. As one of the (near) bottom feeders in this food chain, Resort Photography takes a big hit too. It is only natural and prudent that companies start to cut back as they try to weather the storm. However, this situation is also a savvy marketer's dream. If my competition is going into hiding, and I continue my marketing efforts, unabated, I should really stand out from the crowd. Of course, that presumes that I believe that advertising and marketing leads to sales and if I don't, I shouldn't have been doing either in the first place.


While I wouldn't go as far as to say you can spend your way out of trouble, I do know that you can rein in so far that further trouble is almost inevitable. As for me, I'm long enough in the tooth that it really doesn't matter. It is nice to have a reason to get up in the morning though. I think it's called, going to work - for those of us who are fortunate enough to love what we do for a living. In the meantime, there's a new guy in the White House tomorrow, guess we'll find out what he's made of soon enough.

Empress Hotel Victoria BC Canada

This is the Fairmont Empress in Victoria, Vancouver Island. The Grand Old Dame of the James Bay inlet, she looks out at the comings and goings of locals, visitors, Cruise ships and seaplanes, as they parade before the Inner Harbour, as it's called.

It was starting to get dark and a storm was just clearing, making way for a peachy glow across the building facade which faces due west. It's a lovely spot and over a million visitors a year to the harbor must agree.

Toronto sunset

Toronto has a few, small islands that have a great view of downtown. I came to capture the lights of downtown at night from my island vantage point, but like this one better.

The contraption sitting in the water on the left helps to guide the ferry into the dock on the island.

Golf Resort in the fall

This one was from a few days ago. I love golf courses, some of the nicest landscapes you'll ever see.

You can hardly see the golf cart in the lower right corner and that's just the way I wanted it.

Hollywood test shot

I like shooting Spa subjects, and no, it's not because of semi-naked women - I have kids older than this and I already went through my mid-life crisis without getting a Porsche and a young girlfriend.

I've always liked Hollywood "Glam" from the 1930's and this is from an attempt to re-create that look and feel. The original shot is quite straightforward and I spent a lot of time in Photoshop trying to create the mood and texture of those bygone days, but without looking too dated.

Now that I've worked out the technique, I just need a client who'll let me use it on their shoot. Might be a while, I think.

PS - Okay, I had a look at this after I posted it and you can't see the subtlety of that "airbrush glow". Needs more work, but in the meantime, call this a work in progress.

Photoshelter Collection is dead

I was shooting in the Badlands in South Dakota (seen here) when a message on my Blackberry told me that Photoshelter was quitting the Stock business. I was dissapointed but not surprised.

They were/are good folks, who treated photographers fairly, but their business plan was more of a social movement than a real business. While we all want to change the world, we also have to eat in the meantime and that means compromise.

Henry Luce (the founder of Time Inc) was asked what the most important thing was for a magazine, and he replied, "To stay in business". Too true and too bad for the good folks at Photoshelter.

Now it's going to take me about a week to retreive my work and reorganize my files and life. Ah well.

Spa Resort photography

This is a nice young Russian woman called Vlada. From Siberia of all places, so the nice hot sun down at the oceanfront of this resort was quite to her liking.

I tried to teach her Spanish while she tried to teach me Russian. Didn't work out for either of us, so we stuck to English. She is only 25 but has been working for 10 years already, mainly in Holland. Now she's crossed the Atlantic to the land of milk and honey, and very little corruption, as she pointed out. Knowing a bit about Russia, I presumed that she wasn't talking about Holland.

The guy that we cast for this shoot turned out to be a dork. We found out too late though, so he became mainly a prop rather than a principal and Vlada carried the day for us. Phew!