Visuals matter: Every accommodation property needs a ‘Hero Shot’
Mauro Risch, The Hotel Photographer talks to Dianne Collie about stunning photography & how it can boost your accommodation bookings
By Dianne Collie, Founding Director of motelsos.com
Continually attracting and optimising guest bookings is a primary focus for all accommodation properties. Mauro Risch, The Hotel Photographer, sheds light on how to ensure guests choose your property.
“Visuals rule! One great photo is worth a thousand bookings,” is the catchcry of Mauro Risch, The Hotel Photographer.
Dianne Collie, Founding Director of motelsos.com, recently chatted with Mauro about his catchcry, knowing moteliers, hoteliers, and resort owners will say, “Tell us more!”
Mauro explains visual content is powerful in optimising bookings because “humans are essentially a visual species. In fact, 90 percent of the information we receive is via our sight. And were you aware that we can ‘read’ a photo 60,000 times faster than a short sentence?”
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He warns: “We live in a time where travellers are time-poor. Everything has to be decided in a matter of seconds. When I see my wife scrolling through hotels, motels, or resorts to choose, whether it be for business or leisure, I see that her eyes judge what she sees first.
“If the ‘hero shot’ is not what she is looking for, she will jump to the next. It’s that simple.”
“Did you know that, just like my wife, when your potential guests are scrolling accommodation sites choosing where they want to stay, the average time viewing an image while using a personal computer is 2.5 seconds? However, this reduces to 1.7 seconds using a mobile phone.”
Armed with this important information, it is therefore paramount to grab your potential guest’s attention at the first chance you get, and there is no better way than with photos!
Mauro advises that because every accommodation property is unique, their advertising images must celebrate this individuality. Mauro recommends not only showcasing the facilities (which is standard) but also telling the stories that potential guests want to see, including the people, architecture, destination, food, accessibility, and sustainability.
While this is true for all properties, it is especially true in regional areas of Australia. While Mauro enjoys working for large hotels and resorts, he has a penchant for Australian regional small to medium-sized motels.
“Regional motels have a story of their own, and although once they were simply a place for travellers to stay on the way to their destination, now they are much more than that, and I love to tell their story and assist in the promotion of regional Australia and all its wonders.”
“In addition to telling the unique story of each property, it is also essential for your images to be of the highest quality when it is time to convert the search into sales. The better the photo, the higher the conversion.
“I am talking about good lighting, good composition, and the right story. That makes a perfect shot for a hotel, a motel, or a resort. We need to get that image that will make you transport yourself to that place: ‘I wanna be there.’”
Where did Mauro’s love of storytelling commence?
“My love of storytelling with photographs began around the age of 12 with my trusty Kodak Instamatic camera, and I inadvertently became the official photographer of our family holidays.
“My grandmother was the foreplayer of training my eye for that ‘postcard shot,’ and she always featured in them. Oh, we loved our ‘slide nights,’ where our family relived and animatedly discussed our holiday adventures.”
Mauro’s career now spans several decades. In fact, Mauro is about to celebrate hotel shoot number 1000… so that is nearly 1000 unique accommodation properties’ stories Mauro has now told.
What is your property’s story?
Has it been told? And if not, isn’t it about time that it was? Why? Because continually attracting and optimizing guest bookings is a primary focus for all accommodation properties and helps ensure guests choose your property.
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