//HOTEL PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS
How to use photography to attract the right guests
2 min read
New York based travel and fashion photographer, Daniela Federici spends much of her life photographing some of the most exotic locations on earth for numerous luxury travel and fashion brands, glossy magazines and “A” list celebrities. She often works directly with these brands to create a ‘STORY’ or umbrella LOOK and STYLE, that is uniquely theirs in the form of photo campaigns, brand videos and TV commercials.
But we wanted to find out if a hotelier with a fraction of global branding budget can still use photography to have an impact on their guests? We recently caught Daniela between her hectic travel and shooting schedule to find out.
Photo by Daniela Federici
There’s so many cost effective stock photography libraries and travel photographers offering to take photos for the cost of a free night’s accommodation. Why should a hotelier consider investing in professional photography?
Professional photographers will approach each job with a lot of detail and skills that the average amateur photographer can’t. For example, they are able to make your space look bigger and better with their use of lenses and understanding lighting. They are skilled and experienced to make somewhere look amazing, and often better than it actually is.
Photo by Daniela Federici
How does photography play a key role in building a hotels brand image and attract the customer that’s right for them?
Its critical to create a consistent style and look that reflects the brand. A perfect example is Herbert Ypma’s photography for Hip Hotels, where he captures the architecture, beautiful details and focuses on what makes this place unique. His books and website feel like they have a consistent point of view and because of this he has a very loyal following.
Photo by Daniela Federici
With your years of experience and extensive business and leisure travel is there anything that stands out that accommodation business should be doing and / or stop doing to stand out and improve their reputation?
Hotels have really evolved in the past 20 years. Before that they were all very generic looking . I think the Aman Resorts raised the standards and really made the idea of the hotel becoming a destination as its located in such amazing locations. Then the Four Seasons, Oberoi, Taj and Belmond groups restored lots of old wonderful hotels in fab destinations that had a legacy. Then all the city hotels like W Hotels started popping up.
But I feel people want to travel and be part of a unique experience and that’s why the hotels that have a legacy or stylistically reflect the culture and tradition of a place stand out.
Airbnb is good for budget travel but I prefer to find the smaller hotels with a story to tell.
Photo by Daniela Federici
Photo by Daniela Federici
Photo by Daniela Federici
Photo by Daniela Federici
Photo by Daniela Federici
Photo by Daniela Federici