QT Hotel & Resorts decided to 'give away the hotel to attract local residents to their new property in Auckland, New Zealand

A hotelier spends years planning and building a hotel, only to have the grand opening fall smack in the middle of a pandemic. So what do you do with a brand-new hotel when borders are closed and tourism has ceased to be? Last week, QT Hotel & Resorts came up with a fun way to attract local residents to their new property in Auckland, New Zealand.

QT decided to 'give away the hotel': over the course of five days, it hid 150 keys across Auckland in a citywide treasure hunt, with each key giving its finder a free night's stay in one of the hotel's 150 stylish rooms. Aucklanders had to check QT's website for codes to open lockboxes holding the keys. Besides creating buzz, the promotion neatly targeted the community that will be their main customer base for the foreseeable future.

In this year of takeouts and staycations, we're continually wowed by the resourcefulness the hospitality industry has shown. Here's to their entrepreneurial grit, and may the innovations keep coming, even when things are blissfully back to normal(ish).

Stay healthy,

The TrendWatching content team