How can Storytelling help you in your business? Today: Creating anticipation before arrival.

The stay starts long before the guest sees the lobby.

It starts the moment they picture themselves there.

This matters because hospitality is one of the few industries where the purchase is paid for before the experience is fully felt. That gap between booking and arrival is not empty space. It is emotional space.

If your pre-arrival message only says check-in time, parking rules and spa availability, you are giving information, but not imagination.

And guests do not really buy rooms, spa treatments, dinners or services. They buy the slow exhale when they arrive, the feeling of being known, the memory of a sunset drink, the story they will tell a friend when they get home.

A simple technique you can use today: The Arrival Scene.

In your next pre-arrival email, add one short paragraph that helps the guest mentally enter the experience before they arrive.

Not: “Your room will be ready from 3pm.”

Try: “When you arrive, leave the bags with us, take the stone path toward the terrace and let your first decision be simple: coffee in the shade or a glass of something cold by the water?”

This works because the mind rehearses future moments. When people can imagine an experience clearly, it feels closer, safer and more desirable.

Storytelling is not something reserved for campaigns. It is a practical guest experience skill, and it can be learned. I help hotels, resorts, spas and service teams build it through workshops, coaching and training.

Today, add one sensory arrival scene to your next pre-arrival email.