Holiday Sales Aren't Just for Retail Stores -- They're for Hotels, Too

(MoneyWatch)  Just about every retailer knows that the day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday, is the day to get more deal-seeking customers into stores. Now hotels are getting in on the action, too.

To entice more people to book rooms, some hotel companies held Black Friday sales on room rates and packages this year, with sale prices available only for a limited time to create a sense of urgency among potential guests. For example, the TradeWinds Sandpiper Hotel and Suites on St. Petersburg Island, Fla., had door-buster deals starting at $25 a night, down from $220. Most of these sales end Nov. 30, but that's when other hotel sales start at what has been recently dubbed Cyber Monday, or the Monday after Thanksgiving when most people return to their work computers. To capitalize on this surge in online shopping, Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced it would be launching a special Cyber Monday sale to last for only three days.

Not to be outdone, InterContinental Hotels Group is taking a social media approach to its holiday sales. Once a day throughout the month of December, the company will be "tweeting away" nearly 1 million of its Priority Club points redeemable for hotel stays and myriad other rewards, such as retail gift cards and electronics, available through its loyalty rewards program, as well as announcing more traditional hotel deals. The only catch is contestants need to be a Priority Club member to redeem the prizes.

While giveaways and sales aren't new to the hotel industry, especially in this lagging economy, coupling those deals with the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales is relatively new this year. Hotels.com held such a sale last year, but more hotels really got on board with the idea this year. And IHG's promotion that requires people to sign up with its loyalty program is smart because not only does it draw people in with good deals, it keeps them as future guests by making them part of the company's "family," which is especially attractive when membership is free.