Understanding visitors

What's the best thing you've ever done to promote your tourism business? 

What worked well? 

Or perhaps there's something small you did that was moderately successful? 

It could have been a social media post that got plenty of engagement. Or a blog post that's still driving traffic to your website? A photo that people have said they like? Or something you say to guests that seems to resonate? 

Whatever it is, don't just do it once. Repeat whatever works, again, again and again. 

We often as…

Let's talk about money. 

Oh sorry, we don't do that do we?

We might utter vague grumbles about the price of things, but discuss our profitability and revenue? No, we don't do that.

I'm not sure why. After all, most of us are in business to make money. I wrote about this a while ago here. 

With escalating energy and food bills, you might be thinking about increasing your prices. There are some tips about this in a blog post I wrote last year. Some of you may be struggling to attract visitors…

Walking is one of the most popular outdoor pursuits. Many tourism businesses benefit from them, so it makes sense to think about how to attract and welcome them. 

"Walkers" is a very broad term... There are ramblers, scramblers, hikers, people who prefer guided walks... the list goes on. 
 
Identify which type of walkers would be interested in staying with you and target that group. Think about:

• Hard core long distance walkers
• Social walkers
• Sightseeing walkers
• Moochers
• Walking to justif…

We often say that a picture is worth a thousand words, but how often do we actually use the right photos to convey key points? 

Most businesses have something they need to tell their visitors or need to stand out somehow. A single photo might do the trick. 

Have you thought about the key messages you're trying to convey and then made sure you're using photos that tell that story? 

Years ago I advised a hotelier, Dave, who ran a small hotel in an area that was notorious for dirty and run-down …

Who are you? What do you actually do?

What do you care about?

Do you do anything to ‘do good’?

How are you connected to your local community?

What are your values and ethics?

How are you making your business more sustainable?

As money becomes tighter, visitors think more about how they spend their precious income.

Some visitors will turn to chain businesses because they think they’re trustworthy, and offer a standardised product.

Many others are turning their back on faceless chains, a…

One of the effects of an impending recession is that many people take longer to make a decision than usual. Visitors may need more reassurance than usual.

When times are tough, businesses tend to do one of two things:

They try to sell like crazy, going into omnipresent overdrive, constantly posting on social media, offering discounts and thinking that sooner or later persistence will pay

or 

They struggle with the sense of doom and gloom, think marketing is probably pointless, and go into se…

The economic news is rubbish. Winter is coming. Morale is sinking.

Many are wondering: Is there any point in promoting my tourism business just now?

As this article about the businesses that will survive shows, you do need to believe in a better future and to keep marketing your business. Here are a few other things to think about right now.

My long experience in tourism marketing has shown me that in every recession there are opportunities. People notice the businesses that keep going, those…

There seems to be one dominant theme running through our world at the moment: uncertainty.

In fact, things feel so uncertain, some of the time it’s not even clear what we feel most uncertain about… Rising living costs, the environment, changes in the ways we do business and live, changes in the market place…

I have a bit of a mother hen approach to the businesses I work with. I’d love to gather everyone up under a broad wing, and cluck to tell you everything will be OK. Since even my bingo win…

How are you feeling about the months ahead?

Normally the beginning of September fills me with enthusiasm and hope. It's a month of fresh starts, new pens, learning, and looking forward. This year feels different. I’m still full of plans and ideas, but there’s a lot of caution in the air.

Is it all doom and gloom? In this article I take a quick look at which businesses are most likely to survive the tricky times ahead

Tourism is a fluid industry: full of arrivals and departures of both visitor…

When visitors aren't as plentiful as you'd like or all the economic forecasts are gloomy, it can be tempting to start discounting prices.

Stop! You might not need to. Here are a few things to think about before you discount any prices. 

First of all, are you jumping to conclusions? If you’re panicking because you think things are going to be difficult, it might be worth looking at previous booking patterns to see if you often have glitches, and their causes.

Then, make sure you've done all th…