Review | Twenty Things to Double Check You're Still Doing

As businesses start looking tentatively towards the future it is essential that the recovery is not handed back to the OTA’s. If one lesson has been learned it is that every business must get back to driving direct business.

It's not easy however and an online strategy has to be so much more than just a nice looking website. The challenge of starting to claw back that lower cost direct business needs a whole lot of wheels turning together.

Review | Renew | Recover 

In all honesty this revised list of Twenty Things to Do has not changed much in five years – what was right and relevant then is perhaps even more prescient now. These may well be basics to many but getting back to basics is never a bad idea! And remember this is not a definitive list of things to do. There are twice as many things that you can and should do to work on those direct bookings but small changes can make a big difference so start with some of these.

In the current times however, anything published is almost instantly out of date so we are taking a novel view to digital support and will be launching our own “Guide to Building a Website” website! Throughout June, we will be updating briefings and publishing them as live webpages in our own mythical “Brigadoon” style Hotel site with examples and downloadable briefings on all of the subjects below and more.

Download Your Twenty Point Checklist

Book Scotland Direct EPK Launched

Book Scotland Direct is something that we had been planning to roll out in June for our own clients only but it has been suggested that we should consider putting out to a wider distribution should anyone wish to use it.
 

We have no great expectations that we’re building a viral brand concept here but there is no doubt that the louder and more collectively we all shout about booking direct the more effectively that message reaches the market place and the greater the chance of increasing low cost DIRECT bookings.

Indeed, one of the most telling phrases we have picked up since the lock-down started “Don’t let the OTA’s own your recovery”

For sure, when Scotland re-opens one of the many things that needs to change is Scotland’s unhealthy dependence on third party distribution channels and quite simply put it is critically important that each and every one of us in the accommodation sector clearly express to our customers across the world that it is ALWAYS best to Book Scotland Direct.

Informing the Market

This is not a pitch for business or for your subscription. 

Book Scotland Direct is intended to be a badge for your business to wear digitally expressing to your clients that you want, indeed, need them to consider booking direct every time they look at accommodation in Scotland.

The project will provide ongoing and updated information and advice from the very best across the industry to help you convert your guests form third party bookings to direct bookers.

As part of widening the project out we have already started reaching out to digital marketing and booking engine providers servicing the Scottish accommodation sector seeking their involvement and expertise and best practices with the aim of creating a definitive bank of advice and information for everyone from B&Bs and Self-Catering through to hotels of all sizes.

We have prepared a basic Digital Promotion Kit which will be available on a free of charge licence for anyone who wishes to use the logos and project content on their own website, digital marketing and in-house print if required.

The Resource Library will build to include case studies from digital marketing experts, booking engine providers and hotels outlining to how to continuously build more direct business and reduce the costs of conversion. 

If you are interested in getting involved or wish any more information leave your details on the link below and we’ll send you updates in the coming weeks. 

Find out more about Book Scotland Direct on the Plan B website

New Development Groups for Scottish Golf Tourism?

Whilst we can't allow for the specifics of global activities that disrupts our sector we can, indeed must, as professional businesses plan for things going wrong before they happen. This may be off the scale in previous measurement charts but the travel and tourism sector has had serious issues to contend with over the past two decades that resulted in radical change, loss of businesses and realignment of the sector.

The problem is that we don't seem to have the ability to learn and not repeat mistakes.

I recall the morning of 9/11 clearly as I was sitting in Edinburgh in a meeting with the new Chief Executive of VisitScotland about golf tourism and representation and growth of the sector. I came out of that meeting with Malcolm Roughead, with no knowledge of what had been happening whilst we talked and the diametric position of everything having changed but the content of the meeting being more relevant than ever.

The outcome eventually led to the creation of Golf Tourism Scotland, an industry wide body that was set up to communicate with and represent the diverse interest of a sector that encompasses courses, accommodation, ground travel, travel agents and tour operators. An industry that had suffered post 9/11 but was moving into a very fast cycle of capital investment in new product at the top end but a sense of crisis was emerging in golf courses at the second level with supply greatly outweighing projected demand.

GTS was about developing new standards, involvement with new technology, raising the profile of the sector. It was involved with working on deals for the sector around the Ryder Cup and intrinsically involved in trying to create a permanent centrally funded public/private golf structure that would be there to develop the sector through good times and (it was very clearly understood and stated) the future bad times.

Roll forward to the planning for a post crisis landscape and what do we have?

We have in a single week, communications from two different newly set up "golf groups" seeking to influence strategic thinking about the way forward for golf tourism in Scotland.

If I wasn't older and wiser it would break my heart.

Good luck to these groups in achieving their aims but the real truth of the matter is that while everything was good for Scottish golf tourism, the industry saw no need to develop a structure for a sector that was performing so well and generating so much revenue for the country and the clubs. Advance tee time bookings were on a rolling basis looking good for "next year and we've got another Open Championship the year after. Why would we spend our time supporting a golf tourism body?" Not a real quote perhaps but a reflective sentiment.

The idea of being ready for future crises was one of the reasons for the conception of GTS; it was mentioned many times that the industry needed a strong and permanent voice to see it through the good and the bad. The industry didn't agree; focus was lost, activity dropped off, membership of the organisation fell away, public sector moved on. It had been allowed to become irrelevant to too many

Golf Tourism Scotland was wound up some three or four years ago and ironically the last board was made up by some, perhaps many, of the very people who are now populating the new groups. I appreciate the vagaries of hindsight but nevertheless the confident assertions that GTS had achieved its objectives seemed hollow even then.

So twenty years on from the meeting of the Scottish Incoming Golf Tour Operators that identified the clear and immediate need for the development of a wider body and a clearer public private partnership to develop golf tourism we now have three groups all pursuing similar statements of intent.

Who knows what the outcome will be but you'd guess that Malcolm Roughead may have a strong sense of deja vu when he gets a request to meet with a group of businesses asking how we can all work together to improve Scotland's golf tourism sector. Working together is the key and the two new groups should be getting in touch with the (albeit flawed) Golf Steering Group and developing from there. If the real objective is getting golf tourism in Scotland back on track, empowering what is established will be a lot quicker and more effective than starting something new.

The lack of real structure across the whole of Scottish tourism will come under serious scrutiny and perhaps strain over the coming months and years. Golf Tourism Scotland is perhaps but a microcosm of areas, regions and sectors across Scotland. Some may be better prepared than others for the speedy implementation of joint strategies you fear however that too many areas are not.

Joined up thinking is not something as a tourism sector we have yet cracked. We need to rethink not only the published strategy for the next ten years but the structures and communications that are needed to deliver that vision.

Facebook won't do your work for you...

At Plan B We're involved in a number of music related projects just now with WinterStorm (our rock festival), South Beach Sessions (a series of acoustic and blues rock gigs) and a new Punk/Indie weekender in the planning for August 2017.

As a result of this we have been involved increasingly with gigs, musicians and artistes over the past year.

We have also found ourselves being much more proactive on Facebook with the promotion of these events to the targeted niche audiences that our events are aimed at. What has become increasingly obvious however is that despite the fact that most businesses are on Facebook they ignore some of the very tools that can work best for them.

Events is the example that I am talking about in this context.

As part of a wider "One Ayrshire" destination marketing project we have been setting up the background info for a One Ayrshire events page on Facebook and the new website in turn and it has opened our eyes to the number of businesses simply neglecting their own and the local events on in the area.

Promoting Events on Your Facebook Page

Sharing events on your own Facebook page should be a given. It is not only simple to do but can drive traffic back to your own web page and booking link as well. It will not fill your venue on its own but if you have a Facebook page use the bloody assets on it!

As an events listing it covers everything from header image, venue, dates. times, description, prices and links to web page and ticket links too.

Not only that you can then invite your friends to attend and you can "Share Events" with appropriate partners and collaborators locally.

Maximise Distribution

Once you've created your event you need to get it out there. You cannot assume that anyone is looking for it so you have to take it to them. That's how Facebook works, you need to get down and dirty and start looking for Businesses, Groups and conversations that will be interested in your offering - and this doesn't just apply to events.

For WinterStorm (a classic rock weekend) we started sharing events and posts with heavy metal, rock and blues Groups that we joined. We shared with Motorcycle Groups and other genre relate pages, we shared the events with local businesses involved in tourism and on every band page performing. We were to use that awful phrase, "fishing where the fishes were" - we were engaging in conversations with people who we already knew had an interest in the subject and we took our message to them rather than waiting for them to stumble upon us. The results were quite incredible with an incredibly launch period and the very quick creation of "brand awareness" and a 30 second teaser video that was viewed more than 12,000 times.

If you have a series of music events then let the local accommodation providers know and share with community groups and business associations - those hospitality businesses should be taking your events and adding them to their own pages as part of their own marketing strategies.let them know what you've got on and encourage them to talk about it.

"If you're coming to Scotland in November what about booking with our hotel in Troon. For rock fans we have a two day event taking place just up the road in the Concert Hall featuring world class bands. Click on the Event below for ticket information and book direct online at our website"

It makes sense doesn't it? You have a hotel with rooms to sell in late November so why would you not add EVERY local events that's taking place onto your own business page. Easy to do as well - click on the Events page, open the event and click on the three dots top right - the drop down will say "Add to Page" - simply select your own page and it will magically be on your events listing.

All hoteliers, all accommodation providers, all hospitality businesses should understand that it is this simple power to share and collaborate that is the real strength of social media. It engages the visitor and gives them additional reasons to come to your area. If every destination could get everyone collaborating at even the simplest of levels such as this there is little doubt that real benefits would accrue.

It's not just Ayrshire for sure but that happens to be what I'm working on just now and it's pretty unbelievable how totally neglected the events listing actually is.

The Gaiety, Ayr Racecourse, South Ayrshire Events, The Palace Theatre, smaller venues, larger venues... All have lists of previous events and not one of them has a list of what's forthcoming.

I am not a flag bearer for Facebook as a wonderful business tool - far from it - but it is a truism that you will only get out what you put in. And if you put in nothing you cannot expect to be found. Facebook, like your website requires content; content requires commitment, and then and only then will that content convert.

If you have twenty events in place for the next year get them into your Facebook page. If you don't know how to do it then make a member of your staff an author on your business page and get them to do it for you.

As I still have a tendency to say, "There's now way but the hard way so get used to it".

For help with Developing your Relationships drop us an email or call us on 01294 233713.

Early season bookings can give you the start you need.

Some days you may struggle to choose a subject to write about but today wasn't one of them.

It opened with an article in my inbox indicating that Expedia had quietly retired Venere from the OTA shelves. Venere was Expedia's equivalent of Priceline's Booking.com and apparently slid away in December.

This was then followed by two calls from clients looking for advice on their booking engine and how they could improve their direct sales. We've just restarted blogging on Tourism Matters again but if you look back to 2008 when we first started the theme was all about improving direct revenues and being wary, VERY wary, of the enticements of the third party online travel agents!

Some things haven't changed.

We ran a search for "Book Direct" in the Tourism Matters blog and found a screed of articles and advice on building direct business  many of which remain highly relevant.

The Importance of January and February for online sales

The first ten to twelve weeks of the year can be the most lucrative of the year and the smart hotels are ensuring that they are stocking up on low cost DIRECT bookings from both new and established clients. As much as 40% of your online business can be generated in these early months and for the advanced bookings the good news is that the majority are not looking for cheap deals.

Loch Lomondside Half Price Offer

Clients such as The Oak Tree Inn at Balmaha have been pushing their January to March rooms with their annual online room sale offering Sunday through Thursday special rates for their direct online bookings. They are filling empty spaces and keeping costs down by not selling through the high costs OTAs.

Half Price Rooms

Five Star Weekend Breaks in Ayrshire

One of our five star clients in Ayrshire started using their own private "Flash Sales" to their closed mailing lists for the first time generating substantial business from a single mail shot via a limited time offer only open for six hours.

The offer price was only visible to their mailing list and didn't undermine the public rate visible on the site. So delighted with the results that they are planning a series of exclusives for quieter dates over the coming quarter.

With your booking engine you can easily create exclusive, added value offers that are not available through the third party sites.

The above two clients are both using Bookassist for their booking engine on their site but even if your engine doesn't have these functions it is essential that you ensure that your rates and availability are set to encourage direct bookings. There are so  many easy ways to convert more direct business that it is almost criminal to just sit back and accept that you can't do anything about it. YOU may not close them down overnight but that's not the objective. You simply want to reduce your cost of sale by taking back more of YOUR direct custom.

So just in case you haven't given it any thought here's what we recommend you look at today!

• Maximum Availability on your own site - don't close out rooms unnecessarily
• Best Available Rate throughout the whole year - always, never cheaper elsewhere and ensure your site says Best Rate Guarantee or similar.
• Plan your seasonal rates and promotions - Valentines, Easter, Mothers Day, Autumn Offers and yes even Festive Packages. Create your packages now and get them up and bookable online as soon as you can.
• Plan exclusive offers to your mailing list and start filling those spaces with low cost direct offers.

If you're looking for a little more inspiration, we wrote a whole series of Best Book Direct articles more than four years ago for Advent! We are going to redo them but if you want assured that we have been consistent in our approach you could do worse than have a look. Still some great advice in here

Best Book Direct