Extending the tourist season

Perhaps every owner of an accommodation facility dreams of a twelve-month tourist season. Not everyone can succeed at realizing this dream, but one can still find ways to “extend” the tourist season. Encouraging guests to come outside the usual tourist season is one way. Quieter periods can be used to focus on things for which there is no time during busy months: interior and exterior renovations, optimizing the workplace, or updating sales campaigns to entice guests even outside of high season.

Analysis of Reviews

Reviews aren’t just a reflection of the quality of your work and one of the key factors affecting the decisions of potential clients; they are also a valuable source of information. Spending time on their in-depth analysis pays off. What did guests appreciate the most and what disappointed them the most? An honest look at reviews can show you the most frequent reasons why their expectations don’t match their experiences. Does your marketing campaign include something you can in reality provide only in small measure or not at all? On the other hand, are you ignoring something that is often a pleasant surprise for guests?

Guest reviews are valuable for many reasons, including the fact that they provide a unique view through objective eyes without any need to embellish the experience. For example – does your campaign over-emphasize room design, while guests usually tend to appreciate your quiet location near a forest park instead? Are you thus offering clients something else than why they usually arrive?

Major Details

You can gain a new perspective and inspiration if we try to put yourself in your guests’ shoes. How does a change in seasons affect how they will spend their vacation? It’s likely that in the winter they won’t want to spend most of their time outdoors (unless you have a ski hotel). Perhaps they’ll be more interested in good food, galleries, theatres, and indoor activities in general. You can react to the shift in demand with packages that aside from accommodation for example include a voucher for an evening of wine tasting or a concert of classical music. Ideally there would be some seasonal events going on in the vicinity to which you can invite your guests. Local culture is what interests many of them most. You could even create an entire guide for autumn activities in your region, for example. It is precisely due to such “details” that guests like to return and recommend you to their friends and acquaintances.

it is also likely that guests will spend more time in their rooms. Are they sufficiently heated? Are the blankets warm enough? If you have outdoor tables, wont’s guests be cold? Maybe all that’s needed is to supply blankets or a good outdoor heater, and discomfort suddenly becomes a romantic experience.

Optimization of Work

While we’re on the subject of usage of time, you can also take a look at how your staff manages theirs. We can start with receptionists, who are the face of your facility and help create its first impression on guests. Are they swamped with a multitude of activities that an intelligently configured computer could do? Are they under needless stress? How can you reduce their workload so that they can work on the really important things instead of routine tasks? if this subject is of interest to you, don’t miss the next blog, in which we’ll focus on the work of receptionists.

Have we forgotten something? If you have your own experience and tips on how to use the off-season, we’ll be happy if you share them with us.