Emerging Questions

Some very concerned innkeepers have asked just how important it really is to take steps to promote small inns in some of the areas expected to be impacted by an ease in tourist visa requirements.

My answer?

Well, that depends.

Because it really does. Depend on where your guests are coming from today and how losing some guests from your traditional demographics will impact your bottom line.

If your inn has been seeing a lot of European visitors over the last few years, it is my opinion that you need to start today to think about how you're going to replace those visitors. Because you will, in all likelihood, see fewer of them over the next few years. Because if you haven't already noticed, austerity is killing Europe.

But that doesn't mean your inn has to see a decrease overall. It just means you need to plan ahead for the coming change.

Consider Greece.

Who is going to Greece these days? Well, unsurprisingly, a lot less Europeans than usually would.

But what has Greece done to replace those lost European visitors?

Relaxed visa requirements. Very smart.

Who is coming instead?

The Russians are coming to Greece. In droves.

As in an 88% increase in Russian visitors, enough to drive their overall tourism dollars up. Yes, overall tourism is up, despite all the woes Greece is facing.

Here in the states, we'll see our own version of a shift in tourists. That is, if and when President Obama's executive order results in actual change in visa requirements.

And here's the thing. You can't expect that tourists from Brazil and China will naturally gravitate to the same areas that tourists from Europe have been gravitating. For a variety of reasons including the very basic difference in where they'll land when the get here.

But you can begin to look into where those flights may come in close to you. You can begin to look at press releases targeted at in-flight magazines. You can target those areas in your online marketing campaigns. Your association can work on creating a marketing plan that assists all of the members of your area to make sure your area remains busy, even when the demographics of your visitors changes.

What if your guest base now is almost all domestic, almost all from your state? Well, you'll see less of a loss of European travel than others whose inns depend on it. But don't discount the impact your overall community may feel from that loss if steps aren't taken now to make sure your area remains in the hearts, minds, and travel plans of a whole new demographic base.

But if you want to increase your base, expand your target area of international visitors, and ensure that your inn stays viable in the days ahead?

Don't wait. Start planning now and get those guests to your inn, take good care of them while they're there so that they can spread the word for you.

See how simple that is?

The End of Trust

Wish I could say I'm surprised. But regular readers know that I'm not.

Sadly, not at all surprised that a small hotel group in Ireland would appear to have been caught red-handed conspiring to write fake reviews. Reviews meant to bury a slew of bad reviews.

No, it's not that I know the hotel group in question. I don't.

But I have seen this game before, all too often. It's a problem that goes far beyond a few bad apples.

Sure, now they're saying it was all one big misunderstanding. But the thing is, it always is. A big misunderstanding.

The correct understanding being, of course, that travelers who are reading reviews on an online review site that promotes itself as a purveyor of real reviews by real travelers are actually from real travelers. Real travelers who are not investors in the inn, not family members of the inn owner, not other innkeepers with whom ethically challenged innkeepers trade reviews for fun and profit.

Okay, so TA no longer claim they're trustworthy reviews. Because, you know, they're not.

But by the same token, how can they claim that they're even real or honest reviews? How can they say who wrote them or what interest they may have?

There are just too many instances of reviews written exactly as the internal memo exposed in the Irish Times sets forth. By employees - or managers or investors or friends and family members of the owner - pretending that they're just ordinary paying guests. When they're not.

I know, I know. It's tough out there. Folks slam inns for all the wrong reasons. One bad review can have severe and lasting impact, especially for a small inn. Trust me, I understand all too well the damage that can be done by malicious folks determined to cause harm. I know it hurts.

But my refrain is the same as it's always been. When you post fake reviews or allow others to fake post reviews on your behalf, you're part of the problem now. Because you are now enticing guests to stay at your property based on a fraudulent assertion.

Sorry but that is just not cool by any standard.

Guests put a great deal of trust in innkeepers who are expected to respect their right to privacy, their right to a quiet night's sleep in a clean room with a comfy bed, their right to safety, their right to get what they've been told they're going to get. That trust is something I take seriously as should any innkeeper. It's a trust that is fundamentally broken when innkeepers post fake reviews.

I have no idea how many of the reviews on TA are really fake. But the thing is, I don't think TA does either, whatever they claim to the contrary.

I know that I see obviously fake reviews almost every time I take a close look. I know that I see patterns that are hard to ignore, unless that ignorance is willful. And it's that willful ignorance that is so damning.

So call me unsurprised by a regulatory order in the UK that TA must refrain from advertising that their reviews are from "real travellers, or were honest, real or trusted."

Because, you know, too many times they're just not.

850 Billion?

That's a pretty big number, alright, but it's still the projected dollar impact of easing tourist visa requirements for some countries, Brazil and China in particular. And it's a number that surely should inspire innkeepers to put those thinking caps on.

Who wants those dollars, besides innkeepers themselves? Retail.

Many of the regular readers of this humble blog are in rural areas, so the idea that retail will get a big boost may seem a bit of a stretch.

But for folks in the big shopping cities - NY, San Francisco, Chicago - it's not a stretch at all. It's something to get excited about.

Many, many tourists do shop til they drop on visits to the states. Even cities like Washington, DC and Atlanta witness the frenzied shopping of many of the travelers from abroad. If they're paying attention, that is.

What's smart about what the retailers are doing? They're already planning - and executing - advertising campaigns in Brazil and China. Very smart.

And how about you, dear readers? Not promoting your inn in Brazil, China, and other countries to be impacted by anticipated change in regulations?

Why not?

If you've ever traveled to another country yourself, you know the value of a personal connection to ease the cultural shock. No one does that better than innkeepers, especially innkeepers of small inns known for providing the personal touch.

850 Billion. Don't know if I quite believe that big number is real or not. But I do know that the dollars spent by tourists from those countries will be one very big number indeed.

Folks, don't let those dollars only go to the fat cats. The time for campaign planning is now.

What Are You Waiting For?

Still no rain in sight. Perfect hiking weather. Glorious kayaking weather.

If you're not in California, don't you think it's time you thought about doing something about that?