Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

bedandbreakfast.com

If you know the conferences, you can advertise on their websites. If you know the companies that are traveling to the area, you can contact them directly.

Michael

Obviously, direct advertising to ICC attendees (if list is available); consider local CVB (convention and visitor bureau); in taxis/trains/metro transportation as appropriate. Also, consider purchasing advt on the above web sites and social network connected to the above as well.

Good luck

Hi, Carol. I apologize in advance for the long reply.

With just eight rooms, you can't afford a giant advertising budget, so you might be better to think in terms of general marketing and highly targeted promotion. You can’t advertise to the whole world effectively, so target one area and start there. Here are some thoughts about marketing to the U.S.

1. Get listed on the big online reservations systems.
List your guest house on Expedia.com. You'll have to pay a commission for every booking, but that is much cheaper than advertising on such websites. The benefit of listing with Expedia is, they have a very large base of business travelers who shop for alternatives to big, expensive hotels. https://www.venere.com/add-hotel/registration.php.

Another good alternative is to list your guest house in the “hotel” section of Sabre, the largest airline reservation system. Hotels listed on Sabre appear on the Travelocity.com website, which competes with Expedia. Start here: https://www.sabretravelnetwork.com/home/products_services/travel_supplier/h...

2. Don’t overlook South African connections to overseas business travelers.
Make sure inbound operators and safari companies based in Johannesburg and Cape Town know about your guest house, as their clients often add Durban to their itineraries and look for specialty recommendations rather than chain hotels. Offer them a commission and guarantee the satisfaction of anyone they refer. Here are two lists:
https://www.southafrica.co.za/directory/Travel/Tour_Operators/
https://www.aboutuganda.com/tour-operators-south-africa.html

5. Use social media
Set up a blog called something like “www.traveltodurban.com” and post articles that would interest business travelers to Durban. Place advertisements for your guest house in the advertising area of the blog. Then, create a Facebook page (www.facebook.com) and look for travelers interested in Durban to become their “friends.” Offer Facebook friends an extra night free, or a half-day tour of the city, or some other special benefit, if they book your guest house. This will attract younger business travelers.

Also, take a lot of really good digital pictures of Durban and of your guest house and post them on www.Flickr.com. Make sure to mark them under the “Creative Commons” license, as this allows others to pick up your pictures and publish them on blogs, websites and newsletters. Provide the images in the highest resolution you can, so print media can use them as well. Add a detailed caption for each picture as this will influence what the blogger, website or newsletter writes about the photos.

If you have the capability, video something charming about Durban (perhaps someone telling an engaging story about Durban’s history and how it evolved into such a large city and gorgeous beach resort), and post it on www.YouTube.com. The credits should list your guest house contact information and website.

6. Use Google Adwords to buy online ads for keywords that exactly match the names of ICC conferences, such as: “Sustainable City Exhibition” and “SADTU Conference.” So, when people type those words into their browsers, your ad will appear. You can set an affordable daily limit for these ads, and you can change the keywords so that you’ll always be advertising for specific conventions about 30-90 days before they start, which is when most people are likely to book their hotels. See www.adwords.google.com.

Combined, these tactics will get you increased exposure to potential guests, on a budget that makes sense for an eight-room property. Best of luck to you!

Hi Carol,

I agree with the approach suggested by Peg. With just 8 rooms, you have limited revenue even it is full for 365 days a year. So your advertising cost should be accordingly, so that you have enough profits at the end of the day, that you can continue running your guest house.

i really suggest the digital media route. As this is less expensive compare to the normal conventional advertising medium, but it needs your time.

But the most important point which i would like to suggest you is on the message which you will pass on to your prespective customers. Whatever medium you choose, depending upon your budget and targeted customer, The message should keep you stand apart, so that you can gain maximum attention. I am sure there are hundreds of guest houses around your area who are capable of providing similar or better service. You need to really craft your message in such a way, so that you should not sound like "Me-too" like guesthouse. You may analyse what your copetitors don't provide and you have that feature. COmmunicate that message - what you are not - to yoru target audiance. this will give you quick attention.

Hope this will help you.

All the Best.

Nishant Manchanda