Still paying by cheque?

Despite the development of internet banking and widespread use of credit cards there is still a large number of businesses paying by cheque.

This seems to be very common within the tourism industry.

People think cheque payment is quick an inexpensive but think again:

Disadvantages to cheque drawer:

• Banks charge more for processing cheques.
• You have to track outstanding cheques in your bank account to ensure you don't become overdrawn to avoid additional bank fees.
• You have to post/deliver the cheque to the person
• Even if you are not been charged by the bank for using cheques you might be able to obtain a better deal by moving to electronic payments.
  

Disadvanates to the cheque receiver:

• There is a cost to the person you are sending the cheque to.
• They will have to pay more to bank a cheque
• The funds are not immediately available
• They have to physically visit the bank.

So what are the alternatives:

• Pay via internet banking
• Pay via credit card (or use a debit card)

Even if you incur minimal costs to process a cheque the total cost between the cheque sender and receive there is a substantial. You can be sure the receiving business understands these costs and will result in higher charges.

In a previous web hosting company we used to offer a discount of 5% for direct credit and 2% for credit cards to encourage people to move to a cheaper payment method.

Online Reviews

A recent blog about online reviews is worth a read - "More Support for Truth being Online Gold Dust on the Travel & Tourism Technology blog

The most interesting suggestion was the following:

I would like to see a comment card at a hotel that says "How are we doing? Let us know by writing a review at TripAdvisor.com". Wow, how forward thinking would that be.

Hopefully you already know about TripAdvisor.com but his suggestion to encourage reviews is an excellent idea.

There are a number of reasons to encourage reviews and provide a link to these reviews within your website:

• It shows a commitment to maintaining the quality of your product
• Encourages positive reviews
• Identifies areas which require improvement
• Any negative posts can be responded online
• This makes the process of reviews very transparent
• The reviews are seen as independent.

So what do you think?

Let us know if you have a link to trip advisor on your website?

We are investigating introducing a review process on RainbowTourism.com and would like you thoughts on this as well.

How to build loyalty

How do you build loyalty from the markets you are trying to target.

Two recent blogs on the gay and lesbian travel market highlight this issue

• Familiarity Breeds...Loyalty
• How-To: Avoid Common Mistakes in Reaching Gays and Lesbians

The ideas in both these blogs can apply to whatever sectors you are targeting.

The key issues are:

• Consistent advertising messages which are reflected in day to day operations of your business. This means if you employ staff they need to understand how you are promoting your business.
  
• Don't assume your target market is all the same.
  
• Your target market actually may be part of other groups you are marketing so make sure all your messages are consistent to all groups.
  

There is more but I will leave you to read the two blogs.

Let us know your thoughts by leaving some comments.

Why Blog

Many tourism operators think they are too busy to blog or think they have nothing to say.

The reality is operators have a lot to say. Here are some ideas:

• New services that you have in your business.
• Specials and deals
  
• A new tour that is now available in the location
• A local event
• A new show at the local Art Gallery
• An interesting comment from a guest of some things they did.

A blog doesn't have to be word perfect and each post can be quiet short.

If you think you don't have time or don't have ideas have a scrap of paper and stick any idea you think of to blog on the fridge then when you need a break grab them and pick the one that inspires you today.

Blogging is easy and with blogger.com from google you can be blogging in minutes.

If you are describing places or events you can quickly add photos.

How do people find your blog:

• Add a link from your website.
• Comment on other peoples blog.
  
• Signup for technorati.com
• Use feedburner.com to distribute your blog via an RSS Feed and email.
• Display your blog headlines on your website like we have done on RainbowTourism.com

If you still not sure then contact me and we can work with you to develop a strategy for your blog.

Money For Nothing - Content is King

An interesting post on the Saausu blog about Seth Goddin new ebook Money for Nothing.

The key point in the ebook is that to obtain web traffic you have...

"to create content that is updated, unique and useful"

So is SEO dead. The short answer is NO. But it if you want people to link and refer traffic to your website make sure it has good relevant content otherwise your investment in SEO is a waste of money.

So what do you do.

You focus on what you do best. So in the case of RainbowTourism.com we have focused on getting content and great tourism operators online.

We had to then find a strategy on how to manage this. This is where Canz design came in and helped us get our new website up. We have also employed them to help with our back end maintenance.

Now we have the site online we will also have them undertake SEO work.

This takes time and money but if you are serious about developing your online presence it is an investment will worth your while.

This investment means we can focus on getting new content on the site so that we generate more bookings.

So what is your strategy? Feel free to leave comments below.

What is your yield

A recent news article on the yield in New Zealand tourism industry makes interesting reading.

Some of the key points are below:

New research scoring the tourism industry on its profitability has labelled it a cash cow with a lack of business savvy.

But the research, based on the return on investment from tourism businesses between 1999 and 2003, has shown a casual attitude to business profitability resulting in mixed yields across the sector.

The average yield for all New Zealand businesses surveyed was 5.7 per cent return on investment, and tourism businesses varied from earning a lot to losing money.

Typically the difference was in individual business practice, with many businesses simply not understanding more than visitor numbers and total revenue.

What is interesting is the wide range of yields and the fact that a lot of businesses do not know their financial yield on investment.

So how can you increase your yield.

First - know what your yield is so get a good accounting system and measure the investment you have made into the business.

Here is some ideas:

• Ensure your accommodation, tours, etc are full - this is where having a good online booking system helps.
  
• Have you set your price correctly?
  
• When did you last increase your price?
• Do you book onward tours/accommodation/rental cars - if you do then negotiate a commission with the operators.
• Have a good accounting system to make sure you have collected all money's owed.
• Track advertising effectiveness - if a method of advertising isn't working then discuss with the company you are advertising with. If they can't come up with some ideas then drop it.
• Ensure your site is Search Engine friendly

I would interested in your ideas for increasing your yield. So post your comments below.

Chinese Tourist Growth

With the increasing wealth in China it is now predicted that China will be New Zealand's third biggest inbound tourism market within five years.

There is also likely to be a similar growth in Australia.

This raises some challenges for your tourism business if you want to capture some of this market:

• Language - do you have any Mandarin speaking staff
• Website - do you it translated into Mandarin or at least a web page in Mandarin
• How do you reach this market?
• How do you ensure that your build your tourism business as Chinese friendly destination
• How do you get known in the market
  

You could also decide that the Chinese market is not where your focus is but make sure you understand what your focus is.

Some ways to get into this market is to invest in your website then investing in SEO.

You also need to ensure your website is visible within China.

These are all things a good web company can manage for you.

Languages

Most tourist websites in Australia and New Zealand are in English only.

However if you have the ability (or your staff) have the ability to speak and/or read another language then you should seriously consider having some or all of your website translated.

This will set you apart from other websites.

For example the Rail New Zealand website now targeting Chinese travellers with a translated website.

You don't even have to translate your whole website just one page in someones own language may be enough to sell your tourist business over someone elses.

Why should you visit

Even if you are in a major tourist region you should put on your website some suggested activities for visitors to your region.

Most places have a great rack of brochures in their reception area but this isn't any good when people are planning their holiday.

You need to get this information on your website for the following reasons:

a) It gives visitors some ideas of what they can do and it might make the difference between staying overnight to staying all week.

b) Helps with search ranking and building links

Even the most basic site can have this on one page even if it is a list of activities something like this:

Golf course open to the public
Horse riding for all ages along the beach

And don't forget to put the name of the Golf course and location.

e.g. Moore Park golf course in the heart of Centennial Park, Sydney is open to the public.

Of course if you have more time you can actually write a story about each type of activity.

This is something we are doing on RainbowTourism.com. An example is our recent new article on Phillip Island just out of Melbourne. This article also mentions Daylesford which is a better known gay destination in Victoria. This means potentially someone looking for Daylesford might actually pick up this article and decide to visit Phillip Island as well as Daylesford.

So think about what is unique about your location. Is it comparable to another destination but offers something different. Use that as the basis to build some more content to help promote your business.

The other good source for content is to ask your guests for feedback about the region, why they visited and what they like to do.

Of course the best way to do this is with Search Engine Friendly CMS from CANZ Design. For a small investment you can then build your site as you find time.