Sunday, September 11, 2016

9 Ways to attract Tourists to your Homestays

1. They want an authentic local experience
Travelers these days are seeking an authentic experience whilst travelling. That is why they travel. They do not want to be “hoarded off” onto another tour bus or brought to another tourist joint for a meal. Instead, they too want to go where the locals go, immersing themselves fully to experience and learn about a new culture.
2. They want to learn new things
Tourists today are more likely to seek out educational and cultural experiences. Once retired, they seek out “serious leisure”, may it be in cultivating a hobby or joining a volunteering organisation to enhance their lives. What they really want is to be intellectually stimulated, which is why an experienced and well-trained guide is necessary to attract them to your stay & tours.
3. They want adventure
There are two types of Tourists - the “old at heart” and the “young at heart”. While the former group prefer slower paced experiences, the latter are actively seeking out adventure and sometimes push themselves to their physical limits as a form of self-discovery.
The key to organizing an ideal adventure tour or activity for them is by creating adventure in a controlled environment. Your travelers want to know that they can experience new adventures while being safe. Some precautions usually taken by companies includes ensuring that travelers meet a certain level of health and fitness by having them fill out a simple questionnaire.
Another thing you can do is to inform your customers about the sort of “rugged” adventure they would be going on.
4. Use “Traditional” social media avenues to reach them
Despite being over 50 years old, this market is spurring the growth of social media. The key is to find out which platforms they’re on and engage with them there. Many marketing experts agree that the “traditional” social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are where you will find a majority of them.
5. Don’t forget about the rest of the world wide web too!
A lot of their decisions are also based on searches through search engines and recommendations from others, may it be on peer review sites or from friends and family. So yes, that means your website is pretty important in attracting customers from this segment to your tours.
6. They are active not passive tourists
By this point, you should have concluded that these are very active travelers, with an emphasis on what they can learn and do while on their trips. This is important when you market your tours to them.
Focus on the different activities they’ll be able to engage in and the unique experiences they’ll gain from it. Craft out content and messages that speak to them in this way.
7. Do not underestimate the value of travel agents
Some are budget conscious but they aren’t deterred by paying that little bit more if they are convinced that it will make the trip that much more memorable. Work to make sure that your tour or activity is their preferred choice. Partner up with travel agents, allow them to book your trips for their customers and give them the commission they deserve. Everybody wins.
8. They are more likely to take their children and grandchildren on their next trip too.
Imagine planning a trip for your whole family, it sounds like a nightmare. This is probably why they’re likely to use a travel agent to organise their next holiday. For tour and activity operators, you will need to make sure that your activities appeal to at least two different generations. If all else fails, make sure there’s good ol’ WiFi to keep everyone satisfied.
9. You need to be a considerate Tour and Activity operator
This is probably the most important point when it comes to attracting them onto your tours and activities. It is difficult to highlight exact guidelines for this point so I’ll just give you a few examples to give you a better understanding of what I mean: Your guides should be aware of the various physical capacities of your customers, and perhaps schedule in a few breaks during that 5 hour hike.
Having prior knowledge about your customers’ dietary requirements usually leaves a better impression. Some first-aid knowledge is probably useful as well.
Get a better idea of who your target audience is.