Accommodation Providers: Don't be Complacent!

It's been a horrendous year-and-a-half for pretty much everyone, all around the world. In the UK, the Tourism and Hospitality industry has been particularly hard-hit and that's no surprise.

People were encouraged to holiday in the UK and we were amongst the first to encourage this, advocating "staycations" on BBC Look North back in April 2020. We also championed shopping locally - as many small businesses faced "going to the wall", whilst the big corporates would always find a way to survive.

Looking at tourism & hospitality, many independent accommodation providers have folded completely, unable to weather the financial storm in an industry that is largely seasonal anyway. Whilst some new business owners have bravely stepped into the fray, the larger, more "corporate" providers have survived seemingly unscathed and are now, in some cases, charging the earth for a week's stay away.

A member-based organisation, Visiting North Yorkshire is at the forefront of efforts to promote the County of North Yorkshire and to keep it in the public eye. The public has a multitude of options when looking for somewhere to go on holiday in this country and North Yorkshire has to stand head & shoulders above the crowd. No easy feat - there's a lot of able competition.

We're always on the look out for new members, more businesses in the sector to join and help swell the ranks. More members gives us a louder voice and enables us to do more good for the collective membership and County alike.

But we have been alarmed by a degree of complacency when speaking with some providers. The same people who were so worried 12 months ago are, currently, experiencing a mini-boom (good for them) but they are completely disregarding what could happen afterwards.

"We're full through to September, so don't need to advertise", is a common response. Pleased as we are (for member or non-member alike) that is fully booked right now, but we are concerned that some are focussed purely on the "now". Perhaps unaware or unwilling to consider what will happen a few weeks hence, as summer gives way to autumn, final restrictions are removed and foreign climes are available once more.

Many relied on repeat visitors, who would go, year on year. A large percentage were older visitors. Unfortunately, that cycle of year-on-year has now been broken. If people still wanted to take a break (in the short windows available last year) they would have likely stayed closer to home. Tragically a percentage of the older visitors may no longer be with us, victims of the very thing that caused all the trouble.

So established trade cannot be relied on, but neither can the "new" customers who are flooding the domestic market because they basically can't go anywhere else. A large chunk will head back abroad as soon as they are able, abandoning the currently flooded home market. Some will, hopefully, see the light and realise that North Yorkshire (for example) has so much to offer on so many levels that there's no need to go to the extra expense of heading abroad at all and will opt to "staycation" more often.

The key to it all is marketing and promotion. Keep the County as a whole and members in particular "front and centre". Don't sit back and assume the current "bounty" will be around forever, as you could be in for a nasty shock. If that comes and you haven't advertised (or been promoted) actively in the mean time, you'll be struggling to make up space on those that have shown a little more foresight.

Don't get left behind.

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Visiting North Yorkshire is a member-based tourism & hospitality organisation which is focussed purely on marketing and promoting the County of North Yorkshire. We are not affiliated in any way to any council or authority and operate entirely independently.

We were established in 2019.

We have very popular, active and highly successful social media channels, have appeared on BBC Look North and ITV Calendar and have a regular slot with Chris Marsden on YO1 Radio.

Membership is £285 per year but, for a limited time, an offer of £195 is available, until all restrictions are lifted on July 19th. If that offer is taken up in time, that price will be retained for the second year on renewal.

Full information & option to join online is here.

Membership brings a variety of benefits, including;

• A full-page advert on our website, in your appropriate category, with no limit on text or images.
• No other businesses will appear on your page - it is all yours!
• 12 social media posts/shout outs in your first month (6 x Twitter, 6 x Instagram), 6 per month after that. That's 78 posts per year as standard.
• Additional social media posts throughout the year.
• Short promotional video - not a simple slideshow of photos!
• Price-freeze on second year of membership.
• Engagement with any promotions you run.
• Personalised, friendly service.
• Heavily discounted feature/interview videos available.

Recent statistics on Facebook performance.

An indicator of success is the number of "Likes" against "Engagement". High "Likes" should equate to high engagement. If it doesn't, then it suggests that the organisation is not connecting with its market.