Ten Event Tourism Tips to increase Holiday Home Bookings

Last Updated on April 20, 2015 by admin

Ever wondered how to make more of events and use them to increase bookings? Here are our top ten event tourism tips to increase holiday home bookings by making the most of festivals and cultural events in the locality of your holiday letting property.

Is there a Facebook page or group for the event?

If it’s a large event and you can find an official Facebook page you’ll undoubtedly be on to a winner. It’ll be packed full of people either interesting in, or actively looking to attend the event.

Where will they be staying?

Consider asking the administrators of the group or page if they’re happy for you to promote your accommodation.

Share event content to your own page

Those that have already liked your Facebook page will be interested in your cottage; why not give them another reason to stay by sharing content from local event groups and pages?

It gives you great content and may entice them to make that booking they’ve been thinking about!

It’ll also ensure you never get stuck for content ideas!

Get Re-Tweeting!

The same applies to Twitter.  Those following your account are already interested in what you have to offer; could a brilliant event push them from tempted to booking?

Remember that Twitter moves quickly; don’t be afraid to frequently tweet about an event, as if it’s just one tweet, it’s destined to be lost in the Twitter noise!

If the event has a hashtag be sure to include this whenever you’re talking about the event in order to increase your reach even further!

Consider talking to the event organisers

This could potentially open up new promotional avenues by gaining contact with people actively searching for information about the event (if you are able to featured on their website) and by utilising the event’s own database of contacts (if you are able to be included in email marketing or other direct marketing).

A link from their site will also give you targeted traffic and aid your search engine efforts.

Remember that in terms of timing you’ll need to be doing this well in advance of the event itself.

Is there information on your website?

Consider having a page on your website that has information about the event.

Try to make this as informative as possible; how far are you from the event? Will they be able to walk or will they need to drive? Is there parking? What time are things happening and who is appearing?

Also ensure that the page title has the name of the event contained within it; this will help you rank in Google when people are searching for that event.

Maximise the exposure!

Don’t just have a page!  Make sure you also include information within your blog; why not give regular updates on local events for your visitors?

Adding relevant, fresh and frequent content to your website will also keep visitors and Google happy. Having this on your blog and a dedicated page will make sure they see it!

Have you included that information in your e-shots?

The only issue with adding great content about events is that you’re relying on people visiting your site in order to find it.

Email marketing is a great way to create year-round contact with potential visitors. Ensure you include your latest event information each time you send your emails; it may be the nudge that someone needs to make a booking.

Email signatures

Email marketing isn’t all about Mail Chimp or sending beautifully branded emails to potential visitors.  Many of us will send in excess of 50 standard emails each day.

Do you promote local events in your email signature?

If not you could be missing out on repeat promotion and engagement with potential email enquiries.

Considered advertising?

Have you looked at the potential Cost Per Click (CPC) of advertising to those searching for the event? Researching this is quick, easy and free to do. Simply register for an Adwords account (no cost to register) and then use the Keyword Planner to access how many people are searching and how much it would cost for you to advertise.

Make a week of it!

Many events will take place over a single day. A single night in peak months this will obviously be unappealing to many holiday homes. Make sure you think of ways in which you can integrate the event into their week; could you perhaps team up with event organisers to offer your guests reduced admission?

If you have any advice to add to our top Ten Event Tourism Tips to increase Holiday Home Bookings please leave a comment below.

Boshers offer specialist holiday home insurance to holiday letting owners across the UK. For more information on how a specialist insurer can help provide you peace of mind as a holiday homeowner, please give us a call on 01237 429444.