5 Practical Ways to Attract Tourist Back to Your Business: Restaurants, Hotels, Spas and More

Screenshot 2021 04 10 062228 Screenshot 2021 04 10 062228

According to Statista, the tourism industry had a global economic contribution of a whopping $9.25tr in 2019. That is an incredible amount of revenue by any standard.

And it’s growing by the years.

Or it was… that’s before Covid-19 struck and crippled every industry there is on the planet.

Needless to say due to the strict travel and “no-gathering” health restrictions no one could travel. This meant that the tourism industry suffered greatly.

Let’s not overstate the obvious. If your business is in the tourism industry, you may have taken a serious hit.

Fortunately, all is not lost.

In this post we’d go over 5 practical ways to get those eager tourists running to your business.

…after the pandemic craziness blows over.

  1. Create Localized Content

The tourism industry is built around people traveling to cool places to do fun stuff.  This means that your business is in or around some of these cool places. And so, if you are looking to drive tourists to your business, you want to create local content.

By local content, I mean content that point back to the local area where your business is located. For instance, if you manage a restaurant, you may create content like “Where to get the best Tacos in Bali”. Somewhere in the middle of the content you throw in your restaurant as one of the Taco spots.

Publishing content that are relevant to your target audience, you are more likely to get talked about amongst tourists. You’d also get linked to other site and ranked on Google.

Content marketing is crucial at this point. You want to engage that early on before the restrictions are lifted.

  1. Keep An Eye Out For Online Reviews, and Respond, Too.

Premium advice: Never take online reviews for granted.

93% of internet users affirm that reviews influence their buying decisions. Imagine that!

Online reviews can make or mar your brand. In this case, we want it to help drive tourists to your business. So, how do you do this?

There are 2 things you must put effort into if you want to make the most of your reviews:

First is acquiring them.

You need to make sure you have got systems in place to efficiently collect customer reviews. Get your brand registered on TripAdvisor (or other such platforms) if you haven’t already. And then make it easy for your customers to leave feedback on there.

To do this, create links that lead directly to your review page. It takes away unnecessary steps and makes dropping reviews a joy for your customers.

Second is managing them.

It’s one thing to gather reviews and it’s another thing to manage and put them to use. Scintillating reviews are great. You can splash them on every platform you own or manage. They can get potential customers to trust your business.

At the same time, negative reviews are also great. They can feel personal and leave a bad taste in your mouth. However, they represent an incredible opportunity to show how much you value the opinion of your customers.

Although a lot of business owners shy away from negative reviews, it’s important that you respond to them. This way, you can demonstrate empathy and show people that your business is run by people with feelings and emotions.

Here’s a platform that helps you manage all your reviews.

  1. Give Them Something They Will Never Forget

And by “something”, I mean an experience.

Experience is a kind of value and very few businesses are taking it into consideration. Remember, your business isn’t the only one in the entire industry. The competition in the tourism space is fierce.

To distinguish your brand, you need to be different. Or offer potential customers an experience they will never forget.

If you have tourists going by your business daily, try to create something to get their attention. For instance, you could have a live demonstration of a product you sell. Or a free tasting event in front of your restaurant.

When you do this, ensure you use bright colours on your store-front banners to catch the attention of passers-by. And hopefully get them through the door.

  1. Take Advantage Of High Tech

It’s the 21st century, guys.

Well, you already knew that. However, you may not be taking advantage of one of the biggest leverage the century offers: Technology. Don’t get it yet?

Let me explain…

This century is froth with all kinds of amazing tech, a good number of which a jaw-dropping. You can use these techs to attract tourists to your business with little effort.

For instance, there are high-class shopping stores in Singapore that use large 3D screens to draw attention. The animations displayed on these screens are so surreal it has frightened a few passers-by. In an amusing way of course.

Another common technology you could use is virtual reality (VR) or its brother augmented reality.

You could invite tourists walking by your store to checkout your latest menu or 5-star suite using VR. This kind of experience is likely to get visitors interested in your brand and walk in to check out your business.

But hey, if you are looking to use technology, you should consider…

  1. …Offering Free Wi-Fi

1000 bucks says Wi-Fi is the most consumed commodity on the planet – right behind oxygen. And for businesses in the tourism industry, Wi-Fi should be at the top of all marketing efforts.

That may sound outrageous until you know how many people will not so much as look at a business twice if there’s no Wi-Fi sign outside its door. For tourists in these modern times, Wi-Fi sums up the idea of fun.

Why?

Well, with Wi-Fi there’s a lot a tourist can do.

Need help finding the nearest café? Just whip out your smart phone and check Google Maps.

Just seen the 8th wonder of the world and want to share it with friends on Facebook? Sure, get your iPhone out and hit “share”.

Wanna live stream on Instagram and show your friends who you are hanging with? Easy peasy.

The only problem is, all these activities require connection to the internet. And that’s why your visitors need Wi-Fi. I guess you can see why offering free Wi-Fi makes your business all the more desirable to potential customers.

Internet access for your visitors means they’d share their experience with your brand with their friends. As a result, more people get to hear about your business and will likely visit.

But that’s not all…

There’s something in it for your business – data!

Using the right Wi-Fi platform, you can collect customer data in exchange for internet access. This data provides you crucial insight into the behaviour of your visitors and customers alike. With this insight you can better communicate with them and tailor your message to meet their individual needs.

 

In conclusion…

One thing I love about these 5 tips is that they are easy to implement. They may cost you some money to apply but the returns are so much greater in terms of financial value and customer relationship.

There’s so much more to social Wi-Fi. We can show how to use social Wi-Fi to boost sales but first, you must shoot us a message. We’d get back to you with more details. Or you could request a demo to see how our SpotOn Wi-Fi works.

    Want to take action but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone. Leave your email below, and we’ll get in touch with you ASAP.

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