Vacations Go Local | Travel Trends | Marketing Mistakes We All Make

Vacations Go Local

Greetings
No questions, higher gas prices are going to effect tourism. While there have been no "official studies" on the real effect of gas prices on vacations, there have been numerous articles.

An article from Minnesota stated " But high gas prices aren't likely to hurt summer travel in Minnesota, and in fact some tourism officials see it as a potential boost." The logic is that vacations will continue to be in local places since it is too expensive to go other places.

Minnesota tourism seems to be less affected by high gas prices than states like South Dakota and Montana. Those states rely heavily on drawing tourists from across the country. South Dakota has offered out of state travelers $20 dollar gas vouchers, although that program is currently on hold because of overwhelming demand. These places compete with big name resorts like Disney so they are trying to attract the drive market to their area.

The most important note, is that all these places are reacting to the consumer PERCEPTION, whether true or not, that it is too expensive to travel, and certainly too expensive to drive. Importantly, they are reacting, changing their marketing, moving quickly so as not to lose the summer business and incetivize customers to their places.

Maybe for our drive markets, an incentive to "come in Summer and Come back in Winter" with a promotional coupon might be a way to get the customer back to your business.

Marketing Mistakes

Wasted money on marketing. We try not to, but sometimes you just don't know. Other times you definitely know before the ad sales guru even ropes you in.

Example #1: Buying ads in publications where the first shot at the customer is already gone. Why would you place a lodging ad in a local newspaper, or an "in resort guide" when the customer who will read that pub, is already there. Your only chance is if they take that guide with them on and keep it for their next vacation.

Example #2, You're a sporting good company that has rentals and you place an ad in the local papers. You are excluding a key segment, the visitor, and are banking they will see the ad in the paper before they rent, but in fact, you lose twice because they may rent before they get to town or before they see your ad, if they even see it all.

Example #3: You're a restaurant and you offer a 2 for 1 special so you place an ad in the local paper hoping the lower prices will help you get some of the visitors to town. Instead you get all the locals, who you just fed for free. Better would be to mail the coupon to the guest via a partnership with a lodger or a company who can get the coupon in their hands before they get to town.

In all cases, when you market, you must hit the customer when they are ready to buy, or in the frame of mind that they are ready to buy, not after they bought as your marketing money is not used to its best potential, and in the case of the restaurant, even a detriment.