Travel consumers choose hotels and resorts in a few seconds!

We can help you stand out in a crowded online marketplace!

Introducing Caribbean Consulting’s

Wow Factor – Marketing Advantage

for Competitive Visibility & Increased Bookings!

Caribbean Consulting specializes in presenting your property from a customer’s point of view.

Potential customers are presented with thousands of hotel listings, websites, review sites, auctions, ads, discounts, deals and direct email offers every day. Does your hotel or resort stand out?

As an example, your online photo is just one of the many aspects of “Competitive Visibility”

Which of these listings would you choose when booking a hotel?

(examples taken from actual TripAdvisor listings)

Great Wall View

Do you have a great hotel but show photos of a wall or front door?

This hotel could show a panoramic view of a world heritage site!

Travelers may just see a hotel with lots of steps!

Furniture Display

This hotel has one of the best beaches in the Caribbean – but travelers don’t know!

Is your hotel showing a vacation experience -

or do your listings look more like a furniture showroom?

Unrelated Image

Will a flower or window convince travelers your hotel is the best?

At least turn the camera to show the beach!

Travelers may think that this hotel doesn’t have much to offer!

Wow! I want to go there!

This is a hotel that will get attention in an online booking site!

You may have a better hotel and lower rates – but this hotel will get travelers’ attention!

Your listing photos are only the beginning!

Are you loosing online bookings? Your online marketing may be sending business to your competition!

Travel consumers choose hotels and resorts in a few seconds! We can help you stand out in a crowded online marketplace! Introducing Caribbean Consulting’s Wow Factor – Marketing Advantage for Competitive Visibility & Increased Bookings! Caribbean Consulting specializes in presenting your property from a customer’s point of view. Potential customers are presented with thousands of hotel listings, websites, review sites, auctions, ads, discounts, deals and direct email offers every day. Does your hotel or resort stand out? As an example, your online photo is just one of the many aspects of “Competitive Visibility” Which of these listings would you choose when booking a hotel? (examples taken from actual TripAdvisor listings)

Great Wall View Do you have a great hotel but show photos of a wall or front door? This hotel could show a panoramic view of a world heritage site! Travelers may just see a hotel with lots of steps! Furniture Display This hotel has one of the best beaches in the Caribbean – but travelers don’t know! Is your hotel showing a vacation experience - or do your listings look more like a furniture showroom? Unrelated Image Will a flower or window convince travelers your hotel is the best? At least turn the camera to show the beach! Travelers may think that this hotel doesn’t have much to offer! Wow! I want to go there! This is a hotel that will get attention in an online booking site! You may have a better hotel and lower rates – but this hotel will get travelers’ attention! Your listing photos are only the beginning! Travelers compare search, ranking, reviews, price, amenities, presentation, positioning & VALUE! And this before they even get to your website! Will travel consumers choose your hotel?

Caribbean Consulting’s Wow Factor – Marketing Advantage for Competitive Visibility & Increased Bookings! Caribbean Consulting specializes in presenting your property from a customer’s point of view. We have worked with hundreds of hotels and resorts for more than a decade to increase bookings, cash flow and guest satisfaction with unique marketing solutions. Our one week program examines your ‘online identity’ & ‘bookability’ from the travelers’ perspective to provide comprehensive, easy to implement solutions to stand out from your competition! We create a compelling online presence that gets attention and a ‘Wow, I want to go there!” response from travel consumers ready to book hotels. Whether you’re a General Manager of a major resort, flagged property or small hotel, this program will change the way consumers connect with your hotel and increase bookings FAST! Fixed Price – US$ 1,450.00 100% of our clients report increased bookings, cash flow and guest satisfaction! Just a few new bookings can pay for our low-cost program! or call today for a no obligation conversation! (787) 455-4216 Richard Holm (860) 628-4474 Marie van Rooyen www.caribbeanconsulting.com | rholm@caribbeanconsulting.com About Caribbean Consulting Caribbean Consulting has more than 25 years of merchandising experience plus ‘hands-on’ experience as hoteliers, travel agents and pioneers in the development of online travel marketing. This led to our creative, ‘holistic’ approach to travel marketing for online travel sites such as Travelocity, hotels, resorts, associations and tourist boards throughout the Caribbean, Mexico, South America and Europe. Caribbean Consulting applies our experience in Merchandising, Marketing, Distribution and Reputation Management to increase sales. We don’t use formulas or templates. We treat every client as a unique challenge to reach new markets with personalized programs based on your unique travel product. We view travel from the consumer’s point of view -  presenting your special blend of product. price, value, target markets, destination and ‘expectation vs. experience’ as a unified and consistent presence that builds lasting consumer satisfaction and creates “I’ve got to go there!” consumer demand. Still not convinced? Check with some of our clients! Partial Client List Hotels Associations BVI Chamber of Commerce and Hotel Association, Tortola, BVI Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), San Juan, PR Caribbean Hotel Association, San Juan, PR Puerto Rico Hotel Association, San Juan, Puerto Rico Rincón Tourism Association, Rincón, Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism Association, St. Thomas, USVI Hotels & Resorts Paradise Village Beach Resort and Spa, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Bolongo Bay Beach Club & Villas, St. Thomas, USVI Carambola Beach Resort & Spa – St. Croix, USVI Fort Recovery Estates Villas, Tortola, BVI Lazy Parrot Inn – Rincón, Puerto Rico Sibonné Beach Hotel on Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos Turtle Cove Inn, Provo, Turks & Caicos Islands Tourist Boards Caribbean Tourism Organization, Barbados British Virgin Islands Tourist Board, Tortola, BVI US Virgin Islands Department of Tourism St. Eustatius Tourism Foundation, Statia, Netherlands Antilles

]]> http://managingthecarnival.com/2010/09/30/does-your-hotel-need-more-business/feed/ 0 http://managingthecarnival.com/2010/03/07/why-do-destinations-love-to-confuse-tourists/ http://managingthecarnival.com/2010/03/07/why-do-destinations-love-to-confuse-tourists/#comments Sun, 07 Mar 2010 15:14:53 +0000 admin http://managingthecarnival.com/?p=233

Carnival in Rio: 90,000 tickets sold and no signs from the Metro to the Sambadromo?

I’ve been ranting for years about the lack of signage on Caribbean Islands to help tourists.

I can understand this on many small islands.  Locals are so used to the roads and know exactly where to go, that they can’t seem to appreciate that tourists get completely lost and confused trying to find their way around.

It took me over an hour to find Mahogany Run Golf Course on St. Thomas.  I had given up and decided to head back to my hotel when I just happened to stumble on it by accident (our host explained that everyone has that problem and that we did pretty well considering…).

On St. Croix, it took over an hour to find our hotel since the one sign was now blocked by a tree (our hotel explained ‘everyone has that problem’).

In Puerto Rico, they advertise ‘Explore beyond the Shore’ – so I decided to take the ‘Ruta Panoramica’ across the central mountain range.  Starting in Mayaguez, I couldn’t find any signs – so I used by boy scout skills reading a map, only to find myself right back where I started after an hour. Since I was traveling with a Puerto Rican, he started to stop and ask locals – this got us even more lost until we found someone who told us the ‘trick’.  Since the signs had been placed for tourists traveling from San Juan heading west – anyone (like us) traveling in the opposite direction had to guess which fork in a road to take… and then look backward to see if there was a sign pointing in the opposite direction.  This worked pretty well, turning back when no signs were found… until no corners had any signs at [...]]]>

Carnival in Rio: 90,000 tickets sold and no signs from the Metro to the Sambadromo?

I’ve been ranting for years about the lack of signage on Caribbean Islands to help tourists.

I can understand this on many small islands.  Locals are so used to the roads and know exactly where to go, that they can’t seem to appreciate that tourists get completely lost and confused trying to find their way around.

It took me over an hour to find Mahogany Run Golf Course on St. Thomas.  I had given up and decided to head back to my hotel when I just happened to stumble on it by accident (our host explained that everyone has that problem and that we did pretty well considering…).

On St. Croix, it took over an hour to find our hotel since the one sign was now blocked by a tree (our hotel explained ‘everyone has that problem’).

In Puerto Rico, they advertise ‘Explore beyond the Shore’ – so I decided to take the ‘Ruta Panoramica’ across the central mountain range.  Starting in Mayaguez, I couldn’t find any signs – so I used by boy scout skills reading a map, only to find myself right back where I started after an hour. Since I was traveling with a Puerto Rican, he started to stop and ask locals – this got us even more lost until we found someone who told us the ‘trick’.  Since the signs had been placed for tourists traveling from San Juan heading west – anyone (like us) traveling in the opposite direction had to guess which fork in a road to take… and then look backward to see if there was a sign pointing in the opposite direction.  This worked pretty well, turning back when no signs were found… until no corners had any signs at all…  We finally took a wrong turn and ended back on the North Coast without seeing too much of the Ruta Panoramica – at which point we just went back to San Juan.

Well, the problem isn’t just in the Caribbean.  I just got back from Carnival in Rio where the high point was the Carnival parade at the Sambadrome. Although it was easy to get to the ‘Central Station’ metro stop – it took us another hour to figure out how to enter the Sambadromo.  No signs at all in a bad section of Rio. We followed the crowds, but they were going to the entrance for members of the Samba Clubs who would perform (very interesting, but nowhere near the public entrance to the stadium). We could see the Sambadromo – but couldn’t figure out how to enter. We crossed the highway which was exciting amidst the speeding taxis – but ended up at a 10 foot chain link fence.  We finally asked about 10 different people and got to an entrance after crossing the expressway a few more times.  What we didn’t know was that there was a set of broken stairs that went ‘under the expressway’ and through a dark tunnel to get to the main entrance. No signs at all.  We got lost again on the way back, but decided to hop in a cab since it was 5:30am.

When will destinations figure out that tourists need directions.  Signs are cheap and help tourists find their way around so that they can spend money.  We know from years of experience that confused tourists ‘go away’ or retreat to their hotels or resorts.  This may be exactly what some resorts want, but doesn’t encourage local tourism or stimulating the larger local economy.

Want to stimulate you local economy?  Want to increase tourist satisfaction?  Want to integrate local culture and tourism?  Try to see your own destination through the eyes of a confused tourist…  or better yet, just in the back seat of a new visitor and just watch them get lost (make sure you resist the ‘just turn at the big rock next to the mango tree’ instructions.

With so many departments of tourism spending millions on advertising to attract new visitors – please consider spending just a fraction of this on some decent signs to help them get around and spend their money once they arrive.

The best hotel web rate I could book was $136.00 per night plus tax.

Booking through Priceline – I paid $55.oo per night plus tax/fee. I knew approximately how much to bid by checking some of the websites dedicated to ‘breaking the code’ at Priceline where this hotel was well known as a consistent Priceline opportunity.

If I had gone to the website and found a reasonable website instant purchase of $99 or $79 or $69 – I probably would have booked direct and the hotel would have received significantly higher revenue then the net rate Priceline paid (which has to be less than $55/night).

Part of Merchandising a hotel property is to develop a pricing strategy that sets competitive rates and communicates the value of the property to potential guests. Instead of converting this ‘looker to booker’, this hotel’s website pricing sent me running to Priceline instead of even considering a direct booking.

Priceline and Hotwire are still important distribution channels – but when there is such a large difference in rates, hotels often have an opportunity to increase revpar by offering value directly to their guests.

This also builds repeat client loyalty and avoids the ‘dumb sucker’ syndrome where loyal guests who paid full rack rates feel stupid when they meet someone in the elevator or lobby bar who is more than happy to brag about the great rate they found.