The travel and tourism industry is undoubtedly one of the biggest in the world. Whether you’re in the retail or hospitality sector, you can leverage its popularity to increase your visibility, sales and customer satisfaction.
We have some suggestions to help you capture this market and grow your business. Use this blog to find out how you can promote tourism in your town and bring shoppers back to the high street.
Create Localised Content
The tourism sector is a local industry, so you can take advantage of this to create localised content. This allows you to set yourself apart competitors and attract only your potential customers.
You should already be leveraging social media like Instagram, where tourism hashtags and holiday photos are rife. But have you considered content marketing?
For instance, if your business is located in London, aim to create content that incorporates topics related to local travel and tourism. Using a shopping centre as an example, a goal might be to attract tourists who wouldn’t necessarily pass by their complex. They could start by writing a post about ‘The best places to shop in London that you’ve never visited’, piquing interest and featuring their shopping centre in the piece.
If you continue to publish relevant and interesting posts that resonate with your customers, your content is more likely to be shared on social media, linked on other sites and most importantly, given the green light by Google to rank highly. With many businesses unable to open right now, it’s the perfect time to work on your content marketing and build brand awareness.
Monitor and Respond to Online Reviews
Tripadvisor is the largest travel review platform in the world and every business knows the important role it plays. A staggering 93% of people say online reviews impact their buying decisions, so it’s essential you put effort into the acquisition of them.
Managing your online reputation is vital and any feedback you receive is invaluable, whether positive or negative. The trust generated from a positive review is highly influential and helps entice tourists. Negative reviews present an opportunity for your business to redeem itself and an empathetic response can help you reclaim how consumers see you.
Tourists more than anybody will utilise the platform, taking the reviews into account while planning their trips. From understanding the basics to making it simple to leave feedback, you can learn about gaining more reviews in this blog here.
Offer Memorable Experiences
Don’t just offer the same shopping experience as everyone else - launch effective pop-up shops or provide live product demonstrations to entice passersby.
When visiting the high street, shoppers are far more likely to stick around when there’s an experience or engaging activity to occupy them. A staggering 73% of customers are more likely to spend more too, which is a great opportunity for local businesses to take advantage of.
Increased customer engagement can get tourists through the door. Anything that attracts customers or makes your store memorable can help kickstart the resurgence of the high street.
Invest in Innovative Tech Solutions
Within the tourism sector, offering an incredible experience is essential to attract customers to your business. With rapidly decreasing attention spans, it’s more important than ever to offer something that's unique, interesting and engaging.
Using new technologies, such as augmented and virtual reality, in your marketing strategy can help you create memorable experiences for your visitors and, at the same time, differentiate yourself from your competitors.
When something spectacular is happening, the first thing many people do is to reach for their phones. They’ll flock to social media to share this moment with others, attracting visitors as a result.
Hotels were one of the first industries to embed this innovative technology into their marketing, with the Casa Madrona Hotel in New York using this technology to show tourists walking the street the balcony views of one of its 360-degree suites.
Implement Good Free Public WiFi
Free WiFi is commonplace wherever you go - transportation, retail stores and even hospitals. Without a reliable network to connect to, tourists will be less likely to engage with local businesses and you’re missing vital opportunities to capture their interest. With an intelligent WiFi solution, you can entice tourists to sign up to mailing lists, follow your local BID on social media and even tailor promotions to them.
Public WiFi is an opportunity for you to connect with tourists and raise awareness for the town and specific retailers. Better yet, 60% of retail shoppers want to receive real-time special offers and promotions while they shop.
Not only that, but WiFi also provides valuable insights for retailers to enhance their business strategy. Demographics are essential for better understanding their customer and when stores know dwell times and high traffic areas, then can they make better-informed business decisions that can drive revenue.
Tourists will then share their experiences online and the town can establish itself as digitally savvy - something that has the potential to tempt tourists back and attract even more.
If you want to continue to attract tourists to your business, a successful BID might be something your town needs to really enhance its offering. Times are changing, high streets are crying out for rejuvenation. After the COVID-19 chaos subsides, businesses will want to innovate more than ever, so what can you do to keep up?
Attract Tourists to Your Business and Transform Your Town Today
Are you hoping to be successful with your BID to attract more custom to your town? It’s surprising what accessible public WiFi can do to enhance high streets. Whether they’re passing through your town or spending a weekend away, tourists are a prime target market and with innovative technology in place, you can hone in on them more effectively.
We’ve created a ‘Transform Your Town’ guide which details how businesses and tourists have all benefited from a reliable and intelligent WiFi network. Download the guide below and see how some towns are already taking advantage.
