| Market Forecast 2004 |
Sandy Soule
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Does a rising tide lift all boats? Don't bet your business on it, unless your
B&B's afloat!
Although current predictions call for a strengthening economic climate, don't
expect a return to the rates and occupancy figures of the year 2000. Strong
competition, fueled by the transparency of the Internet and the variety of
options available to the traveler, make it likely that this tide won't be
floating all boats. If you want to increase occupancy, it's essential to:
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Fine-tune your marketing strategies
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Re-evaluate the price-value ratios of your products/services
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Update your operating procedures.
Read more
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| Advertising Auctions |
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Dramatically increase traffic to your website! The Inn of the Month averages
double the click-through rates of the other B&Bs on the same city page,
because of these significant benefits:
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Top placement on your city page
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Larger photo
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Custom marketing message
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Highlighted frame
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The Chalet Club, Lake Lure, NC
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Try it and see for yourself! Read more
Featured Property Auctions: BedandBreakfast.com Featured
Property Auctions are an affordable, and effective way to drive traffic
to your website. To make it even easier, we've introduced Auto Billing,
designed to help you maintain a positive balance in your auction account at all
times. Read more…
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| Calendar of Events |
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Click here for a list of upcoming state
B&B association meetings. We've noted when a member of the
BedandBreakfast.com team will be attending, and look forward to meeting you! Be
sure to email us if your state meeting is not on the list. If
you have not yet finalized your conference agenda, let us know: we still have a
few dates available when BedandBreakfast.com staff members are available to
speak.
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| About our Sponsor |
The Professional Association of Innkeepers has been serving the innkeeping
community for over 15 years with education, research, publications, and
networking opportunities both online and off. Join us next April in Providence,
Rhode Island for the world's largest conference and tradeshow for keepers of
the inn. Whether you're new to innkeeping or an experienced hand, PAII can help
you improve your operations and your bottom line. www.paii.org.
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| Promoting the Industry |
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Richard Gazer of Oaxaca, Mexico is benefiting from the publication of a
full-color article about his B&B in Western Living Magazine (readership,
772,000), because he followed up on a BedandBreakfast.com publicity lead. This
could happen to you! Read more
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| Our Members Speak Out |
Buckhorn Inn, Gatlinburg, TN |
We asked: How have you used guest feedback to
improve your inn? Please explain what tools you use to encourage comments, and
the specific changes you've made in response Read
more.
Question for our December issue: What
have been your experiences hosting guests over the Thanksgiving and Christmas
holidays? We want to hear your stories - whether funny, poignant, or both!
Email your responses to InnkeeperNews@BedandBreakfast.com.
If we publish your comments, we'll thank you with a $25 credit in our Featured
Properties Auction program!
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| Time for a Smile |
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Why can't you tickle yourself? Click here for the answer.
Read more
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| Travel Trends |
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Of consumers polled in BIGresearch's October Consumer Intentions and Actions
Survey, nearly 19% of consumers who say they're "confident" or "very confident"
about the economic outlook in the next six months, say they'll be purchasing
vacation travel during that timeframe while more than 11 percent plan to buy a
car or truck. "Consumers are choosing vacations closer to home, and seem to be
using their cars to get there," explained Joe Pilotta, Vice President of
Research for BIGresearch...Details here
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| Best of BedandBreakfast.com Awards Program |
Don't miss out on this great B&B marketing opportunity Posting a voting
badge on your home page is the easiest way to encourage guests to vote! If you
have not yet started telling your guests about this program, wait no longer!
Some of you have sent us helpful suggestions and great questions, so
click here.
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| Availability Calendar Links |
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We are delighted to announce yet another way to help you increase your
occupancy: BedandBreakfast.com Availability Calendar Links! If you are already
using one of the many availability calendar programs, you know how easy,
effective, and affordable they are for increasing reservations when you have
availability and for decreasing time-wasting phone calls when you're fully
booked. Log
in to your home base to sign up!
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| This Month's Sponsor |
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| Gift Certificates |
Inn at Occidental, Occidental, CA
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More gift certificates are sold during the holiday season than any other time,
and the lucky recipients will soon be searching for B&Bs that will redeem
them. Don't miss out! To join the over 3000 participating inns, just log in to
your home base with your property ID and password, or click here for more information.
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| Traffic statistics |
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Log in
with your property ID and password for details on the number of page
impressions and click-throughs your B&B has received as a result of all
BedandBreakfast.com online marketing, including property listings, Featured
Property, and Inn of the Month advertising.
More information
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| Member Information |
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To update your entry, post specials, and renew your membership, please log in
with your property ID and password. Can't remember your password?
Click here, then enter your property ID and we'll email it to you.
Don't like your password? Once you're logged in to Home Base, just click
"Change Password" (first item in the left-hand column), and choose another
that's easier to remember. More information
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| Inns for Sale |
Time to move on? Sell your property by listing it on the leading Internet site
for bed and breakfasts and inns, BedandBreakfast.com.
Email us today and we'll put you on our special offer mailing list.
Read more
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| Online Bookings |
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Taking real-time, online reservations is the most effective way to transform
your Internet presence from an informational resource into a 24/7 sales engine.
Read
more
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| Innkeepers Information Center |
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Need more info? You’ll find lots of forms, tutorials, and educational articles
on our site for your convenience.
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