Welcome to Boostly Podcast Episode 535.
In this podcast episode I will be talking about a recent survey and what you should do about their findings
Here's the video for this episode:
Timestamps (audio)
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Transcript from the Episode
[00:00:00] Mark: If you have stumbled across this episode of the Booster Podcast and if you have got fewer bookings than the previous year or years and you're trying to wonder why, well, I may have discovered something that may be able to add a bit of context to it, plus give you a little bit of help how you can get more heads on beds and fill up those calendar spots for the rest of 2000.
[00:00:21] Two and beyond. So, uh, it comes as no surprise to a lot of people that the rising costs in day-to-day living, gas prices, et cetera, means that it costs a lot more than this time last year to go away on a, on a vacation or a staycation. Uh, I'm gonna share my screen super quick. So, if there was a, a recent survey that was done in.
[00:00:45] And as you can see, you know, you can read the screen. Uh, the table shows below how families in each state are prepared to drive on a road trip in 2022, and how much less than this is per usual. Now, um, every single one of these contr, uh, [00:01:00] states that you see on here, um, in America, Every single one of 'em is over 40% less now.
[00:01:07] Um, there's a ton of context as that is to why. Um, but it is kind of interesting to sort of dig into the numbers. So for example, one of the main reasons being is that, uh, international travel is now more, um, open. There's less restrictions. So people have taken advantage of it. It's been maybe two or three years that somebody's been able to travel abroad.
[00:01:26] I know it's particularly in the case in the UK at the moment. They're definitely taken advantage. And now go in, uh, Spain, et cetera, et cetera. But obviously as well with the rising gas prices, it costs a lot more now for a, a family to jump in the car and maybe drive four or five or six hours than what it would've done a year ago.
[00:01:44] So the result mean that. Hosts from who may be going for maybe a year 2021. Uh, management companies may be working with landlords, et cetera. They're seeing a more open spaces, and this has got a lot of people to [00:02:00] maybe panic a little bit, and I can see it in Facebook groups, I can see it in LinkedIn groups, I can see it.
[00:02:05] All around people saying, what are your bookings looking like? So yes, there may be less people that are out there, but there's definitely things that you can be doing to get in front of the right guests. So, for example, one of the, the, the things that I see a lot of people doing, which is great, and I think more people should definitely do this, is.
[00:02:24] Electric cars do not have the same restrictions as if you've got petrol or diesel. Um, obviously as well, it's a a lot more cost effective for the owner. Electric cars, you pay more upfront and then it balances out all the time. There are more and more and more and more people now have got electric cars.
[00:02:41] There are more and more and more places that offer charge him and all that you have to do. If you have the facilities for electric charging, if you've got it in your property or somewhere nearby, you need to talk about it. You need to showcase this. One of the best places to do so would be on your listing insights.
[00:02:59] Again, the way [00:03:00] that I talk about the online travel agents, you've gotta make them work for you or not the other way around. And if you have got a lot of availability coming up over the course of the next week, two weeks, four weeks, six weeks, go into Airbnb listing, go into your VR listing, your booking.com listing, rearrange the pictures and put it in the first six.
[00:03:17] That first six, those, those crucial first six pictures. Um, something that documents and showcases quite clearly to the user that you've got, ev charging sockets, et cetera. Um, It may not result in a ton of bookings, but at least it spreads the word a little bit differently. You've got a website, if you've got social media, if you've got an email list, spread the word.
[00:03:37] If you're gonna do the, do you know anyone, the, the tactic that we talk about so many times here on the Boother podcast, send a message out saying, Hey, do you know anyone who needs a place to stay? We've got electric charging sockets. Someone like that. Some of that simple, spread the word, start talking about it.
[00:03:51] So many of you have these facilities, okay, and I'll see you talking about lack of bookings, et cetera, in the Facebook groups. But yet you're not talking [00:04:00] about it. I don't see it anywhere on your social media, so make sure you mention it, put it on your website, put it on the homepage of your website, even put it into the uh, description on your Airbnb listing.
[00:04:10] Test it out. Again, we're not setting that in stone forever. The beauty of these online advertising is that you can change it with a finger click, so do that. Number two, there will still be. People in your area that needs accommodation for family or friends or for people coming into town? Uh, I would say 80% of people who are watching this podcast do not take advantage of the fact.
[00:04:36] So again, utilize your local Facebook groups, utilize your local community. There are still people wanting to travel. It's not like because of the rising prices, then they're just not traveling at all. There are still people that needs, uh, a staycation or a workcation talking about work stations. People still need to travel on.
[00:04:52] So if you haven't been doing so already, try and make connections, relationship partnerships with the companies in and around your area. [00:05:00] Five 10 mile radius. There are tons of them. Call up the front desk, send an email in, ask to be added to their xnet. Introduce yourself, introduce your services. Again, they will not know about you unless you tell 'em they're not going to discover you.
[00:05:14] Um, be just hoping so that they're searching on Google. They need to know about you, so you need to introduce yourself. Again, a, a tactic that I love here is the lumpy mail where you send something in the post. Could be donuts, could be a present, whatever it could be, but that grabs their attention so that they'll want to engage with you and just find out a little bit more about, about your business.
[00:05:33] There's been some fantastic examples recently where people are saying that, um, They got in contact with the local sports club. The local sports team doesn't have to be a, a massive unit. It can be a lower leagues or whatever. Introduce what they do because they still need coach accommodation, team accommodation, you name it.
[00:05:49] They need those accommodation linkups. So again, pop the word in if, if you want to be a little bit more proactive on a nighttime, um, drive around your local town, your local city, your local [00:06:00] area, go to the big chains and or the boat, the, the, you know, the motels, the hotels, whatever. And just see who's parked up in the car.
[00:06:08] If there are big work trucks and they've got the branding on 'em, make a note of who they are. Drop a call in the next day and say, Hey, I noticed you're staying it there. How many guys you got on site? Uh, fantastic. So just very quickly, did you know about our services? We offer private, co private parking.
[00:06:22] They all have an apartment, so they've got, uh, a kitchen ready start kitchen. We've got plenty of beds. So that means you'll actually save money by not having to spend all of that and then give them, uh, money for, for the bar and whatnot. You can have 'em all in a safe place. Da, da, da. Drop that conversation and start being proactive in that sort of front.
[00:06:39] There's so many things that you can be doing that will need to be people that need to be traveling in your area, whether it's work, business, leisure, pleasure, you name it. If you do offer that electric charging, make sure you're talking about it. . So don't let these numbers and these stats scare you. Yes, there may be more, less, less people traveling.
[00:06:58] What there has been last [00:07:00] year. Maybe there'll be people traveling abroad, but when people can travel abroad, it goes the other way. So not only will people be going overseas, overseas will be coming into your country, your area, your town, maybe for the first time in a while. So try and make sure that you're applicable and visible by as many people as.
[00:07:17] Again, the good news is, is that you've only got a certain amount of supply. If there's only so many heads you can fit on your. The trick is, is to make sure that you are visible. As always, if you need more, there's a book called The Book Direct Playbook. It's got 101 tips plus more on how you can increase your direct bookings.
[00:07:34] Go and check it out on Amazon. Go check it out on Audible. It's unavailable everywhere. Uh, and as always, stick around to the podcast. Make sure you like it, subscribe it, download it. But most importantly, share it. Share it with a partner, a friend, a coworker, someone on your network or your. Together we will cut down on y'all over Alliance on the OTAs.
[00:07:53] My hope and my goal and my mission is to help 1 million people do so. As always, we'll give you the tools, the tactics, the training, and the [00:08:00] confidence to do so. All I need you to do is take action. As always, I pass this over to you, so if you've got a win, if you've got something you wanna celebrate, leave it in the comments.
[00:08:09] If you've got a question, leave it in the comments. If there's something that you are doing around. For example, if you've got a link to a website or a social or a listing site where you are talking about ev charging stations, leave them below. We always love to see 'em. Use the comment section wherever you tune in this in from.
[00:08:25] I'll be back with another podcast very shortly. Uh, until then, wherever you are in the world, stay awesome, stay proactive. Let's go and get some dark bucket. Having a blast. Gonna get it on the Bruce Lee podcast. Bruce Lee. Let Bruce Lee cuz it's so hard on the tee is loose leaf. Looking up those rhymes.
[00:08:41] Don't write it, just do it loosely.
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