Turning Stargazing into a 5-Star Guest Experience with Visit Dark Skies

[00:00:00] Liam: Hi, welcome to the Boostly Podcast. This is the podcast that gives hosts the tools, the tactics, the training, most of all the confidence. So you can go out there and get direct bookings. We're shining the Boost Lee Spotlight on a service that you need to know about and something which is quite different.

[00:00:16] Liam: In all the years that I've been on the Boostly Podcast, I've not. Met a guest like our guest today, and I hadn't even crossed my mind, so this is gonna be super exciting for you to dive into Today. I'm joined by Etta Dannemann. She's the founder of Visit Dark Skies. She helps remote hosts create unforgettable experiences using the natural light of the sky.

[00:00:42] Liam: We're gonna explore how you can turn stargazing into a unique selling point, why guests are craving these experiences, and how you can easily offer them at your property if it's the right kind of property. So I'm excited to get started. Welcome along Etta.

[00:00:56] Etta: Hi.

[00:01:01] Liam: So Etta, thank you for joining me. Um, what do you want the list listener today to learn and take away from this podcast?

[00:01:09] Etta: Yeah, the eye can greatly adapt to darkness and um, but this process takes 30 minutes and most people do not know about this. And I think they miss an incredibly powerful experience being in the outdoors.

[00:01:23] Etta: And yeah, actually there's a huge opportunity for hosts. In remote regions to set the sky in scene. And that's what we're doing at the visit, guys.

[00:01:36] Liam: Nice. Well, why is this business in particular important to you? Tell me the story of of, of how this all came around.

[00:01:45] Etta: Yeah. Um, I. I met amazing people from the dark sky movement, so called Dark Sky Movement.

[00:01:52] Etta: Um, people that want to protect the natural night sky for future generations. And I had beautiful dark sky experiences myself, um, in several dark sky parks and remote regions. I'd love to inspire more people worldwide to have this contrast from their daily life in cities because I think, um, these are such powerful moments that you can have.

[00:02:20] Etta: Um, so yeah, I'm, I'm a lighting expert, uh, lighting designer. Um, I have been working in, in light planning, but also in light research and also in in trend research also. So I was aware of the amount of light pollution, how light pollution is raising, uh, spoiler 10% per year, which is really a lot, right? So I knew stargazing related trail was about to become something, and actually this year it has become trend number one in booking, uh, trend report.

[00:02:59] Etta: So, uh, that was exciting to me and I wanted to contribute. Um. Something to the space. So my challenge was I want to found something digital, use my knowledge about the, uh, dark sky movement and bring something to, to the world, let's say. Right? So my challenge was creating a business for something that's free, right?

[00:03:21] Etta: Uh, the natural night sky, um, which just took a while until, uh, I crafted this. Um, and also I wanted to. Creating a digital product, selling it from one laptop for the world, like with, uh, interesting partners, uh, newest apps, digital tools. That's something I.

[00:03:48] Liam: I mean, it sounds like a wonderful, um, a wonderful idea and something which, like I say, I haven't found before.

[00:03:53] Liam: Before we have this conversation and, and before Mark introduced us, but to give Host who listening to this, can you give an idea of what kind of services you offer and, and how it helps them with their hospitality business?

[00:04:04] Etta: Yeah, sure. My core product is an audio file of 30 minutes and the experience concept around it, you could say.

[00:04:14] Etta: And I offer this as a ready-made solution for hosts in remote regions. So, um, they get, get a package of marketing material that they can use. I'm hosting this audio file with an explanation for the guests. Um, I get all the distribution rights and my support in, you know, helping them, how to set it up, uh, advising them a little bit.

[00:04:37] Etta: Um, yeah, and this is, uh, this is what I'm selling and they are, uh, ready to go in. Two hours, maybe two hours of investment. Uh, it's very easy to implement. And then you have an activity. You need no guide, no knowledge about the stars. Um, you can just give the core air code to your guests and they can stream the audio from their smartphone, maybe use a speaker, maybe not.

[00:05:03] Etta: Depends a little bit on how, how many they are. And they lay down for 30 minutes and look into the sky constantly and listen to the audio. It helps them immerse themselves in the night sky.

[00:05:16] Liam: I love it. In a world where experience of guests is, is uber important for us as hosts and, and how experience is actually driving bookends, you know, people are looking for certain experiences.

[00:05:27] Liam: What can the impact be for our guests if they use this? Um. Uh, if they use this product

[00:05:35] Etta: so they can make a lifetime memory, right? It's, it's very unusual as an adult, adult that you lay down in the outdoors for 30 minutes and watch the sky. So this uniqueness of the activity alone, even if it doesn't, I mean it does sound super simple, but you're not doing it usually right?

[00:05:57] Etta: For this amount of time. So even this is. The uniqueness of it is interesting, and then you're doing this hopefully in the remote region with a tremendous difference of, of stars to your hometown, and that has this overwhelming effect. And why is it 30 minutes? Because the eye adaptation process takes 30 minutes.

[00:06:21] Etta: So after 30 minutes, your eyes can see a lot of light, lot, lot more of light. So you also see the tiniest stars at the end of the universe, and that makes the sky much more three dynam dimensional. And then this creates this immersive aspect of the activity that, that has this wow effect that people will tell about, uh, 10 years later, I'm sure.

[00:06:46] Liam: Yeah, definitely. And, and those lifetime memories, I mean, like, I, it sounds cool, it's something that I want to do, and instantly, as soon as you hear, oh, that would be cool, I want to do, then others, they'll talk to other people about it and obviously it'll bring more people to, to the product and, and it's great experience.

[00:07:01] Liam: What would you say are some of the challenges and some of the wow moments since you've, um, since you've started this?

[00:07:07] Etta: Sure. Um. I've been starting in the pandemic. I would say that would, uh, be a challenge because, uh, the trend was ongoing. Right in, in 2019, the Lonely Planet Dark Skies was launched as the first theme booked, uh, theme book, uh, versus regional books.

[00:07:27] Etta: So actually everything was good, but then the pandemic of course, hit, uh, hard on.

[00:07:38] Etta: That's also clear. So, um, yeah, I created products during that time, did life translation and, and worked my way forward as a, because I'm not, I'm not a marketeer, right? I'm a planner by, by education. So I needed to learn all, all the things about creating a company and stuff. So I used that a little bit as a learning time and advise other founders how to use.

[00:08:04] Etta: And that was a challenge to be persistent, I would say. But, uh, now I'm, yeah, it feels a little bit like I'm doing this for three years now and people are already, uh, again, and, um, yeah, it's, it's a good time at the moment. And, uh, that was maybe the, the biggest challenge and, um. At the moment, maybe it's creating visibility, right?

[00:08:29] Etta: I, I think this year is great to, for me to scale with this, um, booking com trend. Um, I have an opportunity to, yeah, to tell more about the product now. Uh, I've done really good. Um, yeah, I have clients all over the world. Uh, I can double down on this and, and I would say.

[00:08:52] Liam: It's very cool in general though, doing this, um, uh, first of all, you, you're absolutely right. The, the trend is, is, is is something which, because I haven't heard of, and as hospitality owners, I get excited if something, uh, obviously it's been around like, say three years for yourself, but it, it seems new to me and I'm sure there's gonna be a lot of hosts listening to this.

[00:09:13] Liam: Who, who feels the same? What, what are you most excited about in hospitality or in this space at the moment?

[00:09:20] Etta: I like working with the hosts myself, like really exploring great, uh, st spaces or unique properties around the world. I get in contact with them. Um. Of course, star bathing has been, uh, you know, raised by booking.com as a term.

[00:09:39] Etta: And actually I think I'm the only one offering any activity around star bathing. Like really not doing astronomy, but just exploring the night sky and, and immersing yourself in it. So that excites me. Um, but also. Great designs. I'm a designer, so, uh, interesting furniture that bring, that sets the sky and scene is, is also interesting to me.

[00:10:02] Liam: It's interesting to me and, uh, you know, I'm, I'm the type of person who definitely, uh, sit there and listen to it because I, I look up at them, but I don't know anything about them. So, um, yeah, it's, it's, it's. Really interesting. And I guess there's people out there with these kind of ideas and things that they want to do.

[00:10:18] Liam: What, what advice would you give yourself if you could go back and talk to yourself before you created the solopreneur journey?

[00:10:26] Etta: Hmm. I would maybe start early to go into market. 'cause I'm educated as a planner, so for a long time I planned my business and I thought this was work because, well before I was planned, I was paid for planning.

[00:10:42] Etta: Right. But then, uh, yeah, at a certain moment I realized, no, actually you need to, you know, just put it out into market. Uh, get feedback, put it out again, uh, and just, um, sell it, right, not plan, next thing. So I would say, um, that's the advice I would give start earlier, getting.

[00:11:03] Liam: It's a great bit of advice 'cause so many people get caught up in their kind of like, Hey, I'm gonna produce this logo.

[00:11:09] Liam: Hey, I'm gonna produce this. And they do everything before actually putting it out there and getting feedback. And obviously the quicker we get those feedback loops, the better because then we're producing value, aren't we? So really good. Bit of advice. What are some other tips that you can share with hosts listening to this perhaps they haven't heard of, of, um, you know, this opportunity?

[00:11:29] Liam: What were some tips that you can share?

[00:11:32] Etta: Sure. I, I have been, uh, recently on ITB right, international tourism, which is.

[00:11:39] Liam: Congratulations,

[00:11:40] Etta: uh, tourism Fair here in Berlin. And, um, yeah, maybe to share. I have been to the Google keynote, uh, and they told us about what people are searching. That's always interesting to hear, right?

[00:11:52] Etta: Uh, and they told us that, um, no, uh, yeah, no surprise. Short videos, uh, skyrocketing, skyrocketing for people. Um, they really wanna look to those videos and have, get an impression. Um, and also interns intern, interesting to me was they search for the word inspiration earlier and curate their activities earlier.

[00:12:20] Etta: Um, so, um, that's maybe also good to know for hosts. Um, it's not enough to offer an accommodation. You also need to inspire people somehow to come to.

[00:12:35] Liam: Oh, a hundred percent. And I think even just this concept alone, um, certainly for, for some of those remote hosts especially. Um, in a moment we're gonna ask you to share, obviously details, how people can come and, uh, get in touch and, and find out.

[00:12:51] Liam: And, uh, we're gonna dive into a few other questions. I guess just going slightly off piece now, how do you manage, um, we mentioned just before we hit recorded that, that the UK is terribly cloudy. How do, how do we get around that? Is there any kind of, um, uh, any advice or, or is this, uh, are there certain locations or properties which work better?

[00:13:14] Etta: Sure. On the, on the worldwide scale, of course there are different regions. Some of them have 200 clear nights, or like in Spain, for example, um, per year and 60.

[00:13:32] Etta: Um, in Scotland, in the UK and Ireland, like actually England, all the countries have whales. Of course they have, they're dark sky enthusiasts and, and stargazing enthusiasts. Um, maybe because of the scarcity, I dunno, I dunno the, the origin. But you can use, um, cloud radar app like Reagan radar. It's in Germany, but.

[00:14:01] Etta: Uh, interesting apps to predict the clouds and they're really good. So sometimes they, you can, yeah, it's a 10 minute, 10 minute thing to, they, they really tell you now it's cloudy, but at 10 minutes it's free of clouds and you don't believe it, but it's then it's true and you go out and so you can really use these apps.

[00:14:23] Etta: And actually also, um. Sleeping outdoors, like in an outdoor bed is, uh, is a great activity that you can promote and most people have never slept outdoors. And, uh, it's also great with clouds. And yeah, for this I also realized that, um, and I'm, I'm happy that I'm, I have created my first daytime product also, uh, this year.

[00:14:47] Etta: I created this last, but now it's cloud. So it's.

[00:14:56] Liam: Oh, nice. Yeah, I was gonna say, there's, there's definitely a lot of the, the clouds, um, here, but also where I am, I'm, I'm in, um, in Norfolk in the uk and uh, I used to live in Norwich. We're now just slightly outside of Norwich and it is so vastly different, the sky, the detail that you can see.

[00:15:13] Liam: Um, I love, love going to the North Norfolk coast and there's, there's a lot less, um. There's, there's, there's a lot more stars. There's, there's a lot less people. And, and you can definitely do, uh, what you mentioned in there, which is just, uh, look up at the stars and, and relax, which is cool. So is there anything else you'd like to share that people should know from this podcast?

[00:15:38] Etta: Maybe if you have never looked on it, the light pollution map. A place where you can, uh, see if your, uh, area, your location is actually good to be marketed and if you happen to be in a green area, or even better in a blue or a lilac or gray area on the light pollution map. Um, so in expert terms, bottle scale, one to four, you can market the stars, uh, very well.

[00:16:05] Etta: And maybe that's interesting for you now that you go on. Light pollution map info and have a, have a look.

[00:16:14] Liam: That's cool. And, um, we we're now gonna share the details on how people can, uh, can get in touch, but just before we do, was there anything we missed along the way or anything else, uh, you'd like to, to say to our listeners?

[00:16:25] Etta: Yeah, because you mentioned UK um, the cloud gazing, uh, thing has been done in collaboration with, um, the Cloud Appreciation society. And maybe that's also an interesting tip that.

[00:16:38] Liam: That's cool. It's, I, I wouldn't have known these exist. And, um, I think like anything, anything that can give hosts listening to this, the edge of going, well, these are things which, um, people have got access to.

[00:16:51] Liam: I. From, from most locations, you know, like from from most locations people can see the sky. So this is a very cool way of making, um, a moment to, to remember to last that lifetime, which other hosts may not be capitalizing on. So, very, very cool. How can we find out more and where, where are the socials?

[00:17:13] Liam: Where can we come and connect with you?

[00:17:16] Etta: I'm on LinkedIn. I'm. Have my website, if you go to visit guys com, um, that's the page actually for customers. You can also buy it on my website, but, uh, the interesting page for hosts might be Visit dark.com/sky. That's the, yeah, there I'm explaining the product and how you can do it.

[00:17:40] Etta: And you can apply for, for a license or get the brochure or look at the video.

[00:17:46] Liam: Very nice. Very nice. And we'll have those links if you're watching this on YouTube, that'll be underneath, if you're listening to this on audio, when safe to do so. Uh, as long as you're not driving, just click the link and you'll be able to go and check ETA's, uh, website there and, and find out more.

[00:18:00] Liam: 'cause this is an exciting concept. So lastly, Etta, if you had to pick one mantra, uh, that you say that you live by, what would that be and why?

[00:18:10] Etta: I would say go deep. Into relationships, into nature, into the sky.

[00:18:19] Liam: I love it. That is, uh, go deep and, um, yeah. Hey, go, you know, enjoy, enjoy these experiences ultimately, and I've really enjoyed this experience of, of getting to know you, Etta of learning, uh, you know, about the product, something which I've never, ever considered or thought of before.

[00:18:37] Liam: I will certainly be going to check out, visit Dark Skies, and, um, the link, as I say to everybody listening is in and around this podcast. Thank you so much to. For being our guest today. And thank you to, for listening to this on the Boostly podcast. If you'd like to continue this conversation within one of the communities, you can go on Facebook and search the hospitality community, uh, and you'll find our Facebook group.

[00:19:00] Liam: You can come and join us. You can talk about this podcast or any hospitality questions you like in there. We look forward to seeing you in there or seeing you on the next episode. Thanks so much for watching. Bye for now. The Boostly podcast Bruce Lee. Let Bruce Lee 'cause it's so hard on the tea is loosely making up those rhymes.

[00:19:17] Liam: Don't write it, just do it loosely.