The Innkeeper's Resource

Need Another Room? Try a Spa!

Inns and B&B's everywhere are usually faced with some limitation on the number of rooms they are allowed. This can have a negative impact on cash flow, but there are creative ways you might be able to create another "room" without violating your local ordinances: create a spa!

Lots of you are offering massage as part of a package. But there's a lesson to be learned from some successful innkeepers that is supported by research from PKF Consulting. Let's look at a real life example.

Once upon a time in a lovely seaside community there was a beautiful inn, a grande dame if ever there was. She radiated warmth, charm, and sophistication. She welcomed guests from around the world year after year and rewarded those returning guests with an ever increasing level of service and guest experience. Rooms were constantly updated; trends were always being catered to. No stodgy innkeepers here, these owners wanted to grow their business.

Over time they increased the number of rooms in the inn until they hit the town's limit, but still they wanted more (kids in college will do that to you). They had a small conference room which doubled as a TV room, as they didn't have TV's in the guest rooms. Alas, times had changed. Guests didn't want to sit in a common room to watch TV anymore, so the innkeepers reluctantly acknowledged that their guests WANTED TV's in the rooms, and now that they could add flat screens, the TV's didn't interfere with the decor. And business meetings had dwindled to the point where the conference table wasn't serving any useful purpose. So, what to do?

The robust gift shop they had developed over the years was now proving to be very profitable. Spas had become popular, too, and with that meeting room going to waste they decided to make it work for them AND their guests. They divided the room in half, converting one part to a small spa room with a bathroom, an independent HVAC system, sound proofing, sound system, fancy lighting controls, and ample room for two massage tables. A true pleasure cocoon!

Working with independent massage therapists, they have now effectively created another guest room, as this spa room generates the income equivalent to one of their lodging rooms without violating any ordinance. And, its very existence helps sell more rooms, because they now have a dedicated spa onsite. They are generating about 5% of total revenues from the spa, most of which is from the rental of the space to the massage therapists, not the pass-through fees to the therapists themselves.

PKF Consulting says that spas generated 3.9% of total revenue (in large hotels with dedicated spas) in 2007. Of that revenue, the largest piece, 55.6%, was massage, with all the other services like skin care, salon, and retail sales making up the balance. It may be risky to try too much on a small scale, but massage is clearly a hit. A really "tricked out" spa room may be a better alternative to in-room massage if you have the space. And if you need another guest room but aren't allowed, this may be the answer.

Have you created a spa in an interesting way? How is it working for you? Please tell us about it.

Peter

Fine Wine, Smart Ploys, and Bookings

Wine and travel go hand-in-hand. For those of us who love a good bottle of our favorite (or maybe an undiscovered favorite!) wine, no journey or evening meal are complete without a glass of the nectar of the gods. So it comes as no surprise that many of your guests also love a great bottle of wine.

Regardless of a traveler's budget, there are great wines out there today from around the world. But this isn't a column about wine, per se, and The B&B Team doesn't recommend (officially) any wine at all. However, we love to talk about service, ingenuity, and personalization in the travel industry, so I enjoyed reading a recent article in the Wine Notes section of the Wall Street Journal called, "Bringing Your Own to Fine-Dining Places." It seems even the toniest restaurants are having to be creative in this challenging economy.

Most people know that if you want to (and are allowed to) take a special bottle of your own wine to a restaurant, you'll pay a (sometimes hefty, even punitive) corkage fee to have the sommelier open it for you. That hasn't completely changed, but there is writing on the wall.

Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher write, "More and more restaurants are offering special deals on wine - 50% off on Mondays, say. But we were looking out for something more - BYOB with no corkage at top-notch places." As it turns out, they found a few experimenting with a range of variations from "corkage-free" specials to discounted wines on otherwise slow nights, or even every night. The goal was to encourage folks who might otherwise stay home or go somewhere less pricey to dine with them and save on the cost of wine. Danny Meyer of the Modern restaurant in Manhattan is quoted saying, "We decided ... there would be a graciousness behind it, that you would actually flatter us bringing in something from your cellar to have with our food and hospitality. We decided that if we did this, we have to actually go overboard to demonstrate our appreciation."

Does this sound familiar to innkeepers? It should, because those of you who make your living offering gracious hospitality are experimenting with variations on this theme to generate business. Stay three nights, get the fourth free. Stay with us five times, and your sixth stay is 50%. Book our best room for Friday and Saturday, and we'll include a gift card for our favorite restaurant (or maybe a bottle of your favorite wine). You get the picture.

Creative packaging is all about adding value and personalizing, recognizing that creating an incentive to spend time/money with you can generate win-win scenarios, whether it's no corkage fee for your wine while at a fine dining restaurant or special promotions and add-ons to stimulate the desire to book a night at your bed & breakfast now.

Are there any great restaurants in your area offering a deal on wine or "no corkage Mondays?" Do I hear "weeknight rooms?" 

Peter

2009 Inns For Sale Study Released

After much anticipation, the 2009 Inns For Sale Study researched by Hilary Jones of Inngenium, LLC was released at the recent Innkeeping Conference and Trade Show hosted by PAII, the Professional Association of Innkeepers International, in Atlanta.

The study, now in its fifth year, takes a snapshot of the bed and breakfasts and inns for sale in March of the year and breaks the statistics down into several categories by price, size, state, region, and the country as a whole. The core criteria is that the property be currently operating with two or more guest rooms, be for sale, and be advertised in at least one of several primary "inns for sale" websites.

In March, 2009 there was an increase over 2008 of 6.4% in the number of inns for sale across the country, rising to 990 properties. New to the study this year was an examination of how many inns had verifiably sold since the previous study. 82 properties had sold, indicating that there is currently a twelve year supply of inns for sale, assuming no changes and no additions!

On average, despite a soft economy and a devastated real estate market, prices on average were up 0.7% nationwide, though this varied by region and property size. The increase was "1.5% for inns in the 5-10 room class and 10.9% in the 12-15 room class. Prices did however drop for larger inns (17-40 rooms) by almost 2%." Regionally, prices trended up everywhere except in the New England, Pacific, and South West regions. Only the East North Central region remained static.

Another important observation of the study is that inns appear to remaining on the market longer with 21% being for sale for two or more years and 5% still available after three or more years. The B&B Team, sponsors of the study, believe that this 2-3 year time period to sell a bed & breakfast inn is not unusual, but there is clear statistical evidence to support this. Additionally, a large number of properties which are still operating dropped off the list in 2009, indicating discouragement with the marketplace.

In light of the large numbers of B&Bs and inns for sale, The B&B Team believes that the smaller properties, those that would be desirable as residences, should focus their efforts on selling as residential real estate rather than as B&B's. This will increase their owners' chances of a successful sale in a timely fashion. Inns that are viable going concerns should ensure that their asking price reflects what an over-saturated marketplace and lenders will find "reasonable and defensible."

How About Some Optimism?

It's been a long, cold winter, not just because the weather has been that way, but also because the United States and the World have been rocked by a horrible recession. Every time you turn on the TV, open a newspaper, listen to the radio, or read your news on the Internet (take your choice of venue), the doom and gloom are almost overwhelming. But guess what? I think everything is going to be just fine!!!

I have the reputation of being an optimist. Last fall when things were starting to get really shaky but "they" still hadn't declared us in recession, I was telling Rick that I wished they'd just tell us we were in a recession so we could get it over with. Well, we finally got it, and it's a doozy. The loss of confidence is startling, but it's not all unfounded. There were lots of mistakes made the past few years, and the pendulum is swinging far in the opposite direction. But success in all things depends upon optimism. And, as they say, this too shall pass.

The world is full of people who bemoan the failure that they feel has been thrust upon them; and there are those who have had stellar success by the sheer strength of their optimism and belief that they would succeed. Some good planning is important, and luck and timing can play a role, but without optimism no amount of planning will be enough. Optimists can sell ideas; pessimists just depress people. Enter the bed & breakfast industry to provide some of that psychic "care and feeding" that people who feel battered and bruised by the economy need. Innkeepers are the stars in the economic landscape, but the lodging and travel industry have been hit hard and are being hit even harder by a tone in Washington that suggests that travel is somehow a bad thing, at least for corporations.

There's a great article by Chris McGinnis entitled How I Saved 100 Jobs. It's a recount of the people he encountered traveling to a conference on business, people who needed people like him to have a job. There are a LOT of people who's livelihood depends upon travel, and, despite all the negativism, there are signs of hope and reasons to be somewhat more optimistic.

Peter Yesawich's YPartnership released their Insights February 2009 with results of their latest travelhorizons(tm) survey. This survey looks at travelers' near term intentions. Amazingly, the U.S. Traveler Sentiment Index(tm) shows an increase of 15.3% over the October, 2008 figures. While this is 3% below the sentiment index a year ago, it is a positive, optimistic trend. It says that travelers (those folks who stay at your inn) are feeling a bit better about leaving home. People want to and are going to travel.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting firm, did a recent study in Britain that would probably have similar results if conducted in the US. In the study they observed that 25% of travelers are trading down in their plans by staying someplace less expensive, taking a cheaper flight, waiting for a last minute deal, and cutting the length of their trip. But overall, the intention to cut back was less than last year. That's an optimistic sign.

Furthermore, PWC suggests that travel companies should hold back on discounting. We talked about this in our article, Innkeeping Success Without Discounting. "It is vital that companies hold their nerve, do not panic into cutting prices too soon and remain flexible in what they offer consumers." As travelers look to save, every innkeeper may benefit from the guests that are coming to them instead of staying at the more expensive place. So, instead of cutting your rates, think in terms of a new demographic coming to your inn. Of course, no one is "trading down" to the highest end properties, so they have to be more creative in attracting recession-weary guests, but some folks aren't going to give up the luxury they feel they need and deserve; they just might travel less often and for fewer days. So, this is another reason to be optimistic. Everyone who does a good job should be able to get a piece of the pie. Those who aren't doing all the right things aren't going to get as much business, no matter how much they cut their prices. A judicious blend of many strategies is the best course.

We are optimistic that 2009 is going to be a good year. It's really essential to feel the joy of coming to work every day, whether it's helping our clients be successful with our guidance or seeing the creative things innkeepers come up with that work. Optimism works. Look around you. It's everywhere if you open your eyes to it. And we need all that we can get.

Peter

An Online Community

Alright, so we write a lot about blogging and social media and the importance of it in your marketing, etc., etc., and sometimes you just want to tell us to SHUT UP already. We get it. But we don't give up that easily!

A couple of weeks ago in my article, "Do Innkeeper Blogs Work?" I mentioned a blog, My Bella Vita, by an American innkeeper in Italy, Cherrye Moore. Something happened this past week that caused me to dig a bit deeper into her blog and to reflect on the power and strength of online community. Something happened to Cherrye's father, and the outpouring has been remarkable.

If you explore My Bella Vita, you'll read a lot about Italy, about food and art and history. But you'll also learn a lot about the author. And you'll learn a lot about blogging. It's by inference and the prominent link to Il Cedro Bed & Breakfast that you'd want to stay at her B&B as well. Cherrye gets an unusually large number of comments to her blog posts because, as she told me, "people feel like they know us through the blog." Remarkably, she replies to every comment, something we're told to do to be effective. But then she told her readers on Feb. 13 that she was going home to Texas for a couple of weeks because she'd received the middle of the night phone call that no one wants to receive. "It's your father." And something amazing happened. 

In just a couple of days nearly forty people have left comments, offered prayers and best wishes. No doubt some are friends but many, like me, are strangers. Sometimes it's tragedy that makes us realize how many people "out there" really care. And then you realize that it really is possible to create a community in cyberspace.

The whole purpose of a blog for a bed & breakfast is to share something of yourself and your area with the larger world, to make people feel like they want to come stay with you. You begin to create an emotional connection with your past and future guests, and as you write and make the effort you may not know if anyone is really reading or if they care. But if you persist you might be surprised.

Is this for everyone? No. But if you visit My Bella Vita you'll understand why a blog can be a powerful tool for communication and for creating community. And you'll understand better what drives some people to "broadcast their lives to the blogosphere." And why people would want to stay at Il Cedro Bed & Breakfast. And why you might consider following a great example of what works.

Peter

Do Innkeeper Blogs Work?

Every year The B&B Team travels to various innkeeping conferences, sometimes to exhibit in the trade show, but always as speakers. In the past month we attended the Mid-Atlantic Innkeepers Conference and Trade Show in Hot Springs, Virginia and just this week were at the 17th annual conference of CABBI, the California Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns, in Monterey. As always, we had a great time meeting innkeepers and speaking about topics that we're passionate about, like "Attracting the i.guest in a Slowing Economy"(a version of which we presented on a PAII webinar recently) and "Inn Branding and Market Positioning."

In both of these presentations we focus on the contemporary traveler, the i.guest, who is intelligent, independent, informed, imaginative, Internet-savvy and empowered, and Identified. This i.guest is using the Internet and social media to make travel decisions, and one of the topics that always comes up when we mention blogs is, "Does a blog bring innkeepers business?"

While we have anecdotal evidence that it does, based on some innkeepers who swear by their blogs, there is some new evidence of a blog's effectiveness in generating new business.

Stephanie at the Albert Shafsky House Bed & Breakfast in Placerville, CA has been writing a blog for a year and a half. Before speaking to an eager audience at CABBI about blogging and social media, she showed us her Google Analytics page that proved that one of the top referrers to her B&B's website is her blog. And her bounce rate on those referrals is a mere 25% or so. That's quite something. She thinks that the blog is integral to their marketing, along with the B&B's Facebook page and other efforts. Steph and Rita are really working social media, and it's paying off.

This morning I received a Google Alert linking to My Bella Vita, a blog by an American innkeeper in Italy, Cherrye Moore, at Il Cedro in Calabria. We exchanged an email or two, and I asked her if she got any business from her blog. Her reply was that her "blog site has been a great source of leads for our B&B." She also made an incredibly valuable point, that many people go out of their way to book with them, "because they feel like they know us through the blog." That, folks, is what social media, Web 2.0, Travel 2.0, and all the other stuff is about. Successful innkeeping is about building relationships and providing enduring experiences.

If a blog at your inn could help you build relationships before you've ever met a potential guest, that's really getting a head start on a long term relationship that can pay great dividends, both financial and "psychic," as Holly Stiel likes to say.

For all the inspiration from all the innkeepers mentioned above and those that keep us going every day, all I can say, again to echo Holly Stiel (and some guy with sideburns), is "Thank you, thank you very much!"

Peter

What's In a Sign?

In other postings on The Innkeeper's Resource we often talk about tools like Google Alerts that can help you monitor your "social presence." We have a regular Google Alert for "The B&B Team." It lets us know if someone might be using our trademarked name, so we can address it, but the spinoff is that one comes across some interesting links. This morning there was an alert that flagged "B&B" in the article. It caught my eye for a very good reason.

The title was "The Importance of Proper Signage Advertising Your Business." It's a blog post by a young Irish woman who was traveling in Italy (I assume). They'd found a business card from a B&B, called the owner, and were directed to the property. As they approached they saw the poor quality, amateurish sign and almost turned away, imagining the worst. Fortunately, they forged on and were delighted to find a wonderful country inn!

There are two great lessons for innkeepers here. The first is that those business cards and rack cards that you distribute around town at friendly businesses, etc. can actually pay off with the serendipitous traveler. There are great stories of innkeepers who have really used everyone from gift shops and restaurants to their local mechanic's garage to promote their B&B. The cost is low and the payback can be big.

The second, perhaps more important, lesson goes to the heart of the article: signage matters! Most B&B's in recent years have done a good job with their signs. Sign makers are present at conference trade shows and are readily available online. Good signs aren't cheap, as anyone who has bought one will tell you. Unfortunately, most signs won't last forever.

We see lots of great inns whose signs seem to be the forgotten stepchild. While you pay lots of attention to your rooms, when was the last time you took a close look at your street sign? Is it a bit moldy? Maybe it's started to rot. Even slate signs can start to turn green with algae. If your sign is less than pristine, consider a simple cleaning, repainting, or even replacement. It matters. They always say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, and this applies to signs as much as it does to your web site, which is where the real first impression is. But I'll leave that for another post!

On the topic of signs, there's one other perspective. Some B&Bs out there have absolutely magnificent signs (or websites), but the B&B itself disappoints. I'm not saying to dumb down your sign, but it's always a good reminder to look at EVERYTHING you do to make it the very best it can be. In these tough economic times, especially if business is slow going into the winter, take advantage of the extra time to do something really positive for yourself and your business. Deep clean. Repaint. Caulk. Upgrade some linens and towels. Spend some time (and money if necessary) improving your website. You and your guests will be glad you did!

Peter

Innkeeping Success Without Discounting

These are tough times, no doubt about it. They were tough for the lodging industry after 9/11, too, and the immediate response was to discount rooms in hopes of filling them. Back then it worked, sort of, but the long term consequence was a period of several years to rebuild ADR and RevPAR. So what's an innkeeper to do? David King, CEO of Fulcrum has an article in Chief Marketer with a few suggestions, which I relate to innkeeping.

First, it's important to remember that discounts don't automatically equal value. Just because something costs less doesn't mean it's really nice. It may just be what a person can afford now, and when he can afford more he'll upgrade again. You never want anyone to think that your fabulous guest rooms are "cheap." But you do want them to know they are great value, regardless of price. Maybe they get something extra that adds value (flowers, a split of wine, a gas card) or a service (breakfast in bed, personalized tours, or reservations at the "impossible to get into" restaurant). Think about what you can do to increase value without discounting your rate.

Safety and security are important to consumer perceptions of value. It's one of the reasons that B&B's have been the lodging of choice for many female business travelers for years. They are perceived as safer than an anonymous motel. So, if you've got a wonderful, safe, homey, cozy place to be, emphasize it in your marketing. It's a great added value that your guest receives in addition to all the personal service you provide.

Especially in these times, remember that not all of your guests want the same thing. In fact, you may be getting some new guests that have never stayed with you or at a B&B before. Take advantage of the opportunity to introduce the joys of a distinctive, unique lodging experience and cultivate them for the future. Emphasize the fact that you can (and will) customize their guest experience. If they have limited resources, they want their dollar to go far. Innkeepers are uniquely poised to customize and deliver.

While you're at it, you should also recognize that some of your new guests may be different. As the world changes and travelers use different tools to plan and book their trips, whether for business or pleasure, either you are reaching them in their own language and providing them with what they want or you aren't. This is a great time to zero in on the i.guest, capture their attention, and keep them coming back.

There has never been a more important time to understand and care about your brand as an inn. What do you represent? Why would someone stay with you over another inn across town or across the state? If you have a clearly defined brand, nurture it and promote the heck out of it. And if you're not really sure that your brand message is clear (or even what that message is), you are probably missing an opportunity to build guest traffic and loyalty. Show people what you stand for, and deliver on that promise. Get help if you need it.

Finally, while you look for ways to survive this economic downturn in the short term, don't forget the medium and long term. In tough times, one of the first variable and discretionary costs that many businesses cut is advertising and marketing. This, along with aggressive discounting, starts a downward spiral that can cause some inns to fail. Plan carefully, and, if possible, increase your marketing spend to attract more new guests to your inn. If you think it through, you can build a solid base and increase your share of the pie even as others bemoan "the economy."

David King concludes, "There is no doubt that consumer and business customers will be seeking value in response to the pain and uncertainty in the economy. But smart marketers with the resources and vision to consider other steps will survive by doing more than rushing to the lowest common denominator." At The B&B Team, we couldn't agree more!

Peter

News from the Select Registry Conference

All four of The B&B Team (Peter and Peggy Scherman, Rick and Janet Wolf) had the pleasure of participating in the recent Select Registry Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia as vendors and speakers. Select Registry is an association of 400 of the top inns in North America known for their high quality, attention to detail, lofty standards, and the unique experiences they provide their guests.

At the annual conference there were a number of renown national speakers. Peter Yesawich, Chairman and CEO of Y Partnership, an integrated marketing communications company known for its strategic thinking, creativity, and innovation in marketing practice along with it co-authorship of the widely acclaimed National Travel  Monitor, spoke about many of the trends in travel which we track and discuss frequently in this blog. In true Yesawich fashion he expounded about the impact of technology on travel, from planning to booking, and reminded us that in 1996 only 11% of Americans had access to the Internet at home. Today, 70% do, and this has had a profound effect on behavior.

Travelers in large numbers visit blogs and other social media sites like TripAdvisor to get reviews when planning a trip, and 66% are looking for new, unique, and personalized experiences. A renewed interest in family has increased "values" travel, while 70% of leisure travelers took vacations to celebrate a special occasion. While the struggling economy is having an impact by increasing anxiety levels, 71% of active travelers are still planning a trip in the next six months. A full 48% say their travel plans won't change. Among significant trends, Yesawich stated that 41% of travelers would select a "green" property, but a majority won't pay more for the experience. It is becoming an expectation that property owners be environmentally conscious.

Philip Wolf of PhocusWright was another of the great speakers at the conference. He astutely commented that for inns, the "size of your reputation matters more than the size of your marketing ability." Innkeepers have to focus on quality above all else and create an experience that is viewed (and reviewed) favorably in the marketplace. He spoke of "the perfect storm" of conditions where the innkeeping industry is experiencing the integration of Web 2.0, what he has called "long-tail economics," and the industry itself. Innkeepers need to integrate user generated content (UGC) into their websites and marketing, and must monitor reviews posted about their properties. Wolf also talked about customization and how Google can be used to gather information about your guests that will allow innkeepers to provide a unique, personalized experience for the guest.

Jim Miller, a hospitality marketing and leadership development consultant and founder of Jim Miller & Associates, gave an inspirational talk about change. We all know that our times are challenging, and the innkeeping industry is moving along at warp speed. He said that "change is transformation tragically delayed." When we don't change when it is demanded of us, we miss opportunities, and today the innkeeping industry needs to make a quantum leap of change to ensure survival in our new environment. Miller stressed five key steps: 1. Listen and learn; 2. Set up your intentions; 3. Come up with a plan; 4. Make the move and make it quickly; and 5. Communicate constantly. This is great advice for our times. "Only the paranoid survive," Jim said, and it's advice worth taking to heart the next time you worry about the future. Your instincts may be telling you it's time to change!

Rick and I were also pleased to address an audience at the Conference. In a presentation entitled "Attracting the i.guest In a Slow Economy, How to Identify the i.guest, Today's Contemporary Traveler... and Strategies to Attract Them" we brought a lot of the concepts discussed by Peter Yesawich and Philip Wolf at a 50,000 foot level down to sea level, where innkeepers can actually learn how to implement strategies to improve their business. We described how the i.guest, the intelligent, informed, independent, imaginative, Internet-savvy contemporary traveler who is involved with social media, communicates and makes decisions about travel. The importance of an inn's brand image and creating an emotional connection with your guests is essential to innkeeping success. Innkeepers need to learn how to develop the "anonymous trust" placed on reviews into a personal/business advantage by embracing the phenomenon and integrating it into your daily business and thinking. We discussed current market conditions for leisure travel, which is still holding up fairly well, and laid out strategies for attracting more guests in our current economic climate by focusing on a 250-500 mile radius, making your inn's website great, employing search engine marketing (SEM) and adwords, focusing on clean, functional, thoughtful and comfortable rooms, great breakfasts, and creating positively memorable experiences for your guests.

The B&B Team was thrilled to be part of this great gathering, and we thank Keith Kehlbeck and Select Registry for the opportunity.

Peter

Dave Berkus's Ten Trends in Technology

In case you haven't been paying attention the past few months if you are a member of the Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII), there is a lot of very good information coming your way on a weekly basis through PAII's email newsletter. Being a bit of a trend junkie, I really liked one recent article, "Ten Trends in Technology That Will Shape How We Plan and Execute Beyond 2008"by Dave Berkus.

Without addressing every point in this post, there are a few that are worth highlighting. Trend #1, "The growing scope of the Internet," could have been written today or ten years ago. It seems there's no end to the evolution of the Net. Berkus quotes Charles Giancarlo of the San Francisco Chronicle who said in 2006, "In three years, twenty typical California households will generate as much traffic as the entire Internet did in 1995." While this is astounding, it's not surprising. I used to run my business from a "desktop" application (i.e. it resided on my computer). Today, my entire contact management system with nearly 6,000 contacts, including all attached emails, copies of letters sent, etc., is through a browser-based system, which is to say, all that information resides on a server somewhere else, and I access it from any computer with a browser. I think I'm generating a bit more traffic today than I did in 1995 when email and some web surfing were about it. Witness the same for inn operations and online property management systems and booking engines. Many of us live on the Internet today, just to do our work, though we forget that it amounts to "traffic" each time we click the mouse.

Trend #2, "The Paradise of Choice" is a bit like an embarrassment of riches. Consumers today simply don't have to "put up" with too much that they don't like. If it's not working for them, they can go somewhere else. Berkus points out, as we have many times in presentations about the i.guest, that "over 69% of consumers research online before a purchase. 62% look online for peer reviews [e.g. TripAdvisor or bedandbreakfast.com]. And 39% compare prices across suppliers before purchase." Do you think your B&B is the first and last a potential guest looks at before booking? If your website doesn't grab them, if it doesn't load quickly, if it isn't easy to navigate, and if they can't book it now, they just might move on to another inn's site.

Trend #3, "The audience is the network" addresses the democratization of distribution and search. We talk all the time about how anyone can voice their opinion on the web and be heard across the globe, sometimes to our dismay. But this is really a great thing. If travel agents have had to become "the specialists of complex knowledge" to survive, innkeepers have that same opportunity with a blog, for instance, and an intimate knowledge of your community and what is happening in it. What better place for a potential guest to get the latest scoop on restaurants and events than from you, the local innkeeper? If you provide that information to a larger audience than your bed & breakfast guests, you become a key thread in the network. And, in the process, you are increasing the visibility of your inn by creating greater search visibility through "mastery of keyword placement, prodigious use of blogs and other previously non-traditional exposure resources...." So, step out on a limb and get creative. Do you have a blog? Is it working for your business?

I'll address some of Dave Berkus's other trends in my next post. Stay tuned!

Peter