One of Australia’s long term primaryindustries after minerals and resources is travel and accommodation.

Over the past decades visitor have flocked to Australia to explore our unique landscape and relaxed way of life, yet in the more recent years due to global economic hardship, we are seeing a massive drop in visitors to Australia.
Many of Australia’s regions heavily reliant on the tourism and accommodation industry are suffering, with many tourism operators in areas such as the Whitsundays and the Sunshine Coast on the verge of closing their doors.
And if financial and tourism experts are correct, this situation will possibly continue for the next 2 years.

But is the economic climate really the main problem?

If you follow Google’s statistics on the main tourism regions of Australia, the trend in people searching for holidays in Australia remains consistent over the past few years, and in fact on the increase in many areas such as the Gold Coast, Sydney, the Sunshine Coast…and the Whitsundays.

So if these live statistics are true, why are the visitor numbers slowing and what is the real problem?

More people than ever before are turning to the internet to book and plan their travel, so for tourism operators having an online marketing tool is critical.
These days just having a website that acts as an online brochure is not good enough if you want to capture the visitors.

Tourism operators and organisations need to thing outside the square and think much bigger.

I reviewed many of Australia’s leading tourism operator and corporate websites and found that most are ill-equipped to attract and capture visitors successfully.

Here are a few tips for all operators in the accommodation industry:

Thinking Global
With so much of the Australian tourism market reliant on international visitors this should be obvious, yet around 95% of accommodation-based websites have no translation tools on their website, or even a way of seeing where their visitors have come from for their future marketing.

Beating The Language Barrier
Believe it or not, but the English language is not the same globally when it comes to travel.
For instance, in Australia and the UK we go on a ‘holiday’, in many other parts of the world they call it a ‘vacation’. We stay in ‘apartments or units’, in many parts of the world they call it a ‘hotel or resort’.
Adding these simple keywords to your website in the text not only helps the international visitor understand you better, but will boost your international websites visitors from search engines.

Informing the visitors
Many visitors know little about Australia, or the local regions, so providing quick easy access to these details on the first page of your website is critical to get their attention. Give them a reason they should explore your area.
Adding links to the top 10 things to do in your region, local events and a downloadable ebook to give them something to take away after leaving your website gives your visitor a better education…and more chance of making a booking.

Connecting with the visitor
Most tourism websites are basically just an online brochure and don’t give the tourist operator a chance to really connect with the audience.
Simple technology now available that allows you to connect instantly with your audience as soon as they view your website. You can even see what they are moving their mouse over on your website, and you can send a pop up chat box to them to ask if they need assistance. You have the opportunity to connect with them before they leave your website!
This technology can be added to any website very easily and costs less than $10 per month, yet it is rarely seen on accommodation websites!

Social Media
We all hear about the power of social media. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook marketing allow you and your visitors to connect and converse, building a trusting relationship online.
You can also share events, photos, and local news plus use these tools to communicate with your potential customers as to their needs and likes, helping you as a service provider to provide a better holiday experience.
Facebook and Twitter can also be branded, allowing you to add messages, special deals and more. What other global marketing tools allow free advertising to potentially millions of people every day?

Creating a call to action
When people visit your website you don’t just want them to view your website and then leave.
Create a call to action with a subscription form, offering either discount voucher or fare ebook download when then sign up allows you to capture their details immediately for future marketing.
Many websites just add a basic newsletter subscribe link. Offering something free will gain a much better response.
Using smart online marketing tools you can create email marketing campaigns easily that not only target your audience, but also integrate with your social media tools, sending out simultaneously to a global audience.

Offering More
Adding value to your online bookings can really increase sales.
If you can have people book direct from your accommodation website rather than going through an external booking system you save, so offer a free bottle of champagne on arrival for online bookings and you win the visitor over with a nice start!

Create proactive marketing
Reaching your target audience online is becoming increasingly easier.
By creating articles and blog posts on your website and also submitting them to article websites helps you gain a greater presence on the search engines, as well as providing more information to potential visitors. If they find you before your competitors than you win!

Adding Polls to your website allow your visitors to interact and provide you with marketing information for you. Simple tickbox polls can help you find out what your audience likes to do on holiday, etc. This is critical marketing information which you can collect for free from your own website.

Simplify your enquiry system
Many websites are losing bookings simply because their online enquiry form is too complex.
Plan your booking or enquiry form like you’d plan a phone conversation. Don’t initially ask too many details, instead use the enquiry form to gain the basic information and then provide them later with the additional information and the upsell.
Getting the initial enquiry is critical, so don’t lose them by asking for too much information that you scare them away!

Marketing Smarter
Online marketing has become easier and the ability to reach a wider audience, such as simple Youtube videos, online image galleries branded with your logo. Keyworded correctly this will be picked up by Google and attract a lot more visitors directly back to your website.

If you are not implementing the tips mentioned above in your accommodation marketing you are most likely missing out of potential customers.
Everyone needs a holiday, so beat the economic crisis with some smart marketing and watch your business flourish!

Talk to the Sunshine Coast online tourism marketing experts at Devision Design and we can show you how to increase your profit by simple online marketing techniques.

Author: Chris Bourke of Devision Design and Australian Holiday Resorts marketing.