Introduction

Welcome to our new tourism newsletter. We provide valuable and up- to-date newsletters to Guest House, Bed and Breakfasts, Self Catering and all other tourism units. Our newsletter will be adding value to your business by bringing you news on how to increase your income, networking opportunities, latest tourism news and statistics, hints and tips, real life guesthouse owners reporting back etc

Spam

We are fed up with spam mail arriving daily in our mail box and we certainly do not wish to add to people’s unwanted mail. Our newsletter is designed for people in the tourism industry by people in the tourism industry and we hope to add value to all our subscribers businesses. If however you do not want to receive our newsletter simply select the unsubscribe option at the end of this mail – this will remove you from our list immediately.

Increasing your income

A frequently asked question by many guest houses, and in this issue we have some of the answers. In the following issues we will provide you with more handy hints and tips in this regard.

• Internet access

  • One of the most common, but little known, services that you can add to your guest house is internet access for your guests. But how do you control it? How do you know how much bandwidth they have used? How do you ensure that it is not costing you more than you are making from it?

Well with the brand new, unique concept in South Africa, you can purchase a “Hot Box” from NetNerds, this is basically a prepaid card that you can sell to your guests. All you would need is an ADSL connection. The guest can use their own laptop or you can set up a PC for this purpose. The service includes hardware and software installation and support.

• House wine list

  • Most tourists visiting our beautiful country for a little more than just business are always attracted to our divine wine! This is an easy way to increase your income from your clients. All you would need to do is have a “house wine” which you purchase bulk, add a fee to the cost price and have the “Wine List” available in their rooms. This is one of the handy tips from our resident 5 Star Guest House Owner. This can also be done for bottled water and other canned beverages.

• Braai’s or evening meals

  • People like to chat to their host, so why not make money whilst doing it, offer a “guest evening” where your guests can mingle around a good braai and chat and eat the night away.

Most people utilise the fast, effective and informative internet to make their accommodation bookings nowadays, and 80% of those users in most countries use Google as their search tool. To make sure that you are making use of this effective form of marketing we have conducted a survey in which we “googled” the most commonly searched phrases when booking accommodation in South Africa.

• SA-Venues.com

• Wheretostay.com

• Sleeping-out.co.za

• Capestay.co.za

• Safarinow.com

• Bedandbreakfast.co.za

• Aatravel.co.za

• Portfoliocollection.com

• Roomsforafrica.com

• Cape-accommodation.co.za

Although we recommend these sites we can also provide you with a free listing on Holiday Homes SA. Yes the listing is completely free, no hidden costs.

Putting heads on your guesthouse beds….

The dream and lure of running your own business in South Africa is growing and is certainly an exciting prospect, and one of the most popular business pursuits is to run a guesthouse or bed and breakfast. An opportunity to welcome and meet new people has its benefits. But be sure that the dream can become a reality and although you may have a passion for entertaining, cooking and turning homes into special places, it can be quite different on a daily basis.

This article is aimed at highlighting some of the key consideration that anyone embarking on this most exciting of ventures will need to give some thought to.

To start any business, anywhere not only in South Africa, you will need to do your research, draw up a comprehensive business plan and make sure that you know as much about the market you intend to enter. There is a lot of competition, particularly within the tourism market, and it can be risky. That said sometimes you have to take the risk and run with the change to move on and make a big difference. Spend time and determine exactly the market you are aiming at and target your offer towards them. Top tip do some thorough research.

If you are a couple that previously worked separately, working and living together, will take some getting used to. You must learn to draw up responsibilities and also between work and personal life and make sure that you find time to relax and enjoy your past times.

Highlighted are some areas that you should think about, although not extensive these few topics give an initial insight at the start of the process.

Location, Location, Location!

The old saying that location is key, is absolutely right, tourists will be looking for a special place to relax and unwind and enjoy the sight and sounds of South Africa. Sea and mountain views are always popular as are those locations close to the winelands, game reserves or the major cities. Some areas have special festivals for example the wine festivals of Franschhoek, whale festival of Hermanus and the Oyster festival of Knysna and attract a certain group of tourists.

Layout and style of the property

The style and layout of the property is vital to ensure that it is both welcoming and appeals to your potential customers, the Tourism Grading Council of South African, is a great place to start to understand some of the required standards. They use a series of check lists that cover all aspects involved with benchmarking a great guesthouse.

When looking for a property as a guest house pay careful attention to the flow and how potential guests will use and enjoy it. Lounge and receptions areas for guests to use and areas set aside for dining all should be made available.

Facilities such as a pool, Jacuzzi or just space to enjoy the garden and grounds should be considered. Remember the more facilities you can offer the greater the chance you will have in attracting more guests.

The Service offer

Aside from the bed and the guestroom, it is important to scope and describe exactly what you intend to offer your guests. Inevitably you would have experienced other guest houses and kept a note of what you liked and did not like so much during your travels. Translating that into your service offer should be your starting point.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and can be the first chance you have to impress your guests with your culinary skills. Variety is the spice of life, by offering guests a different meal each morning keeps them interested in the meal and keeps it interesting for you too.

Marketing and advertising

Take time to review and understand what the competition is doing locally in the area that you plan to operate in. Use the internet to research prices, service offers and what they are offering. This research will give great insight to potential opportunities for you to make a difference.

Internet has grown in terms of the way in which people search for their holiday accommodation. A great website can make all the difference and ensure that your website has good presence on the key search engines e.g. Google, Yahoo

The world cup 2010 it’s never too early to start planning

With the 2010 World Cup coming faster than most of us care to realise, there are many things that you can do to make your establishment “2010 ready”.

First off, and most importantly, your establishment should be registered with MATCH – a FIFA made organisation regulating the accommodation recommend to the overseas tourists, heavily marketed by FIFA. It must be noted however, that it is NOT required that you are a member of MATCH to entertain foreign guests during the 2010. Foreign guests are permitted to reside anywhere they like during the games. Though it is not a requirement, it is highly recommended that your establishment is registered with MATCH.

GOOD NEWS - for the first time in FIFA history, they are making use of non-hotel establishments. This means that any type of establishment can now register with MATCH, self-catering to game lodge.

For the application forms to become a member of MATCH click here.

Topics of Upcoming news letters:

• Requirements for membership with MATCH

• Latest tourism trends