Avoiding Price: The Difference Between Hospitality and Transportation

This month’s TOP Radio tourism marketing podcast is two very good friends:

• Doug Anweiler, a long time tourism marketing expert from the Authentic Seacoast.  Doug is no stranger to TOP, as he was here before talking with me about remarkable tourism marketing.
• Tony Champion, from Positively Travel.  Tony’s had over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry.

The Authentic Seacoast has six times as many Twitter followers as people who live in their tiny seacoast village!

Listen Now

To listen to the call, you can listen right from your web browser by pressing play on the widget below.

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Call Highlights

Some highlights and quotes from the call – be sure to listen in to the whole call for the details.

Price

• Focusing on price isn’t a great way to build a customer base – you’ll “only be as good as your latest price.”  No loyalty.
• People are willing to pay for experiences.  This is what small travel businesses thrive at!

What’s the big problem with price online, anyway?

• Price isn’t a new issue.  Businesses have always been distracted/worried/distraught about price.  The world of online hasn’t made that any better, or worse.
• What are you good at?  That is where you should have your focus. If you’re reading this, more than likely the thing that you’re good at isn’t that you’re cheap.
• It’s easy to get distracted by price when online.  All of the major travel portals scream PRICE, PRICE PRICE.  When you do advertising keywords or SEO, you see price, price, price.  Leave that where it is and focus on more important.
• When marketing online, it is easy to forget what it is that makes you special.  For example, the Authentic Seacoast it’s about the people and the exceptional hospitality.
• Customers who are listening to your story and understand what you are are about most likely aren’t buying on price.
• If you aren’t worried about things like the experience, your reviews and ratings will suffer – that is more important than price.
• “It’s better to get the right people on board the bus and the worry about the direction, rather than over plan and then drive around in circles looking for the people.”
• Being the best used to be the trend, but now just being different works too.
• People are more interested in “life behind the scenes” thank you think – and this is a great way to focus on something other than price.
• Lose the brand and step into the relationship.

Transportation Versus Hospitality

• Don’t follow suit with the airlines with their fees and their “faux” pricing.  They’re in transportation.  Travel agents, tour guides, and hoteliers are in hospitality.
• Real hospitality isn’t something you do – it’s just the things built into the experience that make it so good you can’t help but tell other people about it.
• This is a difficult area because you’re competing with attention for the same travelers, not that you are offering the same experience.
• Remind yourself about YOUR value, YOUR story, and YOUR importance.  There are people out there who want what you’re offering and are willing to pay for it.
• It isn’t about price – it’s about value.  And it keeps coming back to trust.

Closing Thoughts

• Work with passion.
• Do what it is that makes you remarkable.

Connect with Doug or Tony

You can connect with Doug on Twitter, @AuthenticCoast, or visit their website, www.authenticseacoast.com.

You can connect Tony on Twitter, @TonyJChampion, or visit his website, www.positivelytravel.com.