With the exchange rate being favorable, many travelers have recently taken off for international destinations, but the domestic market is still going strong.
NB: This is an article from WebRezPro
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Ninety-two percent of US domestic leisure travelers are planning a vacation over the upcoming six months (as of August 2024), and domestic travel around the globe is predicted to increase three percent each year.
But don’t take domestic travelers for granted. In such a competitive industry, it pays for hoteliers to put in the effort to attract these guests. Less impacted by economic downturns, domestic travelers are a relatively stable source of revenue compared to international vacationers. And the shorter the distance guests have to travel, the more likely you’ll see repeat business from them. It isn’t a “once in a lifetime” trip, which is to your benefit. Repeat guests splurge more and cost fewer marketing dollars to attract too.
Here is how to capture your share of the domestic travel market and bring those loyal, profitable guests in the door.
Promote Local Attractions
You may not have the Eiffel Tower, but all towns have something worth visiting, whether it’s the local park with fall leaf colors or quaint little bookstore/cafe down the road. Advertise these attractions on your website. Your “Things to Do” page or blog are ideal places to promote them and help boost your SEO (more on that below).
Take it one step further and partner with other businesses in your area to offer guests discounts and packages. This improves the guest experience and expands your marketing opportunities. For instance, you can run a joint social media campaign and/or exchange backlinks. Remember that your audience isn’t necessarily the same as your partner’s audience, and their channels enable you to reach potential guests who may not otherwise hear about you.
Leverage Local SEO
Use local, region-specific SEO strategies to attract guests looking to stay in your area. The first step is completing your Google Business Profile. Make sure your property’s business category, physical address, business hours, and all other details are filled in and up to date. Include targeted keywords in your business description (but avoid keyword stuffing!) and link to your property’s website. Your Google Business Profile is an important ranking factor; the more robust it is, the better.
The more positive reviews you have, the better for your local SEO too. Make a point of collecting and responding to reviews. You can ask for reviews by posting the links to your favored review sites around your property and in your guest messaging. Requesting reviews is completely acceptable to guests—and expected!
Cultivating partnerships makes a difference to your SEO as well because any backlinks they provide will be from a local source (and thus signal to Google’s algorithm that you’re worthy of local recognition).
The closer a business is to the user, the higher Google places it in search results, which gives smaller, local properties a leg up to compete with big-budget companies. A little under half of Google queries are for local information, so local SEO is worth investing in. You’re meeting your guests’ needs before they even step onto your property!
