Start & Run a Bed & Breakfast. Richard Taylor

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СКАЧАТЬ need to collect enough information to answer the following four basic questions:

      (a) What attracts visitors to your area?

      (b) How many of these visitors are potential B&B customers?

      (c) What facilities and services do they want?

      (d) What local competition do you face?

      When you have answered these questions, you will have completed your market research. Keep a record of all costs encountered during your research and keep all your receipts; you will be documenting these costs at the end of this chapter.

      2. Sources of Information

      Since you are contemplating a tourist-oriented business, you will be happy to know that there is a huge amount of information available. Most of this material is produced by various levels of government that are always trying to capture a larger piece of the lucrative tourist trade. To obtain market research information on your particular area, the following sources are suggested:

      (a) Provincial or state government travel offices:

      • Travel brochures

      • Accommodation listings (see list in Appendix 1)

      • Provincial or state tourism studies

      (b) Municipal government offices:

      • Local tourism studies

      • Seasonal visitor patterns

      • Traffic studies

      (c) Chamber of commerce:

      • Local business statistics

      • Tourist services available

      • Accommodations available

      (d) Nearby tourist attractions:

      • Attendance records

      • Types of visitors

      • Operating season

      (e) Local B&B associations:

      • Local competition

      • Styles of accommodation

      • Tariff structures

      (f) B&B guide books:

      • Styles of accommodations

      • Tariff structures

      • Services offered

      (g) B&B reservation services:

      • Listing and booking fees charged

      • Tariff structures

      • Average bookings placed in your area

      (h) Brochures from local B&Bs:

      • Types of accommodation

      • Tariff structures

      • Meals provided

      • Services provided

      (i) Brochures from local hotels, motels, inns, and lodges:

      • Types of accommodation

      • Tariff structure

      • Services provided

      3. What Tourist Attractions Are in Your Area?

      A considerable number of customers to your bed-and-breakfast home will be visitors to one of the local tourist attractions in your area. It is useful, therefore, to do a survey of these attractions so that you will have a better understanding of the length of stay, the age range, and the interests of these visitors. You will also be able to determine the specific months of the year when people are most likely to travel through your area.

      3.1 The tourist attraction survey

      Let's discuss a tourist attraction survey. Let’s review each section:

      (a) The first column shows the name of the local attraction (and any further comments needed to clarify the nature of the attraction), the distance to the attraction from the B&B, and the gate total, or yearly attendance record, for the attraction.

      (b) The second, third, and fourth columns define your target customers. They indicate how long the average visitor would spend at this attraction, the age group most likely to attend, and the range of interests of the customers to that particular attraction. When answering some of these questions on your own attraction survey, you will have to use your own judgment unless the attraction has published statistics available.

      (c) Visitor patterns indicate the operating season of each attraction and show the number of days in each month that the attraction is open for business. For the sake of simplicity, consider each month to have 30 days (including 4 weekends).

      3.2 Do your own tourist attraction survey

      Do your own tourist attraction survey. Phone or visit each attraction in your area and get their descriptive brochures, information on their operating season, and their yearly attendance figures.

      When you select local attractions for your survey, start with the one closest to your B&B and move geographically outward from there. It is more likely that the closer attractions will provide the most customers for your business.

      Make sure you fill in the operating day patterns for each attraction. We suggest that you survey no more than six attractions.

      As with all the completed worksheets, keep your tourist survey close at hand for future reference.

      4. Know Your Potential Customers

      4.1 Who are your potential customers?

      No matter how many tourists your area attracts, not all of them will be potential customers for your B&B. You need to separate potential customers from unlikely customers by researching how people visit your area. For example, if you live in a popular tourist area with annual summer festivals, arts celebrations, etc., the potential for customers throughout the high tourist season is greater. If, however, you live off the beaten track, your customers may be more likely to be weekend getaway seekers.

      Review the following list of unlikely customers and remove them from your plan for your potential market. Then review the list of potential customers and keep the variety in mind when you are thinking about attracting clientele to your B&B.

      Unlikely customers:

      • Organized tours with preplanned itineraries and СКАЧАТЬ