With gas prices rising again in preparation for summer travel, I thought I’d put up a quick note about an article I wrote last year. Encourage Summer Travel – Offer a Gas Incentive outlines some creative ideas from inns, hotels and bed and breakfasts that offered cash or gas cards as incentives to bring visitors in the door. Let’s look at TravelMole, an online community for the Travel Industry. It features an article giving examples of hoteliers and even convention and visitor’s bureaus using gas incentives to ramp up travel for the summer months. Here are a few examples of gas-incentive packages being offered across the U.S.:

• BnBFinder.com, an online bed and breakfast directory, is keeping track of inns and B&Bs offering rebates and free gas.
• The southern California city of Costa Mesa is offering people who stay in Costa Mesa hotels a $30 restaurant certificate for each night’s stay, as well as a $30 gas certificate.
• California mountain resort Big Bear is giving away a $25 gas card for visitors who stay at participating hotels in the area through November 18.
• The Branson, Missouri Tourism Center is offering 20 cent per gallon of gas discount for people living 100 miles or more away from Branson.

Consider offering an incentive to guests who book early. Some ideas for setting up this program in your area could be:

• Purchase gas cards at the local station and offer them to guests upon check-in.
• Contact your local chamber or convention and visitors bureau to see if they’re offering something similar in the area, or if they may be able to help you set up a program city-wide.
• Remove the hassle and just offer guests a $25 rebate on their room to fill their tank when they leave.

All in all, giving potential guests the impression that they are getting a deal can only increase your bottom line. Make sure you feature this special prominently on your homepage and link to a page that describes the rules and conditions along with the benefits of choosing your property & location over your competitor’s.

Carrie Hill - Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc.

 

Categories: SEM, Travel Marketing.
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