Run A Successful Tourism Business

Tourism is a growth sector. Yet, at the same time customer expectations have risen and competition has increased. So what are the strategies for setting up or running a successful tourism business in today's climate?

Be personally prepared

Running your own business, in any sector, means long hours, heavy responsibility, a fluctuating income, lots of paperwork and being a jack-of-all-trades in marketing, finance, management and so on. In addition, running a tourism business often means even longer hours - especially an accommodation business. It means more fluctuation - because of the seasonality - and, because it's such a people business, even more effort into customer service and staff management. Honestly assessing your personal abilities, and working on the bits you aren't so strong on, can make all the difference between success and failure.

Don't do it alone

Setting up or running your own business can be an isolating experience, but you don't have to do it alone. Get in touch with and use the tourism and business organisations in your area. In the North East there are regional and area tourism organisations, private sector tourism organisations and trade associations. Talk over ideas, ask for advice and share information with them. In addition, use Business Link for non tourism queries. Their website (www.businesslink.gov.uk) offers a huge amount of business orientated advice and excellent tools for every aspect of running a business and employing staff. There are also some good private sector business websites. Some of these are aimed at new businesses and start ups, but don't let that put you off if you're already in business. They have access to some of the best new business information and opportunities; why shouldn't you take advantage too? They are www.startups.co.uk (and its partner site www.growingbusiness.co.uk ), www.newbusiness.co.uk , www.smallbusinessadvice.org.uk and also have a look at www.businessballs.co.uk for an alternative approach.

Aim for high quality

High quality doesn't mean five star (although it could do, if that's right for your business and your area). It means understanding your market, making sure you've got the right products and services and then meeting and exceeding your customers' expectations. It also means running your business professionally, however small it is: training your staff, providing really high levels of customer service, managing your finances effectively and making sure your marketing conveys the right image for you and your area.

Use research

Businesses that know their industry do better. Unless you know who comes here, why, what they want, how they buy and book and where to advertise to reach them, you're just operating in the dark and hoping for the best. As well as conducting your own research, and using information from your own business, use the Toolkit for a huge amount of easily digested research material. Also pay attention to news and sign up for newsletters and e-alerts. No-one has time to read everything thoroughly, but get into the habit of skimming material and then stopping at the most relevant bits. And all the time you're reading think, "What does this actually mean for me and my business?" See Tourism in the North East - Key Facts for an example of how to do this.

Plan

Every business, every business, needs to plan. Don't let the idea of planning put you off: planning is just sitting down, thinking things through, deciding what you want to do and then writing down a series of steps to do it. Unless you're a new business you don't have to have a full-on business plan. Instead you can have series of short, one or two page plans for each of the main areas: quality, training, marketing, finance, customer service, legislation and IT.

Remember each plan is for you, something genuinely practical and useful that you actually refer to in order to get the task done, just as a shopping list helps you plan and manage your trip to the supermarket, so you end up with the meals you want without blowing your food budget or forgetting the vital ingredients! Really good plans are exactly this sort of practical, working document. You don't need a lot of flowery language, you just need a series of well thought out, achievable, affordable steps to make sure you're running the best business you can.

Be innovative

The idea of innovation, like planning, can put people off, "I'm not an inventor, I run a local café." But innovation simply means keeping things fresh. It means looking at how you currently operate and thinking: what could I realistically, cost-effectively do to be a bit different or to add a bit extra?" Invite the kids from the local music college to come and play in the corner of your café on Wednesday lunchtimes? (Free to you, but vet them first!). Ask local artists and photographers if they want to display their work on your walls? (Free to you, or you could take a commission.) Have a regional food day once a month, using traditional recipes and locally sourced ingredients? (And do a bit of PR with the local papers to promote it.)

Meet and exceed legislation

For any business, there is a lot of red tape. When you have so many other things to do in a day, it's easy to push rules and regulations to the back burner. Don't. Not only might you fall foul of the law - and get fined or even closed down - but these responsibilities are never really out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Instead, they sit on your back and weigh you down. Far better is to know what legislation you need to meet, then meet and exceed it. Have a plan, sign up to alerts, know about up and coming changes, make the adjustments and create the policies you need. The Toolkit section Rules and Regulations and Business Link can help with this.

Have excellent customer service

Great customer service, in any business, is essential. In a tourism business this is doubly true because it is so people-orientated. You and your staff have a massive impact on your customers' overall experience - which is the thing that determines whether they'll come back again and recommend you and your area. As well as all the usual things: smiling, making eye contact, listening, being helpful, dealing promptly with complaints, etc, you need to step outside your business (literally if you have a premises) and then try to look at it with a customer's eye, seeing it for the first time. Look at everything: marketing, ordering process, payment process, your physical building including the approach, parking, signage etc. What could you do to make it easier, more pleasant, more helpful? And after they've left you, how could you help them go on and continue to enjoy your area?

Have excellent marketing

For the great majority of your customers, your marketing - adverts, website, brochures, flyers etc - will be their very first impression of your business. Good text, great images, interesting layout, professional finish, all these are very important. And so is the right advert in the right place. Do you really think about your marketing and make time for it? Do you try to pin down what you want to achieve and then spend regular time making sure you know what the advertising opportunities are, which ones you want to try and which of the ones you already have are working for you? See our Marketing, Advertising and PR section for more.

Tap into main and niche markets

Understanding the main markets - which visitors come, where they come from, what they want etc - and meeting them is obviously very important. But in order to win additional business, consider also catering for niche markets: business tourism, luxury tourism, church tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, food tourism, international guests, walkers and cyclists, other activities and so on. People come for a wide variety of reasons. Assess each niche, make sure you understand what customers from those niches are looking for and then work out if your business can be successfully suited to meet those needs. You can't be all things to everyone - eg cater for families and for older guests seeking a peaceful getaway - but you can work out which niches you can meet and exceed, and then market yourself accordingly. The Marketing, Advertising and PR section has more information on niches and how to assess them.

Network with other businesses

This really goes hand and hand with not doing it alone. Try not to think of other tourism businesses in your area as competition. As a single business you can only attract so many visitors, know so much about your industry and spend so much on marketing. Together with other businesses you can achieve a lot more: share ideas and information, collaborate on projects, market together, train together and create packages and special offers together. Use the Tourism Message Board, join local associations and trade bodies and make direct contact with other businesses in your area.