Once again this year, France will confirm its position as world tourism champion, with 87 million foreign tourists welcomed in 2017. Worldwide tourism is booming, and France is benefiting too! So what are the strategies you need to adopt tooptimize your welcome of international customers?
Translate your website
and propose several currencies
Have you ever thought thata large number of abandoned bookings are due to your site not supporting different languages and currencies?
Suppose that tourists have been seduced by your hotel concept, its decoration or If they surf to your site and the content isn ‘t translated into their language, or they can’t find the room rates in their own currency, they’ll easily abandon you and go to the sites of competing hotels.
Make the difference by taking language maximization a step further. You can offer brochures and audio tours to give them an idea of what they can experience during their trip. Not to mention that recruiting multilingual staff will enhance your customers ‘ experience during their stay. You can also set up a chatbot on your hotel website that can converse with your customers in several languages: read our article here.
Develop your activity
on the social network
On social networks, you can determine your target audience. Don’t forget to offer useful content that will be of interest to your potential customers.
You can also modulate your advertising according to your objective, and the gender and age range of the people you want to target.
You can also translate your publications into several languages, to get better engagement from your foreign target audience.
Most Facebook users check their News Feed several times a day. So think about peak connection times when scheduling your publications.
Refer your
establishment on OTAs
Identify which online travel agencies (OTAs) your target audience would be most likely to use, as this is another way of attracting foreign travelers. Ctrip is the most popular OTA in China for young travelers, while TripAdvisor is the preferred site for UK travelers. The most popular OTAs are :
- Agoda
- Tripadvisor
- Last Minute
- Booking
- hotel.de
By ensuring that your hotel is present on these popular international OTAs, and that your information and photos are up to date, you’ ll increase your chances of attracting the attention of international travelers. Encouraging travelers with good experiences to leave reviews on OTAs will also help you promote your establishment.
Adapt your facility
to foreign cultures
Because of cultural differences, travelers’ needs and desires can vary. The key is to identify the amenities that will help your customers feel most comfortable when traveling to a new country. So, for your breakfast, think international and offer different formulas (American, continental, brunch or buffet…).
Be forward-thinking, and offer your foreign customers essential items: for example, you can provide adapters for electrical outlets, as well as a free wifi connection.
Take care of the reception of
your foreign travelers
To ensure that your foreign travelers feel at ease when they arrive at your establishment, it’s essential to make them feel welcome!
With StyQR, you can easily create your hotel’s digital welcome booklet, to provide your guests with all the information they need for their stay: wifi code, digicodes, useful numbers, good addresses nearby…
You can translate your welcome booklet into 8 languages (English, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish). Your passengers can access your booklet by scanning a QR code (or via a URL link sent by e-mail). The icing on the cake: the booklet is automatically displayed in the traveller’s language!
This way, your travelers will feel supported throughout their stay, with all the information they need at their fingertips and in their own language.