Imagine if you had over 100 years of tourism expertise to help run your business. You do! At Tomahawk, the senior team have over 135 years of experience in the tourism industry and they are the team behind ResBook, here to assist in your accommodation business's success.
This month's spotlight is on Ranginui Retreat, who have partnered with ResBook and Tomahawk's expertise to launch their new accommodation in the Wairarapa and how together, they achieved impressive success in their first season of running a boutique accommodation.
We also share some new marketing packages to help you take advantage of this expertise too!
Marketing packages designed to give you the results you deserve & delivered by tourism marketing experts!
Social Media
Plan engaging organic & paid posts with enticing content and design!
Can't find something in the Knowledge Base? Get in touch with Client Services, we'd be happy to help 👍🏼
Customer Spotlight: Ranginui Retreat
As a brand new luxury accommodation, Rob & Susie from Ranginui Retreat are enjoying a great start to their new business! They have fully partnered with Tomahawk for their digital marketing, including:
We are pleased to share they achieved 30% occupancy in their first season, and 100% for their Cottage in January!
"Given we literally started from scratch and opened only 7 months ago as a brand new boutique luxury lodge we have been super pleased with the outcome.
The results speak for themselves, we have had more people stay with us since we started in September 2022 than we ever dreamed would be the case".
- Rob & Susie, Ranginui Retreat
What do you see as the biggest challenge for this season?
Rob: We have now been operating for 7-months and, from a standing start have been really humbled and a bit overwhelmed with the great responses we have been getting from guests who have stayed with us, and with the encouragement we have received from our support at Tomahawk and Destination Wairarapa (our RTO).
The biggest challenge is we will be going into a new season still learning new things and trying not to make the same mistake twice! We need to keep raising the awareness of the New Zealand and overseas market that we are here, and that whether you seek relaxation, adventure, or simply a change of scenery, our lodge offers an unparalleled sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of daily life with luxurious accommodations and exceptional dining.
What is one piece of advice you would give someone who is looking to start an accommodation business?
Rob: Do your homework. By that we mean, understand the market you will be operating (and competing) in, by analysing what others are doing in your area and beyond, and learn what you don’t know by getting a team to help you. Having a marketing plan that is the result of really testing what you are offering, having good systems for reservations and financial management, and having systems in your business to help provide a consistent, quality service is key.
In our experience, everyone is good at one aspect of a business or job, but they need a team to help in those areas where they are maybe not as expert, or where they lack experience.
Finally, this is a business, if you treat it as a hobby, you will find it tough. (I guess that’s way more than one piece of advice!)
ResBook: How has ResBook helped your business?
Rob: Having a reservation system that isn’t that hard to understand, links with other systems to stop double-bookings or missed bookings, and provides reports in detail as well as trends is essential for our business. We are also finding that, as you get into it, it does things that we wouldn’t have known to ask about at the start, but now find invaluable.
ResBook: What is one of your favourite guest stories?
Rob: We had a lovely couple from New Zealand and their friends from Canada stay with us. We had some amazing conversations on a huge range of topics, but one of our guests decided that it was his job to fix a gate that was sticking at the entrance to our vegetable garden. Despite our saying, “you don’t need to do this”, he went ahead and did a fantastic job! As I remember we celebrated with a shot of single malt to relaunch the gate.
Seeing the success for Ranginui Retreat is a highlight for our team, and of course working with such lovely people is why we love tourism too! 😊
Get Your Business in the Spotlight! 🔦
Any ResBook customer is invited to participate in our spotlight series! Your spotlight will be featured in our newsletter, published in the spotlight & blog sections of our website, and shared on our LinkedIn & Facebook pages!
All you need to do is answer 4 questions and we will do the rest!
This email inbox is monitored 7 days a week so rest assured urgent emails will be identified quickly.
PLEASE NOTE: It is important to reserve the use of URGENT only for critical issues that immediately impact on your business taking revenue, so that our support team can react to priority issues promptly 😊
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