WTF! Weather events, Transport challenges & Finance Windcave woes!
We thought it may be timely to share some useful communication tips for crisis management, along with some guidance on what to do if there's a ResBook issue or outage.
🔦 Plus a customer spotlight of Teichelmann's B&B on the wild West Coast!
4-Step Crisis Communication Checklist
We know all too well from recent events, that a crisis can happen that affects the operation of your business. It may be that you can't operate temporarily - or you want to let people know you are open for business.
As soon as your able, you'll need to get messaging out as to how it's affected your business and possible travel to your region.
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 😊
How the ResBook Knowledge Base Can Help 💪🏼
In a disaster situation you may need to quickly block out availability for some or all of your accommodation options.
Checkout these Knowledge Base articles to manage the closing and opening of your rooms:
Our latest Booking Intelligence data as at 1 March reflects the impact weather events can have on travel. Unsurprisingly, the major weather events in the North Island have affected forward bookings with a noticeable fall off for March & April.
ResBook Booking volumes for February 2023 were down 20% on January 2023, which is not unusual when comparing previous years.
Overall though, bookings are ahead of the same period in 2021 & 2022.
For 2023 to date, we’re tracking at 67% of where operators were at for 2019, so we’re still a long way from full recovery.
Customer Spotlight: Teichelmann's B&B
As seasoned accommodation providers, Frances & Brian from Teichelmann's B&B in Hokitika have been long time loyal ResBook customers.
We are honoured & proud that Teichelmann’s has been a ResBook Customer for over 20 years! 👏
What do you see as the biggest challenge for this season?
Frances:PRICING!!!! So hard to know ahead what increases will occur. Most agents require rates 2 years in advance.
What is one piece of advice you would give someone who is looking to start an accommodation business?
Frances:You MUST like people, have lots of patience and be prepared to be available 24/7. BUT it is so worthwhile as you can make a person’s holiday that more special and memorable. NZ has the reputation of friendliness, clean green image etc and you can be a big part of that.
How has ResBook helped you and your business?
Frances: Initially we joined ResBook from the very start up. It offered a secure credit card facility which at that time the Banks were charging an arm and a leg for. It provided instant confirmation for our guests, instead of the usual ping pong of questions and answers. Credit card info sent in 3 separate messages to avoid fraud !!! Over the years it has changed and grown so much offering far more than we need. We have stayed with ResBook as it suits our simple business needs.
What is one of your favourite guest stories or experiences?
Frances:There have been so many wonderful guests (over 35000) and stories over the last 21 years. It is hard to define a special moment. The fact that we have many return bookings and guests send their neighbours, rellies, friends to us makes the job so rewarding. The fact that they have remembered their stay with us and the positive affirmations we receive daily makes us so proud of our little old country down here at the bottom of the world. We are SO lucky to live here and sharing our historic home and its history with amazing travellers from all over the world makes for a great job. One day we may write a book about our B and B journey.
We certainly do hope they write a book about their B&B journey! Their property is also now on the market, so if you're looking for an opportunity in Hokitika, this could be it! 👍🏼
Share in the Spotlight...
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