Once essential to your success and now often overlooked are the little (and larger) agencies in defined geographic locations. They generally have an intimate knowledge of their area and the people in charge will usually have an in-depth knowledge of the Tourist Trade in their defined area.
Local TICs or Local Tourist Centres can vary from being an official busy urban building full of brochures, information people and a local booking system … to what is basically a cabin with one part time person in a little village. However these people are connected to the local tourist infrastructure and there is absolutely no harm in giving them your literature and business cards etc – a well constructed Press Package is best. You may also feel inclined to offer (or be required) to offer commission on each booking.
RECIPROCITY
Other local business will probably take your literature too; think Boat Trips, Taxis, Restaurants etc. The general idea is to give these people something in return for their kindness like .. “I will tell my customers about your boat trip, why not give me your leaflet or card for my guest house.”
You may also wish to set up reciprocal deals with other accommodation and offer two centre holidays. In any case reciprocity is the name of the game.
ONLINE GUIDES
A good example of this would be Visit Glasgow Each area tends to have at least one of these websites and its a good idea to at least see what they can offer you as an accommodation or service provider. Generally speaking they cost money; so work out whether its worth the money or not. In a rural setting a few bookings could offset their annual fee, in an urban location you may have to pay more and be “lost” in a plethora of listings. Maybe an enhanced listing would be preferred?
NICHE OR SPECIALIST LOCALITY SITES
Some towns or villages are too small to sustain a visit-mytown style website, however its likely that there will be one that covers a larger area. A typical example is Highland Holiday Cottages. Based on the Isle of Skye this company specialises in Weekly rentals and short breaks in The Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Typically the sites run curated lists of properties that fit their niche. They will promote their site (usually very well) and your cottage or rental along with all the others, A commission is usually required for their marketing effort so add a little to your seasonal rates to compensate. One advantage is you are likely to get availability and booking charts as well as on-line payments along with the basic website service. The disadvantage is that you may have to sell all your best weeks through the agency on short margin and get stuck with 24 weeks of winter dross they cant sell. ASK FOR STATS.
To find your local site go to Google begin by typing “accommodation nameofyourtown” where name of yourtown is the name of your city, town or village. If that doesn’t work well try expanding the area to the county or regional name.
Finally although its not entirely “local” … try the product name “cottages Highlands website” or “log cabins Scotland” or “London boutique hotels”