A total of US$126 billion in outbound travel expenditure was recorded in 2011 for the Muslim market, which came to 12.3% of the total global tourism expenditure. Indeed, the Halal (or Muslim) market is growing in prominence by the day. Projected travel expenditure values are at US$195 million for 2020.
For those who find the terminology perplexing at best - Muslim refers to a practitioner of the Islamic faith, and halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law (known as Sharia).
Businesses and services hoping to enter the halal/Muslim market need to bear in mind a few non-negotiable requirements of the Islamic faith. But before we get into that, here are a few useful facts about the Muslim...
So, you understand that the world is going mobile and you need to get a mobile site for your business - but now what?
First, don't panic, they aren't as expensive as you might think!
Learning the different types of mobile sites available along with the pros and cons of each can help you bravely enter the world of mobile. Mobile is offering the biggest shift and growth opportunity we have seen since the birth of the world-wide-web.
Also, distinguishing the difference between a mobile site and an 'app' is important, as these are very different and often confused.
Apps are custom-made applications that your customers need to download onto their smart phone to use. Mobile websites are accessed on the web browser of a mobile phone, and are generally a mobile...
As many of our readers are frequent users of our online booking and property management system, Resbook, we will be releasing some really helpful tips to help you understand how this online booking software can help you grow your business, and convert your website visitors into guests.
First up, we will go over adding specials to your rates in Resbook.
To access Specials in Resbook, head to Admin > Stock Configurations > Rates > Select the room type > Select the rate to which you wish to offer the Specials for.
Click on 'Create Special'.
Note: You should have already set up rate periods for your room type before you can create specials.
You can offer 3 different types of specials for your customers:
1) Pay a certain amount for a specified number of...
Question 2: I'm told I am getting a lot of traffic to my site, but I'm not getting many enquiries. What's going on?
This question is all about converting the eye-balls on the page into actions, and often happens when there are barriers which are preventing someone moving from a passive viewer, to being inspired by your product, and placing a booking.
Google's website analytics and webmaster tools are two useful and totally FREE programs which you can use to answer some of the following questions, make adjustments and measure the impact and results.
Would you ever plan a grand and glorious wedding and then not send wedding invitations?
Or perhaps organise the perfect birthday for your five year old son and then not invite any of his friends?
It sounds silly, but many new tourism businesses do just that.
Planning, time and loads of money is spent building a stunning accommodation, going through all the resource consents and even sign-writing the car but then when it comes time to open, no one shows up and the owners wonder why people don't want to enjoy their amazing properly. Simple answer; No budget was allocated for marketing; you forgot you have to invite people to your place.
A successful marketing strategy for a tourism business can be built on five easy steps. It will provide the foundations for marketing...
The growing on-line community is rapidly becoming THE marketplace to compete within.
Increasingly savvy browsers can hunt out the exact thing they are looking for, compare you against your competitors and find the price they want.
What this means for suppliers of a commodity (from accommodations to activities and rental cars to wine) is that you need a website that keeps it really simple, with information that is easy to find and an accurate portrayal of what you provide (or be at the mercy of an upset customer on TripAdvisor, Facebook or Twitter!) .
You have probably heard it all before, but the reason you keep hearing it is because it is vital to your business! Your customers are online, looking at your site and if you don't look after it, you could be losing potential...
