The Innkeeping Blog

Well, there is a good bit on my mind these days, as you can tell from the long title of my column this month.  I’m busy with last-minute preparations for the Innkeeping Show in Austin, which starts in a few days (although you will get this while we’re all in Austin learning and laughing together).  This column will focus on my two cents about the big purchase in our industry that was announced recently, as well as some other exciting news.  Be sure to click through and read this month’s column!

Limited-time TripAdvisor Promo with PAII

We’ve worked out an arrangement with TripAdvisor, so that all innkeepers in the B&B industry can continue to receive the 50% off deal for their new Business Listings Program through April 8^th .  You must use discount code TRIPDISC to get the deal.  If you haven’t investigated their new Business Listings program, I encourage you to check it out.  Basically, for a fee you can now add your email address, phone number and hyperlink to your inn’s web site on your TripAdvisor property page.  This is a new program for the entire lodging industry, and they’ve had several thousand properties already sign up.  I think innkeepers should sign up for three reasons:  1) you’ve poured a lot of time and effort into your own web site, and by having a direct link, you stand a better chance of getting TripAdvisor guests over to your site, 2) through your web traffic analytics program, you now have the ability to directly track the traffic coming to your web site from TripAdvisor…many innkeepers are now reporting this web link as one of their top sources of traffic, and 3) the 50% off price is low enough to give this a shot for at least the first year.  Properties with fewer than 11 rooms would normally pay $600 and properties with 11-25 rooms would pay $1,000 for this link – innkeepers can pay $300 and $500 respectively with this coupon code.  Go to www.tripadvisor.com/BusinessListings to sign up!

Read more »

• At Bed and Breakfast Assoc of Virginia meeting. Happy to be in Charlottesville. #
• Still have folks signing up for the Innkeeping Show in Austin! Come on innkeepers – one and all! http://www.innkeepingshow.com #
• Leaving Illinois B&B Association conference. Short, but great, visit. See everyone in Austin next week! http://www.innkeepingshow.com #
• @bandb_com Gee! Good enough weather for people to come to the Innkeeping Show next week? #
• @garthmansion Austin! Yeah, baby! #
• RT @TravMediaUSA: HomeAway Acquires Bedandbreakfast.Com: http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/about/press.aspx?pressItem=2010-006 #
• Only 45 more min in Houston airport (4 hour layover) til I fly to Austin. Let the http://www.innkeepingshow.com begin! #paii #
• #PAII Board of Directors meeting today. Planning for a bright future. Spread the word about this great association! http://www.innkeeping.org #

• Vote Imminent on Travel Promotion Act. Innkeepers Act Now! http://bit.ly/c8Bupu #
• Senate passes Travel Promotion Act! http://bit.ly/chBV6o #

You may recall, I spent some time in Washington DC a few months back, lobbying for the passage of the Travel Promotion Act.

The one-line summary of the bill (on the US Senate web site) is: "A bill to establish a non-profit corporation to communicate United States entry policies and otherwise promote leisure, business, and scholarly travel to the United States."

The international visitor is an important customer in our industry. Most innkeepers I encounter say they welcome many international visitors. Visits to the US are below what we saw in 2000, and this has a great impact on our economy – especially the micro-economy of the travel industry.

Click here for a very compelling list of reasons why this bill is a good thing. Best estimates reveal that this legislation will help reduce the deficit, which is likely why it received such strong bipartisan support. Here is a list of the 79 Senators who voted in favor, the 19 who voted against, and the one who didn't vote.

Read more »