Since then, the site has skyrocketed to internet fame, rounding up major funding and moving on the fast path to IPO (I suppose the brass ring for most internet start-ups).  All the while, I’m wondering when…just when will something terrible happen at one of these apartments that are advertised on the site?  When will someone question the sustainability of a web site that supports illegal businesses?  When will someone cry foul on the tax evasion?  Many cities have rules against property owners renting out rooms by the night or week without being either a licensed hotel or B&B of some kind.   Looking back, I suppose I should have cried foul a lot louder and a lot earlier.

I have been talking about AirBnB at meetings of innkeepers all across the country for two years.  My reference to them had to do with how ridiculously easy it now is for anyone to rent out a room in their pad to travelers, and we should pay attention to them as a new competitor.  Many innkeepers would dismiss it and tell me that this really isn’t our competition; travelers looking to stay in someone’s apartment are not interested in staying in a bonafide, professionally-run B&B.  I will concede that the typical AirBnB customer is not likely a perfect demographic match of the typical B&B customer.  But, I have also told innkeepers that they need to do a better job to capture the Gen X and Y generations, or they will bypass us for something like AirBnB.  If you go to their web site, you’ll see some pretty darn attractive places.  Very seductive, although I wonder if they only showcase the nicest of the nicest properties on their homepage.  Are many of the rest average apartments or worse?

I’m not anti-competitive by any means.  I strongly believe in healthy competition, but I also believe in a level playing field.  Innkeepers have toiled and invested hard-earned dollars to navigate (and even change) city hall to be recognized as legitimate businesses in communities across this continent.  Between unfriendly zoning regulations, fire inspections, town council votes, food safety licensing, commercial kitchen requirements, occupancy taxes, etc, etc, etc – many in our industry worked tirelessly over the past three decades just to be allowed to open a professionally-run, four-bedroom B&B.  Then you see how easily thousands of people are now offering lodging in unsafe, unregulated environments?  I probably sound like sour grapes to many reading this – and that’s not my intent.  I think there are legitimate concerns here.

Take the case that made national news last week involving a young woman who rented her apartment on AirBnB to someone who vandalized and robbed her.  And the founder of AirBnB had the gaul to say thereafter that safety is a top concern of theirs?  I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  What exactly was AirBnB doing up to that point to ensure the safety of both the traveler and the person renting the room or apartment?  Unless they were conducting background checks, how could they really do anything?  Worse yet was a case in 2009 where a traveler was raped by someone who offered lodging through the site CouchSurfing.com.  CouchSurfing and AirBnB are not quite the same breed of lodging (one is closer to vacation rental, while the other is closer to staying on a couch with a stranger -  oh wait, that’s actually what it is), but both sites are only relying on traveler reviews and the wisdom of the community to provide some semblance of safety and trust.

My opinion, for what it’s worth, is that everyone should follow the law, and no web site should be allowed to propagate illegal products or services.  If the law is wrong, outdated or unfair, then get the law changed.   (Side bar – the NYC anti-short-term-rental law that passed in NY was terrible legislation, as it also outlawed legitimate, professionally-run B&Bs that have been paying taxes for years and years to the city – innkeepers are working hard on getting the law amended.)  Vacation rentals, overnight sublets and the like are good and necessary options in our market.  Think of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.  Do you think such an event could thrive without all the illegal renting that goes on during such festivities?  Same for the Masters in Augusta.  You get the point.  But when such lodging options are available every night of the year?  It’s time for communities to step up and either go after these illegal rentals, or welcome them with regulations and taxation that are equal to what B&Bs must go through and pay.  They benefit from the hard work of all the local people, businesses and agencies working to bring in tourists and travelers, but don’t contribute back in any way.

As of right now, these are my own opinions – not an official position of PAII.  But that might change soon.  My suggestion to innkeepers – if you are moved by the fair playing field argument and have concern for the safety of people visiting your town or city – is to alert your tax collectors, fire inspectors and zoning officials about properties on sites like AirBnB.  I feel it necessary to reiterate – I’m all for vacation rentals (love staying in them, by the way) and other forms of short-term rentals, but not if they are breaking the law or evading their responsibilities to be regulated and taxed.  Spread the word, folks.

I smiled because I rarely see such a thing at B&Bs and inns, and I see a lot of B&Bs and inns.  A generic, plastic laundry bag hanging in a closet can be seen at just about any hotel, but it is a rarity at B&Bs.

I suppose I am a typical traveler, in that I bring more clothes than I end up actually wearing on a trip.  This creates a little problem, because I now have dirty laundry and clean laundry, all of which needs to go back into my luggage.  Sometimes I remember to bring a plastic shopping bag that I saved from a trip to my local grocery store, in which I can put my dirty clothes.  But if I forget my own bag, the bag provided by the hotel or inn is a great thing to see.

I’m sure restocking those bags after each stay is a pain in the butt for housekeeping, and maybe that’s why a lot of innkeepers don’t have the bags – many of you ARE the housekeepers and can’t delegate the task.  Maybe you never really thought about it.  The expense can’t be too great, can it?  Why don’t most of you do this?  It’s a little thing that can mean a lot to a traveler.

What else have you seen at inns, or what else are you doing at your inn, that is little, but can make a big difference to a road warrior or leisure guest?  I look forward to your responses below.

Jay

Activities undertaken by the vacation rental industry and its major players may end up benefiting the B&B industry.  For two years now, HomeAway has run commercials during the Super Bowl promoting the hotel alternative.  Since B&Bs compete with hotels (and we do, for those who say we don’t compete with hotels), I like this advertising.  It gets people thinking about alternatives to what can be the “cookie-cutter” experience.  HomeAway received a big infusion of capital from Google Ventures not long ago, and they recently filed to become a publicly-traded company.  The escalating scale and scope of this company will hopefully mean more propaganda to get travelers moving in the direction away from hotels.

Popular vacation rental web sites also provide another distribution channel for innkeepers to market their rooms, cottages, or cabins.  Not all rental opportunities on these web sites are condos and entire houses – some property owners rent rooms as well.  Many innkeepers have months during which occupancy drops to single digits.  Vacation rental web sites may be a great place to experiment with renting the entire B&B out to groups for days or weeks at a time.  I know several innkeepers who are having great success renting rooms on sites like HomeAway.  Think about it this way – there could be some kind of corporate sales training or other group-type function happening near you, and people booking blocks of rooms may not be thinking “B&B” when doing their homework.  But I’ll bet many are looking at vacation rental web sites.

One thing in particular I like about the HomeAway purchase of BedandBreakfast.com is the possible cross-pollination of opportunities.  Maybe HomeAway will find a way to market B&Bs to their vacation rental customers.  Maybe there are technology or marketing ideas that are highly successful in the vacation rental world that will find their way to the B&B world.

But, I do have concerns about the rise of vacation rentals.  When I think about the Gen X and Gen Y traveler – heck, maybe all travelers – and their likes and dislikes, I cannot help but be concerned about vacation rentals.  More and more, travelers seem to want it “their way” and they want it to be fast and easy – everything from the search process to the booking process to the on-site experience.  Some of the top reasons people don’t stay at B&Bs are the real or perceived notions that they will be forced into social engagement with strangers (that includes the innkeepers), that they will have to deal with policies and procedures that make the experience difficult (and which exist to make the lives of innkeepers easier), and that they just don’t know what they’re going to get when they arrive.  Will it be quiet or noisy?  Will the food be good or bad?  Will the innkeepers be absent, perfectly present or intrusive?  Who knows, right?

With vacation rentals, people oftentimes get the benefit of having a nicely decorated and clean experience that rivals just about any typical hotel experience.  When I say nicely decorated, I mean that many are outfitted like upscale homes.  Most have kitchens or kitchenettes – some might even be stocked with rations.  Vacation rentals can feel like “home away from home,” which been the calling card of the B&B industry.  Most have free WiFi.  There is likely no concern from travelers that they will have to encounter anyone but the people they are traveling with, so no fears of socially-forced/socially-awkward possibilities.  They can come and go as they please without worrying about bothering other guests or the innkeepers (I’m in someone’s home, so I better be on my best behavior).  And, they can be found in just about any town or city where B&Bs can be found.

Of course, we know that the best of breed in the vacation rental market cannot compete with the best of breed in the B&B market.  A well-run B&B by a caring innkeeper, who has figured out the right recipe for taking care of all kinds of guests and their wishes provides something that no vacation rental can – the warmth of hospitality.  That’s not my concern, because I know that travelers who get the “B&B bug” after staying at one good B&B will come back and come back often.  What I am concerned about is being bypassed completely by travelers have never stayed at a B&B, who get the” vacation rental bug” after a good experience, and who harbor the prejudicial stereotypes that the average traveler harbors about B&Bs.  Why risk staying at a B&B, where the experience could go either way?  Why not stay at a vacation rental where there is a good chance the experience will likely be what you expect?

Maybe this is another reason why we need the Better Way to Stay campaign more than ever.  Maybe the hotel market is not what we should be worried about.  Friend or foe?  If you’re not using what that industry has to offer innkeepers, then they’re only a foe.  If you are using what they have to offer, then they could be more friend than foe.  What do you think?

The time has come – we’re stepping out on the limb and going public with Better Way to Stay with our “B&Bs Kick Gas” promotion.  While this is not the point of my column, I will now insert my short pitch to participate…come up with your most creative promotion/special/package that plays off the rising gas price phenomenon, and upload it at www.betterwaytostay.com.  The campaign team will subsequently broadcast the campaign to tons of travel media, with the hopes of attracting much-deserved attention to B&Bs from coast-to-coast.  Now, onto the real purpose of my column this month…

When Brand Pandemic showed us their first mock-up of the BWTS web site, which spotlights the “Kick Gas” promo, my immediate response was, “I love it!”  They used text message shorthand to make fun of how high the gas prices are getting.  Seeing “WTF” in a B&B-related promotion got me excited!  But I have to admit, my immediate follow-up thought was, “Uh oh…innkeepers aren’t going to like that.”  I showed the image to a few friends and colleagues, and they all thought it was funny and really creative.  Those to whom I showed it were all under the age of 50, so my comfort level about the average PAII member’s potential response wasn’t necessarily changing.

Then I fly out to Des Moines, Iowa, to speak at the Iowa Bed and Breakfast Guild conference in Panora.  I had about 60 minutes to talk about Better Way to Stay, why we’re doing it, what’s happening, etc.  I thought I’d give a sneak peek of the web site and the gas price image – just to see what kind of reaction it would elicit among a group of innkeepers that I figured would probably be the most likely to not appreciate the humor.  To my surprise, when I showed the mock-up, there was ample laughter and head-nodding in the audience (as well as a fair share of puzzled expressions on the faces of those not familiar with text lingo).  I breathed a sigh of relief.

Last week, we let members know that we changed the focus and name of the promotion from “Free Gas, No Foolin” to “B&B’s Kick Gas.”  That announcement elicited several “Right on!” responses, but one email response from an innkeeper who wasn’t too pleased with the new promo name.  She felt we were aiming at the teenage crowd, rather than trying to attract the “refined guests” that enjoy B&Bs.  The bottom line is that we live in a different world now and are trying to attract a new generation of guests.  To get and to sustain the attention of the media and millions of new paying guests, we have to broaden our approach.  Marketing in the B&B industry for 20+ years has been devoid of humor.  We know in the new age of social media and the over-exposed, commercialized world we live in that humor works.  Approaches we take through the Better Way to Stay campaign will not please all innkeepers, but I hope innkeepers will come to understand that the campaign is not necessarily about pleasing innkeepers – it’s about pleasing and attracting travelers who right now don’t think about B&Bs.

If you are ready to jump on the Better Way to Stay bandwagon, enter your gas-related promotion today at www.betterwaytostay.com.  Be sure to read all the promotional details.

Recently I attended the Bed and Breakfast Association of Virginia meeting in Charlottesville.  I arrived by train and took a cab to the Boar’s Head Inn – a classic inn up the road a couple of miles from the UVA campus.  I worked and lived almost across the street from the inn about 15 years ago, so I was excited to be back in the area.  As I waited for the cab driver to run my credit card at the entrance of the Boar’s Head, I thought that I would “check in” to the inn on Facebook.  The relatively new Facebook Places feature allows Facebookers to “check in” at various places, i.e. restaurants, parks, stadiums, hotels, attractions, etc.  One uses his or her cell phone’s Facebook application to let their friends know where they are at that moment.  It’s just a way of sharing news with your friends.  Click here to learn more:  http://www.facebook.com/places/

When I attempted to find the Boar’s Head Inn on Facebook on my cell phone, I couldn’t find them!  I was hoping to tell the 700+ friends of mine that I was checking in, and maybe some of my local buddies might see that I was in town.  But, because it appears no one at the Boar’s Head is on top of the social media side of marketing, they missed a golden opportunity for me to tell hundreds of people that I was staying there.  To confirm my suspicion that someone is asleep at the social media wheel, I went to their web site and could not find a Facebook logo anywhere.  No invitation to become a fan or “check us out” on Facebook.

When I searched Facebook for “Boar’s Head Inn” this is what appeared:

It’s now painfully clear that they are ignoring social media as an opportunity to engage guests, and have those guests be ambassadors for them.

I usually don’t spotlight a business like this in my column, but I feel it’s important to encourage innkeepers to not miss the boat on this one.  Make sure you set up your Facebook business page, attend any Facebook-related webinars or classes those in our industry are offering (PAII has Lisa Kolb’s recent Facebook to the Hilt webinar available as a recording.  Click here to access it.  There will be a charge for Silver members.  Gold and Platinum can download it for free.)

Your guests love you!  Give them every opportunity – let alone the most powerful evangelical marketing tool we’ve ever known – to be your ambassadors.

Today I am in Washington DC with peers and colleagues from various associations and businesses that believe in local, independent businesses and the impact we have on local communities.

The America Booksellers Association seems to be the leading entity behind the AIR Summit.

On the agenda:

A Measure of Independent Retail Vitality in Every Metropolitan Area

The State of Independents Movement

Models of Local and Indie Engagement: What We Hear, What We Read, What We Eat, and Where We Shop

Roundtable Discussions

There is no question that inns and B&Bs are quintessentially independent and local. I’m curious to see what role PAII can play in the “shop local” movement.  Being here is step #1.

Check out this video about what one inn near Austin, Texas, did for the recent B&Bs for Vets program.  Nice work, Amy!