Accommodation Providers Across Scotland Are Closed

The majority of our customers are accommodation providers, B&Bs, hotels, guest houses and like our other business self catering properties. To say this has been a stressful time would be an understatement.

Obviously all business sectors have been hit financially, some are managing to cling on by their finger tips if they provide a product or service that can be purchased online but accommodation providers have had to close their doors, provide refunds to guests that have booked and sit and look at their walls whilst the 2020 season threatens to put a lot of them out of business. Yes there are some government grants available, employee support and other initiatives, but the reality is, if it weren’t for a lot of these businesses also being our customer’s home too, then the situation would be even worse.

What Can We Do Whilst We Sit This Out?

Now is the time to make sure our websites are as up to date as possible, so that when lockdown ends and life returns to some kind of normality, we are fully prepared to receive guests again. The worry of course being that no one will be able to afford to take a holiday as they too will have suffered income loss and will be doing everything they can to pick things up again financially.

I’m trying to be positive here though and in the meantime I’m not letting my social media drop off, in fact I’ve started doing regular video blogs, partly to keep a record of this awful time so I can look back on it and realise that nothing will ever be as bad as it is now, secondly, I need to challenge myself and try something new. It’s not great, I feel very self conscious and had no idea I sounded like some strangled cartoon character, however, they have been really well received. Messages of support have come in, some fun and laughter which is always well received at the moment and it means our Facebook page and Instagram are coming up regularly in people’s feeds. This keeps your property in their minds and with brand recognition the theory is when they are ready to start booking some time away that you will be the one they come to because they feel like they have some connection with you.

Social Media Posting

There is no point trying to beat around the bush and pretend that everything is normal, what’s normal anyway? I’ve said this a lot in the past but social media is the ‘friendly’ side of your business. People are inherently nosy and they want to see the behind the scenes dramas that are unfolding, they want to meet your family, see pictures of your animals and generally have something to smile at in an otherwise endless stream of virtue signalling or stranger danger posts – not sure if that’s what your social media feeds are full of but mine definitely are at the moment!

We are lucky enough to live in the most beautiful part of the world, we’re getting out every day for a walk and this week is wall to wall sunshine so the views are spectacular. I’m trying to do a video every couple of days, I have literally nothing to say so it’s a struggle I can tell you, or I am posting pictures and there are no shortage of those round here. Our reach on Facebook is increasing weekly and we are reaching a wider and wider audience which is great. We’ve got followers from all over the world, some who have stayed with us before, many who’ve never visited but I hope to meet them at some point, probably next year at the rate we are going.

Not An Accommodation Business?

Just because I’ve gone on and on about accommodation providers doesn’t mean you can’t apply the same theories to your business. Keep it relevant, keep it light, keep it helpful and shout about your business during lockdown and the struggles you are facing and what you would like current and future customers to do when this is all over.