If you love the city that you’re in and the activities that can be done here, working in the tourism industry could be a great career for you. However, starting a small business, especially one that’s based on getting people to use your services, can be a challenge. Luckily, there are things that you can do as you’re preparing to start this business to help ensure that you’re able to appeal to those traveling through your area and get the bookings and business you need.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for starting a small tourism business in your city.
Come Up With The Right Idea
The first thing you’ll want to do when you know you want to work in local tourism is to come up with the business idea that you’ll work towards. Depending on where you live and what draws there are for tourism there, the ideas that you’ll be able to come up with will vary.
In every area, there will always be a niche for things like bed-and-breakfasts, tours of beautiful or historic places, translators, photo services, rentals, and more. But to really make yourself stand out with your new tourism business idea, try to think of something that people visiting your area need that isn’t currently offered. This could include things like concierge service, unique places to stay, insider information that can’t easily be found elsewhere, and more. As long as you know the laws of your area and stick within them, you can come up with all kinds of business ideas.
Market Yourself Aggressively
Whether you live in an area that has a lot of tourism or you’re going to be one of the only businesses in this field, it’s vital that you aggressively market your new business. This way, you’ll either be able to pull some of the tourism market share your way or get people interested in visiting your area when they may not have been planning to come here in the past.
While you can market your business in digital ways like building a website, focusing heavily on SEO so that people can find you online, and using social media to share information and exciting content about your business, you can and should also do some more traditional marketing with physical content that you create. This can be done by creating guidebooks, putting up billboards, and more.
Make Connections With Your Local Tourism Community
Unless you’re literally the first person to create a tourism business in your area, there are likely other people and businesses already working in this industry. And while some industries shy away from partnering with each other, when it comes to tourism, the more there is to draw people to a certain area, the better it is for everyone who works in tourism.
With this in mind, once you get your tourism business going, make it a priority to connect with other people in your local tourism community. You can work together, make referrals for each other, and so much more.
If you think there’s room for you to start your own small tourism business in your area, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get started.