Forging links with other tourism businesses could give you that winning edge, says our new contributor on guesting issues

There they are out there, all those tourists, those visitors, those holidaymakers, those conference delegates, those bent on having a great time. Of course, ‘having a great time’ can mean any number of things, depending upon who is having it and their point of view. It could mean enjoying a special, candle-lit dinner of fresh crayfish in a five-star restaurant at the edge of the sea. It could mean deep-sea diving among coral and jewel-like fish, with emerald seaweed waving in the warm waters, where the dive master leads you to explore a totally unexpected wreck bristling with multi-coloured sea urchins. It could even mean just a perfect day at the beach: slight breeze, hot sun, soft clean sand, and a passing vendor bringing you an enormous, creamy, ice-cold ice cream.

The key here is to identify what you could do to ensure that every single one of your guests has a ‘great time’, something which will stick with them, positively, for a long time, and have them not only wanting to return, but telling everyone they know about it too.

One idea is to consider all the sectors of the tourism industry and how you might link your business with one or more of them, or with any or several aspects of any one sector. After all, success is also about ‘differentiate or die’, so what you do needs to result in a difference that will put you ahead of your competition.

Consider the diagram below of the different segments that make up tourism. Your business could be classified as fitting into one, or perhaps more, of the categories. However, in your area there will be any number of other tourism or tourism-related businesses, and any number of tourist attractions, tourist facilities or amenities – all together offering a wide range of experiences. The idea here is to look at the options in terms of linking your business with those in other sectors, formal or informal, large or small, similar or vastly different – and then select those which would give you the edge over your competition. Because no two people think exactly alike, there is little likelihood of any two businesses going about this in the same way.

What you decide to do is important. What is frequently more important is how you do it. How might this work? How could you ensure that every guest will have just the best experience possible, specifically because they made use of your business?

Let’s say you offer accommodation. Basically you are offering a comfortable, clean, safe place for visitors to spend the night, have a bath and a meal, and then leave. It might well be a non-experience, nothing out of the ordinary. But you could make it extraordinary.

Service above all.