Jun
15
2012
In the News
BedandBreakfast.com issued a news release on June 11 announcing its Top 20 Summer Destinations for B&B Travelers and some B&B traveler trends. You can view the release here. Here are some tidbits:
• One in four B&B travelers report they will take more weekend trips this summer than last year
• Two out of three will return to destinations previously visited.
• Interestingly, nearly three out of four B&B travelers (71%), when traveling to a destination they’ve visited previously, choose a bed and breakfast they haven’t previously stayed in to enjoy new experiences.
Help us promote B&Bs by sharing this news release link on Facebook, Twitter and your email newsletters.
Breakfast Recipe Contest
Thanks to the B&Bs that participated in our first-ever Breakfast Recipe Challenge. With the help of our guest judges Danielle Contray of Budget Travel and Helen Anders of the Austin American-Statesman, we narrowed down the finalists and put them to a Facebook vote over several weeks. The winners were featured in USA Today, Budget Travel, and Austin American-Statesman, among other publications.
Monthly Awards
Our monthly awards program and feature articles continues to get media coverage. Better Homes & Gardens ran an online story about our Top 10 Outdoor Spaces winners. Take a look!
Feature Articles
We are still looking for inns with presidential ties. Email EGerson@BedandBreakfast.com to let us know about your inn if you fit the criteria! You might find your B&B featured in the news, which can help attract visitors. See this note from John Holst, innkeeper of the Red Garter B&B in Williams, Arizona, who we helped get featured in a USA Today article last fall about haunted inns:
“Thanks again for the great exposure you created for the Red Garter B&B Inn this past year. While we have been mentioned in various publications over the years due to your efforts, the article Ten great places to sleep with a ghost that appeared in USA Today last October was over the top. The morning after that article appeared, Phoenix's best known talk show host called for a live radio interview with hundreds of thousands of listeners. The article also prompted the local Fox TV affiliate in Phoenix to send a crew on a three hour road trip to Williams, to film a Twilight Zone style clip of searching for the "ghost of the Red Garter" that they played just prior to the seventh game of the World Series.... promotions just don't get better than that. I have, and will continue to, put heads in beds due to the efforts of BedandBreakfast.com's various publicity campaigns. I would encourage B&B owners to take advantage of every opportunity to submit an article or recipe, host a Vet or any other chance to show off your inn. You never know when lighting will strike.” - John Holst, Innkeeper
BedandBreakfast.com and Pinterest
Have you seen the BedandBreakfast.com Pinterest page? It has received some media attention among social media publications. The Next Web and Bank of America’s Small Business Online have run stories on how small businesses can use Pinterest to build their business, using B&Bs and BedandBreakfast.com as examples.
If you have an interesting story about how social media has helped you grow your bookings, let us know!
Travel Bloggers Conference
BedandBreakfast.com will attend the Travel Blog Exchange Conference, June 15-17, to meet with travel bloggers and share with them story ideas and facts about the exciting B&B industry. Meeting with travel writers and bloggers is a priority for BedandBreakfast.com as we promote bed and breakfasts and our member inns.
By Emily Starbuck Crone