Gearing your tourism business up for Worker’s Day weekend
South Africans love their long weekends. We set our out-of-office emails, load up our trailers, and hit the nearest highway out of the city. There’s no reason to believe that this upcoming Worker’s Day weekend will be any different, and with autumn upon us, it might be our last chance to squeeze in a bit of R and R before it gets too cold. As a tourism business owner, long weekends are good news for you too. You get to capitalise on the surge of patrons and guests, but only if you’re smart about it. The only way to pull in the crowds is to ensure that you’re fully prepared. Here’s some basic business advice to get you started.
Get your staff ready
The chances are that you’ll struggle to handle the increase in customers with a small staff. So think about whether you’re willing to hire temporary staff or pay your existing staff extra for overtime. If you decide to hire, consider the fact that the new employees will need training. Generally, though, your workforce should be prepared for unusual hours and more demanding customers and be able to maintain a warm and professional attitude throughout.
Cover your back
Crime spikes during peak vacation times, which includes long weekends. Tourism business owners need to take extra care to protect their businesses and assets and to offer their customers peace of mind. Criminals are aware that holidaymakers and tourists are probably travelling with valuables, so having secure lodgings helps. Most importantly, make sure you and your business are insured against theft and burglaries.
Get the word out
Of course, people aren’t guaranteed to come to your tourism business just because it’s a long weekend – you still have to attract them. Maximise on your social-media marketing leading up to the weekend, a discount promotion or two wouldn’t hurt either. You can also host an event to make their stay with you more of an experience; live performances and food and wine fairs, for instance, make for eventful weekends away.
Have the right payment solutions in place
You’re not fully prepared unless you have equipped your tourism business with payment solutions that can help you cater to all the needs of your customers as well as handle the volume of transactions that you will be processing. An ATM in or around your tourism business, for example, is a great way of guaranteeing that your customers have access to cash (which can help boost small purchases like curios and increases the rate of tips) at all times, while earning you a commission on each transaction.
Keep checking our blog for more business tips and download our ATM Solutions brochure below.
