Promoting Your Business to Tourists

Vacations and tourism are big business, bringing billions of dollars into U.S. companies -- including restaurants. Make sure you're making the most out of tourism all year long.

There's no question that tourists are an important market for restaurants. So how can you attract tourism business to your restaurant? We've compiled some tried-and-true methods as well as some travel industry Web sites you will find useful.

Facts and Figures

• Travel & tourism is the first, second, or third largest employer in 28 states and the District of Columbia.
  
• Travelers or visitors account for half the sales at table service restaurants with average per-person checks of $25 or more per person and 20 to 25 percent of the sales at table service restaurants with lower check sizes.
  
• In 1999, 47 million international visitors traveled to the United States. These visitors spent an estimated $73 billion on travel-related items such as lodging, meals, and entertainment while traveling in the United States.
  
• Children are an important part of the tourism market. Nearly one half of U.S. adults (46 percent) said they included at least one child on a trip in the past five years.
  
• More than 67 million travelers (48 percent) in 1998 said that they dine out when they travel. In fact, dining out was the most popular activity planned after tourists arrived at a destination.

Tourism Promotion Ideas

Try these ideas to kick start tourism business for your restaurant:

• Become a tourist attraction. Give tourists a taste of regional specialties and highlight local dishes such as smoked salmon, halibut, Southwestern chili, or grilled buffalo.
  
• Take advantage of familiarity. If you're part of a nationwide chain that tourists might have visited at home, make sure travelers know about your unit so that they can stop by for a taste of home. Let customers know about your locations around the country and overseas.
  
• Offer entertainment. Whether it be a pianist, a five-piece band or karaoke, entertainment can make your restaurant more appealing to tourists. Consider highlighting local music for regional flavor.
  
• Become a good source for tourist information. Train your staff to answer questions about area attractions. Offer free, easy-to-read maps of the area. Tourists will often ask what there is to do around town and having your staff ready with an answer can build goodwill and repeat business.
  
• Network. Team up with travel-and-tourism-industry organizations. Become a member of your state restaurant/hospitality association, and join both the local convention and visitor's bureau and the chamber of commerce. These organizations serve as important links between restaurants and tourists. They generally provide a schedule of upcoming conventions as well as contact names and information. Network with the staff at local visitor's centers and state welcome centers. These people can pass on the good word about your restaurant. Get to know the staff at tourist attractions. They are good sources of referrals.
  
• Cater to conferences & tradeshows. Contact conference planners several months in advance to offer the use of your restaurant for banquets and other events. Consider putting a coupon on the back of the tickets for a local tourist attraction or simply giving a discount to each customer who shows his or her ticket stub.
  
• Hook up with hotels. Get to know the concierges and front-desk staff at local hotels. These contacts can help direct tourists to your restaurants. Be sure to invite concierges to dine at your operation as your guest so that they'll be able to give firsthand recommendations. Give concierges priority when making reservations. If you can help them on busy nights, they'll usually reward you by recommending your restaurant on slower nights. Make sure your staff can give clear directions to your restaurant from area hotels. Consider offering a free shuttle service to your restaurant from local hotels.
  
• Advertise. Spread the word in visitor's guides and other tourism publications that are distributed to area hotels, visitor's centers and tourist attractions. Mention in your ad that you'll give a free appetizer to each party that shows an out-of-state driver's license. List your restaurant on Internet dining and tourism guides. Be sure to have your operation cross-referenced in different dining categories so that it pops up during a variety of keyword searches. Have a mini menu printed with directions to your restaurant and a 10 percent off coupon. Distribute the mini menus to hotels and visitor's centers.
  
• Provide top-notch service. Above all, provide top-notch food and service. Your restaurant's record of excellence will spread via world of mouth. The locals will recommend your operation to tourists, and the tourists will tell other travelers about your great food and service.