Mandatory Advertising - Lodging Newsletter July 23rd, 2009

By William May
Published: 07/24/09 Topics: Lodging Newsletter Comments: 0

We can not believe July is almost over. And the good news is that the number of email, website and telephone inquiries seems back to normal. Maybe people are loosening up or maybe its all the advertising we're doing.

Sorry this blog is a little long. It is our goal to write you more often but shorter, to make them easy to read.

 

William May & Penny Taylor

Sunspot Inns, Resorts & Vacation Rentals

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ADVERTISING:

We have finished some updates to our automated/mandatory advertising system that allows us to post more ads faster and on a property by property basis. We have a full time person doing nothing but that. Some ads are even free but they all take 10 to 60 minutes post so this is an ongoing job. In today's economy there is no limit to the amount of advertising that is needed.

EXTENDED HOURS:

Did you know, that Reservations phones are now open 9am to 9pm everyday. (OK, we'll probably take Christmas off). The business office is still 9am to 5pm. But we do have an 24-7 after hours operator for emergencies.

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION:

Do you use Expedia.com, Travelocity.com or similar website to book hotels and airfare? Those are referred to as Online Travel Agencies (OTA) and getting private homes listed on them is problematic. But we have been pushing through the hurdles and have getting them up one by one. The first are now appearing as:

In Leavenworth, WA

- Amadeus Inn

- Alpine Village

- Vagnerhaus

Next up will be - In Ocean Shores, WA

- Pacific Surf Condos

- Ocean Surf Condos

And we are working on all multi-unit units and then individual homes. the GDS is just another channel but we are already receiving orders that would not have come in previously. Let's home this is another increment in building revenue.

OCEAN SHORES:

We have partnered with folks at Ocean Shores, Washington to offer rentals in that area and north. The Press Release is attached. And remember Owners get a discount on rentals in other locations. Is it time to visit the beach? Take a look at www.OceanShoresSunspots.com.

WESTPORT:

And we are officially opening in Westport Today. Collin May, esteemed nephew and veteran of the Central Reservations Department, will be heading up the charge. (He has also taking a basketball coaching position at Grays Harbor College for his spare time!) We are now adding properties and you will be able to see the first ones at www.WestportSunspots.com.

ONLINE BOOKINGS:

Our ace programmer Salman Arshad just completed installation of our Payment Plan system into our online booking. This system is built into the proprietary back-office phone reservation system and allows guests to pay part now and the rest later if they are booking months in advance. This has become necessary in the business and now it displays automatically online.

This is very sophisticated programming and will increase online bookings. This is functional on SunspotResorts.com and all State, Destination, Location, Resort and Building websites. Here are a few to see:

www.SeattleSunspots.com

www.ChelanSunspots.com

www.PoipuKai.com

Oh and we're even using them for very specific venues such as www.GorgeVacationRentals.com

DETAILS: If you know of property owners who would like to receive the Sunspots owner Blog, please let us know. If you would like to cease getting them, just reply to this email.

Author: William May – Manager, Vortex VIP
Blog #: 0112 – 07/24/09

Sponsor: Vortex VIP – – VortexVIP.com