15 years
Somehow I missed this post before. This is a great idea.
I just saw it because a hostel posted it to Facebook :)
Giving Cheap Flyers to Guest to Distribute
Promoting the Hostel Movement
I have traveled perpetually for over 10 years, the best form of promotion of a Hostel I ever seen was by the Voyager Hostel in Panama. I believe the owner or manager is not longer there, but his idea was simple and easy, I was in this Hostel 8 years ago, and the world does change.
Make a small advertisment on 1/2 of piece of white paper. This had a map, directions, telephone number, URL of Website etc. Do not print on both sides, leave for scrap paper at the reception desk or in the dorm room.
1. When a person enters give them five of them and say welcome. (Do the reception job that is not done at the majority of Hostels or Hotels.)
2. When they enter a dorm room or single room there would be five of these sitting on a table.
3. When the person is checking out, he would say thanks for coming, hand a person five more cheap brochures and say,
"Thanks for coming, would you please take this to a city and post in another hotel and hostel."
What happened.
A. The guest that really like the place would post in another city, not inside the city, this is too late, it has to be in the cities prior to arrival.
B. The guest would use the paper to exchange emails, scrap paper, notes, etc inside the dorm room.
c. The guest would push into their backpack, and someone on the bus would ask where they stayed, they would pull out a brochure and give to the person.
I first saw these fliers in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico, then as I proceeded south I saw them all the way to Panama.
When I went to Belgium, I seen the brochures posted.
Simple, Cheap, Easy and only requires a Hostel owner or manager to be a good person who...
-Receives a Guest - i.e. have a reception desk.
- Say Thanks - - i.e. tells the guest you appreciate their business
Andy of HoboTraveler.com in the Fukuoka Khaosan Hostel in Fukuoka Japan, tomorrow I leave for Bangkok. October 2008
- Comments
15 years
i saw another good one, where you make up small stickers with the logo, adress and contact details of your hostel, and give them out to stick in your cities section of lonely planet, or the guests travel diary.
15 years
i saw another good one, where you make up small stickers with the logo, adress and contact details of your hostel, and give them out to stick in your cities section of lonely planet, or the guests travel diary.
Stickers are good -- as long as the hostel doesn't stick them to backpackers' things without permission. One hostel put their sticker on the back of my passport without asking me, and it took time to get all the glue off...
15 years
Our flyers ae kinda expensive but we are distributing them in different popular sites in BA.
Sometimes I give these out to customers that I know liked the place and enjoyed it.
it´s a great idea to have information in a piece of paper.
If the flyer is small or in a card it helps the circulation of it.
You can also include a discount in them, this way you KNOW its going to circulate properly.
15 years
im thinking of getting flip flops made up with our logo on them to sell in the hostel. I think it would be a great way of getting our name out there. they will be the talk of the shower block, i swear.
15 years
I think basicly hostel need at least one season to work without lonely planet books registration and without flyers
If after one season , the owner will decide to continue - then its a time to take care for the marketing
because very often hostels after first season are closing down and the people in later times , just look for the hostels which are not exist
15 years
I think basicly hostel need at least one season to work without lonely planet books registration and without flyers
If after one season , the owner will decide to continue - then its a time to take care for the marketing
because very often hostels after first season are closing down and the people in later times , just look for the hostels which are not exist
Yea, but if you don't do any kind of promotion upfront how will anyone know you're in business? You don't wait to have customers before starting to properly market and advertise your business. You'll definitely go out of business that way!
I understand what you're saying but all types of businesses open and close daily and customers come along later to find out they're gone - those things happens and customers know this. That's why it's also important to do your research and make sure you have the latest information before leaving home.
15 years
What about bookmarks...
Do one or two bookmarks layout with hostel information, the logo and a photo should be a good option, no? Everyone have a book during their holidays/trip... a book to read, a lonely planet book or something else, so if you give them a bookmark, the hostel "will be with the guest" during some time, which will be a remembering of the hostel and a possibility to share information abput the hostel with other travelers...
What do you think about it?
15 years
Bookmarks are a fantastic idea! They're cheap to produce, and guests will actually use them and take them to other destinations. Your hostel will appear before their eyes every time they open their book. When they finish the book they'll pass it on to someone else, who will also enjoy frequent reminders that they should go visit you. If you have a lending library or a book exchange, just stick one into every book, and leave a stack of extras on the shelf. Great idea!
15 years
Bookmarks are a great idea. I think the idea of putting them in the book exchange books would work well.
I just added a couple of the ideas from this thread to the "getting the word out" section of the Start a Hostel guide.
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