The Business Problem:
Authentic Seacoast Company's headquarters, (including its distillery & brewery, historic inn, coffee roastery and other properties) are located in a more remote area of Nova Scotia, along the pristine Eastern Shore. While many travellers enjoy exploring off the beaten path, the company wasn't seeing as much visitation from tourists during peak summer season, as they'd like. Part of that was general awareness, and part of that was we needed to build something incredibly enticing, to incentivize them to visit!
The Solution:
The real question was, could I get people to come? While the saying goes "if you build it, they will come", it should really be "if you build it, and market the heck out of it nonstop with the right amount of time..they might come!".
Key Tactics I implemented:
1. Directed the Design & Development of New Website: Six months prior to opening, I working with our amazing web developer of Phil Swinney where business information would live, and reservations would now stream through. We used appealing icons to highlight the Yurts and activities on site, in lieu of photographs that we'd later capture with a professional shoot during peak weather. The site's main goals were initially to: successfully introduce the accommodation, explain what's included, and make it easy to book.
2. Partnered with Tourism Nova Scotia (TNS) - Our strong and long-lasting relationship with the provincial tourism body was essential in raising awareness about our new property. They shared our business profile on their key site novascotia.com so tourists and local alike could find us.
3. Photo & Video Shoot - Finally, as part of our business launch, I coordinated professional photo and video shoots through TNS on two occasions. First, for our opening summer, we hired Davey & Sky an exceptional content creation duo, and their models, to capture the property and Yurt units in their best light. It was essential to me that we captured all the fun summer activities we offer on site to display on our site, such as: kayaking, canoeing, biking, walking trails, hot tubbing, sauna-ing, bbq-ing, touring the distillery and enjoying a drink at the tasting bar.
Ahead of our first winter season, we worked with m5 agency for a video shoot to showcase the winter activities available, such as: snowshoeing, soaking in your private wood-fired hot tub, sipping coffee by your fire pit, cozying up by the wood stove in the Yurt, and sipping hot toddies in our lounge. For both shoots, I provided direction to the production teams, with suggested shot lists, being the person most familiar with the property and knowing what we want to showcase. These shoots are a highlight of the job for me!
4. Influencer Marketing - In addition to the content captured and shared through those shoots, I cultivated relationships with influencers in Halifax and across the province to continue generating momentum for the business.
Some of these were:
@daveyandsky 44.8K followers
@delightfultravellers 52.1K followers
@janikrobichaud 21K followers
@cailinoneill 12K YouTube followers
The Ask:
The fundamental question posed to all of us was 'how can we make the town of Guysborough and our business more attractive, so that tourists want to make the extra 30 min drive off the highway to visit us?". With the golf course on the property at the time recently closed, and the land turned into a trial vineyard, the company's CEO thought of, well...glamping! Glamping = glamorous camping, and a highly popular emerging market in Nova Scotia and across Canada.
After many discussions and calculations, we all agreed, while it would be a lot of work, launching this new business as an addition to our existing tourism & hospitality made economic sense and was worth the risk. It was a GO, and all hands on deck! We had the land, we had the staff, and soon enough we had the physical Yurt structures, paths paved, guest service buildings built, washrooms, showers, and laundry machines installed, reservation system in place, new front of house staff hired and the check-in process all in place, ready to welcome our first guests for the summer of 2020.
The Results:
In just 2 months I grew our Instagram following by 3,000+ new followers - organically. Key tactics included: consistently posting these captivating images of our new accommodation which spoke for themselves, leveraging our platform with TNS, collaborating with influencers and offering occasional Giveaways for a 2-night stay (which people go bonkers for!).
Our reservation books filled up fast, as locals were keen to explore their own backyard and enjoy a quick getaway during the pandemic (our first ear). We were happy to see many sold-out weekends.
Reservations have grown over time as brand awareness increased and as we refined our operations and customer service on site. In recent years, we have integrated value-add offerings, packages and promos that have also generated sales growth.
Additionally, in more recent years, I have cultivated more business for the Yurts, by tapping into the travel trade market and creating partnerships with international buyers and travel agencies catering to European seniors with expendable income, looking for longer vacations in North America.
Learnings & Opportunities:
I've learned a great day from diving head first into the Tourism & Hospitality industry. Above all, the importance of staying nimble. You need to be ready to think on your toes and problem solve quickly, to ensure you're offering the highest quality customer service and always improving the business. While some customers can prove difficult, most are delightful and make hospitality a true joy. The ideal customer is someone you truly want to go above and beyond for - which we've been lucky and willing to do!
