Inspire & Excite Your Guests

A local visitor ‘pocket guide’ is a great way to help inspire guests to visit your area and book their stay with you.

A well produced and thoughtful visitor guide gives you increased credibility and confidence to your potential guests. It shows that are prepared to go that extra mile to help them enjoy their stay.

The goal of every travel guide is to help visitors get to know the local area and where to go. By being informative it can help encourage them to plan the best places to visit, what to see and do and find great places to eat and drink.

Surprising Fact: 85% of leisure travellers wait until they are at their destination before finalising their itinerary planning.

Share Your Local Recommendations

People love recommendations from the locals on what to see and do in an area. No-one knows your guests better than you and you are the local expert. With all this valuable information to hand you can tailor your visitor guide to your customers and give guests personalised ideas, suggestions and recommendations to suit them.

What Visitors Love to Know

But what to include & how to produce it? Here are some popular ideas to include:

• Your Recommendations – Favourite Haunts, ‘Top 5 Best of Everything’
• Exclusive Guest Discounts & Offers
• Great Picnic Spots, Local Dog Walks & Bike Rides
• Most Photogenic Locations & Top Instagram Spots
• Best Café’s, Pubs, Restaurants & Takeaways

There is some really good content that you can include. Here are some of the favourites that visitors love and find most helpful:

1. Your Recommendations – Favourite Haunts, ‘Top 5 Best of Everything’, Hidden Gems
2. Best Places to ‘Eat & Drink’ – Local pubs, cafes, restaurants & takeaways
3. Tourist Attractions, Family Days Out, Wildlife Experiences
4. Fun Activities & Watersports
5. Exclusive Guest Discounts & Offers
6. Outdoors, Nature & Adventure Experiences e.g. Local picnic spots
7. Suggested Local Walks & Bike Rides – maps & routes
8. Local Art, Culture, Historic & Heritage Sites
9. Top Instagram Spots – Best Views & most photogenic locations
10. Suggested Day Trips or ’48 Hours in Your Area’
11. Shop Local – Great little stores, local markets, arts & crafts, farm shops & local stores
12. Calendar of Events in the Area
13. Practical Information – Local Supermarkets, Chemists, Doctors, Taxis, etc.

The Local Highlights in 24 Hours

I was asked by a guest the other day ‘If I had only 24 hours in your area where would you recommend I go?’ It was quite thought provoking but it was an opportunity to mention our favourite locations, secret haunts and where to enjoy the best local seafood.

How to Showcase Your Local Visitor Guide Information

There are several ways you can produce your guest guide:

1. Digital Guide Book e.g. TouchStay
2. Interactive Visitor Guide Map e.g. Create a bespoke map or use Google Maps
3. Add new web pages – ‘See & Do’, ‘Eat & Drink’, ‘Visitor Attractions’ etc.
4. In-house Guest Guide Tablet such as ‘YourWelcome’ (see image below)
5. ‘Guest Information Folder’ & PDF Information Sheets

Add Your Own Personal Comments

Have a good look at your website and see if you can improve how you promote your area. Write your content with passion and personal experience (add your own comments) and include stunning images and photos. Make sure you provide links so guests can visit and check out your suggestions for themselves.

Local visitor guides are a wonderful way to help promote you holidays, excite your guests and help you achieve more 5* reviews.

Good luck!

Useful Information:

• If you wish to create your own Interactive ‘Handy’ Digital Guest Guide please follow this link for Touch Stay Digital Guidebooks
• Find out more about Your Welcome Digital Guide Books smart tablets