International visitors to New Hampshire (or elsewhere)

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paolo
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International visitors to New Hampshire (or elsewhere)

Post by paolo »

Hi Robin,
Our home is in New Hampshire, USA. I have never had anyone outside the USA. Can anyone say whether New England is a destination that appeals to those abroad?
I read a couple of years ago that Boston was the most popular tourist destination in the USA. I don’t know how they measured it and I didn’t believe it (hello, Orlando?) but it must be near the top at least. So why not New Hampshire for non-Americans? If people are going to Boston, they must be fanning out through New England.

Do you have any non-US site ads? A US site will optimize for US terms like vacation rentals. A British web user will use terms like ‘holiday rentals’ and ‘self catering’ on a search engine so won’t necessarily find a US site.

It would be worth doing this if you think non-US visitors can fill in the gaps in your calendar. On the other hand you may be better off increasing your ad spend for US renters as that is likely to be a bigger potential market than the rest of the world combined.

If you want to gauge if there is a market in, say, the UK, you can use a brief, inexpensive AdWords campaign (Google’s pay-per-click programme). Select keywords that a British user would use, but not an American – for example “New Hampshire holiday rentals�, “self catering New Hampshire�, “New Hampshire holiday homes�, etc. Do the same for different geographical names – counties or towns near you. Direct the ad to your site.

After a week you’ll see how many ‘impressions’ you got – how many times your ad was shown to an internet search on Google. This will give you an idea of how many times in that period a phrase was used. It may even, if people are clicking on your ad, bring enquiries from the UK.

(The above applies to any destination, substitute 'New Hampshire' for your location.)
Paolo
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Tom
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Post by Tom »

I just had some renters from New Hampshire and I remembered this question and asked them about it. They said they get lots of Europeans visiting, mainly for ski-ing. They also said that a couple of weeks ago they got a few hundred Scots over for a Highalnd Games gathering! Apparently this is a big thing over there.
Shena
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Re: International visitors to New Hampshire (or elsewhere)

Post by Shena »

paolo wrote:Hi Robin,
Our home is in New Hampshire, USA. I have never had anyone outside the USA. Can anyone say whether New England is a destination that appeals to those abroad?
I read a couple of years ago that Boston was the most popular tourist destination in the USA. I don’t know how they measured it and I didn’t believe it (hello, Orlando?) but it must be near the top at least. So why not New Hampshire for non-Americans? If people are going to Boston, they must be fanning out through New England.

Do you have any non-US site ads? A US site will optimize for US terms like vacation rentals. A British web user will use terms like ‘holiday rentals’ and ‘self catering’ on a search engine so won’t necessarily find a US site.

It would be worth doing this if you think non-US visitors can fill in the gaps in your calendar. On the other hand you may be better off increasing your ad spend for US renters as that is likely to be a bigger potential market than the rest of the world combined.

If you want to gauge if there is a market in, say, the UK, you can use a brief, inexpensive AdWords campaign (Google’s pay-per-click programme). Select keywords that a British user would use, but not an American – for example “New Hampshire holiday rentals�, “self catering New Hampshire�, “New Hampshire holiday homes�, etc. Do the same for different geographical names – counties or towns near you. Direct the ad to your site.

After a week you’ll see how many ‘impressions’ you got – how many times your ad was shown to an internet search on Google. This will give you an idea of how many times in that period a phrase was used. It may even, if people are clicking on your ad, bring enquiries from the UK.

(The above applies to any destination, substitute 'New Hampshire' for your location.)
A-two
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Re: International visitors to New Hampshire (or elsewhere)

Post by A-two »

Our home is in New Hampshire, USA. I have never had anyone outside the USA. Can anyone say whether New England is a destination that appeals to those abroad?
Is your website www.lakesidepromise.com? If not, ignore this! If so, then it looks vaguely comparible with ours, where you will find guest reviews from several UK and Irish visitors over the last couple of years. We love them!

I'm sure NH would appeal, but maybe more as a multiple destination holiday, rather than a whole holiday destination. We gain from our proximity to Manhattan. Our typical UK family will combine a relaxing week at the beach (us), with a week in the bright city lights, renting an apartment there. It's also possible to do a day trip from here to catch a Broadway Show or some culture at the Met. I'm not familiar with your location, but there may be similar possibilities.

One UK family this year went even further, starting with 3 days in NYC, then a week with us, then took the ferrry across Long Island Sound to Connecticut and made their way up to your neck of the woods, spending 3 weeks in total or possibly longer on their road trip.

Although these families have found us in the past without any special marketing, to attract more, I now have a new "international" section on our website and we're adding a listing on a paid rental website that reaches the bulk of the European self-catering holidaymakers.

The British Pound and Euro is going a long way against the US$ right now, which makes us (and you) so much more affordable than 2 years ago, where the cost of the rental added to international flights for a family of 4 or 5 put us out of reach for many folks. In fact, I secured my first bookings from the UK by shamelessly discounting the price first quoted to them when they declined for this reason. Looked at another way, they got one free flight out of 4, and it sealed the deal. The reverse is now true, so I'm hoping for similar discount offers to afford a UK visit!

Just don't expect repeat visitors. We have families who long to come back, and we'd love to have them, but they just can't afford such a big holiday year on year, and even if they can, would most likely chose to explore one of the other States, such as NH, rather than return to NY.

One last thing. I notice that you're renting Friday to Friday. I'm not sure if that is important to you or not, but everyone here rents Saturday or occasionally Sunday, which might make your home difficult to fit in to a multi-destination holiday during peak times - just a thought.

Hope this helps,

All the best,
Joanna
Last edited by A-two on Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
New_Hampshire_Skiing
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Post by New_Hampshire_Skiing »

My place is in New Hampshire, at Loon Mountain (the former site of the Highland Games). We've had two families in four years come here -- both were summer guests. I don't expect to get European visitors coming here to ski. Most ski areas in New England are far from the major airports and can't compare to Western US resorts or European skiing.

I'd love to get a few more Europeans for summer and fall weeks -- when we really do have something unique to offer. Paolo, I'm taking your advise on injecting some of the key search words that Europeas would use.

Thanks!

As a note on the Highland Games: they attract 20,000 people, mostly from the US for three days of very very fun activities. They were held at Loon Mountain -- which was a fantastic venue -- until 2003, when the organizers felt they were not getting enough back in terms of freebies from the town in exchange for their business (yes, it should be illegal). As a result, they moved to the very uninteresting town of Manchester, NH and have, I'm certain, far less fun! :D
Christine Kenyon
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Post by Christine Kenyon »

If your property is the Lakeside promise, it looks lovely.

Just one comment from this side of the pond, most Brits would probably have no idea what "NH" means. I think you need to spell New Hampshire out in full. And if I understand correctly all the info we've had about keywords, it will also help with your keywords being picked up by search engines.

Cheers

Christine
www.stybarrowcottage.co.uk
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Welcom to the forum, New Hampshire Skiing!

Thanks for the info on the Highland Games, sounds like they are more popular there than in Scotland!

I think that to really find some UK guests you need to advertise on a listing site that does well for British accommodation terms, i.e. 'holiday rentals' and 'self catering' rather than 'vacation rentals'. Adding some keywords to your own site is unlikely to get you found with a search engine.
Paolo
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New_Hampshire_Skiing
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Post by New_Hampshire_Skiing »

paolo wrote:Welcom to the forum, New Hampshire Skiing!

Thanks for the info on the Highland Games, sounds like they are more popular there than in Scotland!

I think that to really find some UK guests you need to advertise on a listing site that does well for British accommodation terms, i.e. 'holiday rentals' and 'self catering' rather than 'vacation rentals'. Adding some keywords to your own site is unlikely to get you found with a search engine.
Thanks Paolo for the welcome... I followed you over from the yahoo group.

If the dollar keeps swirling the drain I should be able to attract the UK crowd easily. But I do need to find the right site. I appreciate your good advice on the advertising and keyword.

Best,

Mark Krumm
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paolo
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Post by paolo »

Mark,
I don't expect to get European visitors coming here to ski.
I'm a copywriter and a few years ago I wrote some marketing material promoting New Hampshire's Ski 93 area to the UK and Europe, so they must have been actively promoting it then. I don't know how well this worked, if at all.

The benefits for the European skier were that in the US there is always snow (better snow-making facilities), no queues for the ski-lifts,and better customer service levels. And for the British, a shared language.

The benefits of New Hampshire over the more obvious Rockies resorts out west was that it was a shorter, cheaper flight, and that you could combine it with a trip to Boston.

My impression of New Hampshire is that it is not a well-known state over here. I have thought about it for the best part of a minute and I can't name a town in NH, I'm sorry to say. And I am quite good at geography!

The up-side is, if you advertise on a UK-based listing site, you will probably be the only property in New Hampshire. See holiday-rentals.com, for instance - virgin territory.
Paolo
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