Importance of Effective Communication in Tourism
Even though the Vacation Rental industry is going through some rough times, and travel has completely stopped, this does not mean you should disconnect completely and stop all your vacation rental communications with your guests. The importance of effective communication in tourism is now more valid than ever. Have in mind, that eventually the current coronavirus crisis will be over and people will want to travel locally with friends and family and might even be dreaming about their next vacation. Of course you will not communicate in the same way as usual, and you are probably not quite sure how to connect with your vacation rental guests at the moment. That is why we will give you some guidance on how to use Empathetic Marketing and what you need to consider when communicating during a crisis in general.
What is Empathetic Marketing?
Empathetic Marketing is the ability to truly understand your audience’s needs, values and interests in order to offer them what they really want and value the most.
Below you will find a fantastic definition from the landing page platform Unbounce.com:
Step in the Shoes of Your Vacation Rental Guests
During any kind of crisis, the audience that you talk to tends to be more sensitive towards the type of content that you publish in your communication channels.
That is why the importance of effective communication in tourism reflects in understanding how your target audience is feeling and create communications that truly help your clients.
Here you will find an example of how Lonely Planet has connected with their audience while being respectful of the current situation:
Double Check all Communications going Out to your Guests
You will probably have a list of communications that you will need to review and stop immediately since they are not appropriate during the specific crisis.
Also, if you have automated messages do not forget to review those, it is quite easy to forget reviewing them since you do not send them manually.
Choose Carefully the Visuals for your Vacation Rental Communication Channels
You have to be quite tactful as to the types of images that you choose for your social media channels and also your external communications via e-mail or blog articles. All of this may influence the importance of effective communication in tourism.
Try to avoid visuals that might have a connection with the crisis situation. In this particular case avoid pictures with crowded places, events, people holding hands or being close to each other.
Reevaluate your Tone of Voice, Language and Messaging
Examine the online conversations from your audience and understand how they are feeling about the situation, from there on you can get a clue of how to empathize with them and what language and tone and language you should use or avoid completely.
Also, online conversations from the tourism sector will help you focus and guide you as to the content that you want to deliver to your vacation rental target audience.
Do Not Forget About Empathetic Marketing for Your Team: your Employees and Stakeholders!
Amidst all the confusion within a crisis, you might focus only on your external communications, but remember that the internal communications with your employees and stakeholders is important!
All of your vacation rental employees need to be informed at all times of the actions that are being taken during the crisis, first of all to lower the possible stress the situation is causing them.
Second, communicating to your staff what measures are being taken and the message you want them to communicate will help them feel aligned and they will know how to react towards the clients.
So now that you have the above guidance, you are now ready to re-organize your vacation rental communication plan and keep on connecting with your guests.
Remember this situation will pass and your guests will be grateful for the valuable content you have given them during these tough times.
