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Private House Stays May 2023 Newsletter
Hello <<First Name>>, Â
Welcome to our May newsletter! 🌸
We hope the season has started well for you despite the onerous short-stay license scheme the Scottish Government has rolled out. We would love to hear how you are getting on with your licences. We have heard mixed stories from our clients in differing areas, some who have sailed through and others needing a change of use and planning permission. You are now required to show your licence number on your website and other platforms you advertise on.
I have just returned from a wonderful ten days visiting my daughter in New York to celebrate her 21st. She left the UK last May and has been working and travelling in Canada for the previous six months spent in Banff, Alberta. It was such a joy to be with Jazzy, see cousins, and spend time with Jana Seitz, who lived next door to us in North Berwick for a year in 2015. She lives in Rye, a beautiful town 40 mins from New York and the perfect place to explore New York.
I am off to London next week to meet with a new strategist who is helping me work on a forward for Private House Stays to build a much bigger audience and followers by concentrating on content for visitors. I am also very proud to be visiting Buckingham Palace with my son Harry, who will receive his Duke of Edinburgh Gold award; it will be so exciting, especially after the amazing Coronation of our new King and Queen.
Stay well, and get in touch if you have any queries.
Cassie, Megan, Adam and Anna / The Private House Stays Team đźŹ
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Policy Prospectus from First Minister |
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The First Minister, Humza Yousaf, has, in a statement to the Scottish Parliament, said how the government will deliver for Scotland over the next three years.Â
In his first significant statement, the Frist Minister said he would seek to reach an agreement on a "New Deal for Scottish Business." He mentioned    Â
- The Launch of the Deposit Return Scheme will be set for March next year
- Proposals on alcohol advertising will go "back to the drawing board".Â
- The Scottish government will look at ways to use Business Rates to boost Businesses and support communities.Â
"New Leadership- A Fresh Start".Â
The First Minister and the prospectus document have outlined actions to combat poverty, establish a fairer, more eco-friendly, thriving economy, and enhance public services by 2026.
The government intends to pursue a "New Deal for Scottish Business" and engage in urgent discussions to determine how to enhance its assistance for businesses and communities, leveraging policy tools such as Non-Domestic Rates.
The Deposit Return Scheme's introduction has been postponed until March 2024, following the initial launch date of August 2022.
ScotRail has confirmed a six-month trial that will eliminate peak-time fares from its services starting in October to increase the accessibility, availability, and affordability of rail travel.
The government is searching for a new accord with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to aid in accomplishing joint objectives. Additionally, it is introducing legislation that would grant councils the authority to impose a Local Visitor Levy on commercially leased lodging accommodations to generate extra revenue.
As part of improving transportation, the Scottish government is doubling the charge points for electric vehicles to at least 6,000 and delivering six new vessels to support the ferry network.
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Green Certification For Tourism Businesses
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The Scottish tourism industry faces a significant challenge in addressing climate change, as consumer awareness of environmental issues has risen sharply over the last decade. Today's visitors are looking for businesses and destinations prioritising sustainability, making green certification a practical way to demonstrate your commitment to eco-friendliness.
What is a Green certification?
Businesses looking to showcase their commitment to sustainability can participate in a certification scheme that independently assesses their environmental practices. Typically, an assessor will evaluate the business against a set of criteria covering various sustainability aspects. If the company meets those criteria, they earn the certification's label, which can serve as a third-party validation of its eco-friendliness.
Why join a Green Certification scheme?Â
Participating in a sustainability certification scheme provides businesses with a range of benefits, such as the ability to review their impact on the environment, society, and economy. By maximising positive benefits, companies can strengthen their commitment to sustainability and gain a credible certification to promote their efforts to customers.
Green Key is an eco-label designed for the hospitality and tourism sector, owned by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE) and managed in Scotland by Keep Scotland Beautiful. It is a highly respected and globally recognised certification. The programme is currently operating in over 60 countries and has certified over 3,000 tourism businesses, making it one of the largest eco-certification schemes for the tourism industry worldwide.
Click the link below to find out more about Green Key and apply today.
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How to Identify and Improve your target audience |
Understanding your customers is crucial for developing and implementing effective marketing strategies. It guides the messaging you use, the timing of your communication, and most importantly, the most effective means of communicating with them. Categorizing your customers into different segments, such as families or couples, enables you to tailor your communication to each group's specific needs and preferences. These segments are referred to as target audiences.
How to Identify your target audience?Â
When determining your target audience, there are a few essential factors to consider, but it's important to keep things straightforward. There's no need to conduct extensive research on demographics and behaviour patterns. A practical starting point is your existing customer database, which can provide insight into your current customer demographics.
Analyzing your customer base can help you identify common traits or characteristics used to define your target audience. This information can include:
- Geographic location: Where are your customers located? Do they come from a particular region, city or country?
- Age range: What age group do your customers typically fall into? Are they primarily younger or older?
- Travel preferences: Do your customers usually travel alone, with family, in groups, or as couples?
- Other demographics: Consider other factors such as income level, education, occupation, and interests.
Understand your customers purchasing habits by tracking how they book with you. Do they book directly, through an online travel agent, or with another third party? Utilize tools like Google Analytics to track referral traffic to your website.
Analyze your social media presence and identify the type of content that resonates well with your audience. Look for indicators such as high engagement rates, positive feedback, and content shares to determine which posts are effective.
​You can find more information below on Google Analytics.
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Edinburgh Business School
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Private House Stays was so excited to work with  Edinburgh Business School. Our team and the university students worked together to gather information on our stats and data from Private House Stays to make better-informed decisions.
Some of the findings, and very encouraging; the (Top Channels) graph indicates that “Direct” and “Organic” channels are the highest source of traffic(52.3% and 31.9%), followed by “Referral” by 13.8%.
They have gave us several pages of data to work from with excellent suggestions to improve our website. We are very grateful for their hard work and findings.
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Small businesses and shop owners should take advantage of this invaluable book by Janine Marriott. Drawing on her own experiences and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by small businesses, Janine has created a step-by-step guide to help improve online presence.Â
This first volume in a series of workbooks aims to empower business owners and enable them to take control of their online marketing strategies.
Buy the 30 Day plan " To Dominate UK Local search results- generate leads, footfall and enquiries following a system that works. "
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Why did you choose Private House Stays?Â
We found that just having a reservation system was not enough and had to move with the times. Private House Stays online booking system has been very useful to us and we have benefitted in various ways.
How has Private House Stays helped your business?
Cassie has been most helpful with an initial visit and very professional in getting us set up. If we ever have any queries Cassie is quick at getting back to us and helps solve them as much as she can. Private House Stays is very easy to use and being a small hotel it’s good that you can keep an eye on all of your bookings and mark off or release rooms when you need to.
Would you recommend Private House Stays to other owners?
​If you don’t have a fully integrated booking system, then we would recommend​
Its always nice to know what people are saying about our brand and the brand carrying your name. For a more complete list of testimonials from the members of Private House Stays, please click HERE.Â
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For your convenience you can contact: Cassie available via email or phone.
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