Economy promotions

Britain's vast and diverse, but fragmented, tourism industry would not survive without the small business.

More than 200,000 individual small businesses provide about 80% of the services available to holiday-makers, day-trippers and foreign visitors. However, with the foot-and-mouth crisis hitting tourism hard after the catalogue of traumatic events in the past 12 months, few of these can be said to be rich.

Any thoughts of spending large sums on marketing, advertising, public relations or general promotion work are out of the question. Yet, without such exposure, the future is bleak.

It is imperative that the tourism industry keeps on marketing itself abroad, but how can anyone, especially a small hotelkeeper, bed-and-breakfast establishment or caterer, embark on such a campaign without breaking the bank? The answer is that, even with a tiny budget of just £500, there is much that can be done - if it is spent wisely.

By far the most important first step hoteliers should take is to do their homework. Research, finding out exactly what the business is, let alone what kind of visitor it is after, is key to a successful promotion.

One way to kick off the research is by logging on to the BTA's Web site - TIPS (www.tourismtrade.org.uk). Not only does it provide market profiles, warn of emerging trends and give up-to-date information about key markets around the world, it's free.

Advertisements do cost money, but it's possible to advertise in one of the BTA's publications and still have change from £500. What's not usually economically viable for a small company is to join a VisitBritain tour to a foreign country independently, but by joining an organisation or group of like-minded people, the business can become part of a package - appearing in brochures, accommodation guides, on the Internet and in a range of outlets - and the cost will drop sharply as a result.

Before launching any overseas advertising or marketing campaign, it's even more important to ensure that what is being done at home is right.

Talk to the local tourist board. It can tell hoteliers what competition they are up against and help target a specific audience.

Apart from using local tourist boards' intimate knowledge of the area and the BTA's vast international expertise, an expanding business may also want to join its tourist board in joint overseas activity with the BTA.

All offer a range of opportunities which are geared as much to the needs and pockets of the small supplier as those of the large conglomerates - from an entry in their guides through, say, brochure distribution at consumer fairs to full-scale participation in major campaigns.

So it is very possible to get your marketing message across to potential customers - even if you have only £500 to spend.

Vaughan James is head of market and trade relations for the British Tourist Authority