Belgian Tourist Office Brussels and Wallonia
Promotional Campaign results 1st October 2012
Prepared by Steve Dobson Co-Founder Unusual and Unique Hotels of the World
43 John Bunn Mill, Coxes Lock, Bourneside Road, Addlestone Surrey KT15 2JX Tel: +44 (0)1932 829094 email: info@uhotw.com
Overview The Belgian Tourist Office, Brussels and Wallonia agreed a relationship with The Unusual Company and the Unusual Hotels of the World website in August 2010. The promotional activities comprised of • • • • • • •
Membership to the UHOTW.com online guide for mutually agreed properties Promotion of properties and generation of direct contacts via web, online and in print Email mailings highlighting properties Articles about properties and the region Publication of a hardback book Submission to external publications, press and social media Web banner advertising
Properties selected The Atomium La Balade des Gnomes Euro Space Centre Hotel Bloom Pantone Hotel
Le Manior de Lébioles Hotel Welcome Les Duves / La Classe Be Manos Hotel
Promotional Value estimation during 24 months of contract Aug 2010 - 2012 Using industry equivalent estimations, rate cards and internet research to estimate cost or delivered value from the delivered activity during the period of the contract. - Value provided to properties (estimate): Equivalent promotional costs online Direct contact to bookings and visitor requests SEO enhancement with weblinks Book and printed media promotion (UUOD 2011/12) Unusual Hotels Europe (Book of the Year 2012) Sub-Total Property
€82,000 €42,000 €5,000 €40,000 €25,000 €194,000
- Value provided to Belgian Tourist Board (estimate): Online banner advertising €66,400 Print advertising, book covers etc. €11,500 Articles, Blogs, Social Media and Editorial €8,250 Email banner advertising €14,900 Sub-Total
Belgian Tourist Board
Grand Total - Cost / Value
– (1) – (2) – (3) – (7) – (10)
€101,050 €295,050
– (4) – (8),(9) – (5),(6) – (11)
Promotional Results - UHOTW.com Belgium properties were Promoted on uhotw.com 4,100,218 times.
Typically Travel websites charge a Clicks Per Thousand (CPM) fee of €20/1000 online impressions – During full 24 mth contract period Revenue value generated = €82,000 (1)
136,854 individual visitors requested information about properties and Belgium on uhotw.com 5,702 individuals every month contacted UHOTW for information on properties. Of these, 8,411 were tracked as connecting direct with the properties Assuming a 1% conversion from a qualified prospect to a confirmed booking, and average spend of €500, Revenue value generated = €42,000 (2)
Direct links from the UHOTW.com site to property’s own website, These links increase the relevance of property SEO activities, improving their Google ranking. They are often not available or provided as a chargeable extra by websites. Link from UHOTW site to 10 Properties (@€500/property) = €5,000 (3) Advertising results (17 months) 468 x 60 Advert for Belgium received 3,320,858 impressions. Equivalent / month = 195,344 every month Typical CPM for a Travel site of €20/1000 Value of this placement = €3,900 monthly Online Advertising Value during contract term Revenue value generated = €66,400 (4)
Editorial and Blog Content - UHOTW.com UHOTW creation Belgium specific Blog articles read by 44,000 annually, including a Brussels Favourite City article. http://www.unusualhotelsoftheworld.com/Blogs/Guru4Travel/Brussels Ratecard cost per article = â‚Ź7,500 (5)
Social Media UHOTW have created a vibrant social media audience of 2,500 individuals on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Every Belgium property was offered the opportunity to provide suitable offers and news materials to interest the online audience of UHOTW and suitable offers, events and area updates from properties have been selected and posted to these audiences via blog, tweet and newsletter.
Eg Dinant Bathtub Regatta, posted to Events calendar, Newsletter and Twitter. Revenue value generated = €750 (6)
In addition, UHOTW engage with press around the world to support articles both directly and indirectly. Over 83,700 press articles and mentions of UHOTW are online currently to the benefit of all UHOTW members. We also engage in a number of activities to showcase exciting hotels to new audiences: Eg; - Joint promotion to 200,000 Thalys “TheCard” subscribers of selected UHOTW properties. -
HotelStories Exhibition in Apeldoorn, NL (hotelstories.nl) to 42,000 individuals May-Sept 2012
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April Fool campaign with 2012 Olympic linkage in UK, March 2012
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TV campaign as advisor to The Hotel Inspector series, 2 episodes, UK June, Aug 2012
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Food and Travel Awards, London UK, Sept 2012
Printed publication Results Unique and Unusual Overnight Directory - 10 properties are included in this guide.
Over 5,702 copies have been distributed through bookshops, online and through edistribution, Electronically, over 201,528 pages have been accessed.
The 2 page entries in the Unique and Unusual Overnight Directory are by invitation only. For valuation purposes, we consider them as advertising equivalent to a single page of advertising. It should be noted that editorial content is typically considered of significantly greater value to an equivalent amount of advertising. Revenue per page of advertising = â‚Ź4,000. There are 10 properties in the book. Revenue value generated = â‚Ź40,000 (7)
Advertising pages in Unique and Unusual Overnight Directory A page of advertising would retail at €4,000 - €6,000 for a distribution of 5,000+ copies.
Revenue value generated = €4,000 (8) Additionally, this book was produced for the Belgian Tourist Board.
These dust jacket covers were created specifically for the Belgian Tourist Board Revenue value generated = €7,500 (9)
Unusual Hotels Europe (Michelin Distribution)
This is the recent winner of Food + Travel magazine Travel Publication of 2012, and also, following 22,000 votes cast for the awards, Winner of the overall Book of The Year 2012. Following a review of all properties, the following were selected for inclusion: The Atomium Pantone Hotel La Classe La Balade des Gnomes EuroSpace Centre
Translated additionally in French, this title is distributed by Michelin through bookstores across Europe and online via Amazon and GoUnusual.com The PR value of inclusion in this title for the 5 properties selected is considered as for advertising at @€5k. Revenue value generated = €25,000 (10)
Email and Newsletter campaigns Belgium properties have been promoted by dedicated newsletters to a unique audience of 25,000 registered members of the GOUNUSUAL Club on 17 separate occasions. In addition, 16 newsflashes sent to a total of 323,612 contacts included an advert for Belgiumtheplaceto.be.
A total of 748,612 impressions were run. Typical CPM for a Travel site of €20/1000 Online Advertising Value = €14,900 (11)
Visitor Profiles Unusual and Unique Hotels of the World is a guide for experiential properties, where overnight stays are an experience in themselves. Established in 2004, guides are available online and in print, and properties contained are promoted online and through over 83,700 references in social media networks. Recognised by mainstream editors, researchers and publishers as a resource of stories for magazines, TV shows and publications, UHOTW.com is viewed by over a million unique readers annually, equivalent to a visitor searching on the UHOTW website every 20 seconds - day and night, 365 days a year. Every 7 minutes, a unique visitor is put in direct contact with properties promoted. Annual statistics • • • • • • •
1,092,531 Unique visitors 1,399,729 Detailed property reviews 400+ current articles on UHOTW 83,700 social media references 44 countries 500,000 Newsletters distributed (in 2011) 25,500 Members in The Unusual Club
Properties are all Unique or Unusual, with a WOW rating moderated by site visitors to highlight favourite places to stay. All the properties are considered by our global team of regional editors and contributors to identify properties where visitors can; “sleep somewhere with a story to share” The Online guide was the winner of the Worldwide Hospitality Awards 2007 for Best Travel Website and highlighted by The Times in the UK as a ‘website to watch’. As well as a dedicated technical team who develop and enhance the website, UHOTW has 15 regional and country editors managing local promotional and sales activities. We also work with a continually growing team of trusted contributors and reviewers. Guidebooks UHOTW have authored the Unusual Hotels of the World printed guide, which is distributed by Michelin into bookshops and online, available in English, French, Italian and Spanish. Unusual Hotels UK and Ireland, was nominated as a finalist in the Prix Villegiature Awards for Best Hotel Book 2009. Unusual Hotels- Europe was voted by Food + Travel Magazine as Book of the Year 2012
Summary While it is unlikely that every separate investments outlined in this report would be made for a single campaign– and combining them all would likely benefit from a negotiated reduction in price, it demonstrates quantifiable value that UHOTW can deliver. The significant promotional value of representing a brand to over a million unique visitors of the UHOTW site is unquestioned. Where possible the cost or anticipated value of the individual elements was taken from publically available rate card and/or internet researched material. Some of the hotels have additionally benefitted from the accreditation by UHOTW of their facilities, and it is recognized, that only measurable elements of provided value are outlined. The value of the inclusion of the selected Belgian Properties in the Printed books will continue to yield value for the years that they are in print. Their inclusion in translated versions has equally been ignored.
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2 year period of activity
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10 Properties promoted 4,100,218 times
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136,854 individual visitors requested information
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Belgium advert received 3,320,858 impressions online
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748,612 Advertising emails
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5,702 Books distributed
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5 properties included in 2012 Book of the Year
An anticipated â‚Ź295,000 value