B&B Accommodation Shopping

If you are a prospective proprietor, shopping for the best location to put up your B&B establishment requires some careful thought. The most obvious is to scout for a location that is well-known to most local and foreign tourists. This way, there will always be a demand for the services of a bed-and-breakfast outlet in the area. Perhaps a simple but thorough market study done by a business consultant (preferably from the hospitality industry) will give you valuable insights and put things in the proper perspective, sort of a strategic feasibility plan. The market study will bear out some important or key areas to be considered, such as the number of hotels in the area, the location of up-market and budget hotels, the number of tourists who visit per season and some other important information. The feasibility study should also include the going rates of existing establishments since these will become your competitors, and a price strategy can be developed based on this information. An alternative will be to design an entry strategy based on some important factor in the B&B business such as excellence in service or some other unique offering.

For the customers of B&B establishments, the primary consideration they take into account when shopping for accommodation is the price. Most of the people who stay in B&Bs are usually backpackers and budget tourists, who obviously get the room just to have a place to stay during the night and spend most of the day going around the tourist sites. In other words, they do not care much about the amenities. The only important thing for them is that the facilities are fully functioning. That there are hot & cold showers, clean bathrooms, tasty food, and a touch of personal service from the proprietor.

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