Promoting an Aviation Business -- Suggestions?

Jay Honeck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jun 6, 2008
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Ingleside, TX
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Jay Honeck
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KTFP - Ingleside, TX
After 19 months of work, Mary and I are on the verge of finally springing our aviation themed hotel (currently called "The Harbor Inn"; soon to emerge as "Amelia's Landing") on an unsuspecting aviation world.

Each room is now a different era of aviation history. We've now got two courtesy vehicles at the airport, gassed up and ready to go. We're almost ready for prime time, although there are still a brazillion little steps to come -- not the least of which is two more years of remodeling rooms -- but I digress.

The last big hurdle before going fully aviation oriented is changing the big sign out front, and officially changing the name. I've got a design company in Wisconsin working on that...

It's the next steps after the name change that are keeping me awake at night.

As many of you know, we owned the aviation themed Alexis Park Inn & Suites for nine years. Although we achieved some notoriety amongst pilots, I was (and remain) frustrated to know that more pilots had NOT heard of us than actually had. Somehow, despite literally years of intensive marketing, most pilots had no clue we were there. How that's possible is the mystery I need to solve.

Question is: What to do? I don't want to simply do the same stupid, ineffective things again here in Texas. If'n they didn't work in Iowa, they sure'n won't work in Texas...

So, once again I turn to the wisdom of "The Group" on an issue of great importance to our business. How, in the world, do we get the word out about the impending birth of our aviation themed inn?

Those of you with aviation bidnesses, what are you doing to spread the word about yourselves? Where are you advertising? Pilots, what are your favorite sources of aviation information? How about travel info? Where do you go for it?

In your opinion, what's the most effective (and cost effective) way to advertise nowadays, in a fragmented internet world?

Thanks for any and all advice!
 
How much bribery does it take to get an article in AOPA pilot(or do you just have to write it yourself?) The way flying mag is going they should pay you to feature your hotel. And no like us on facebook 'f' at the end of your post?
 
ClimbnSink said:
How much bribery does it take to get an article in AOPA pilot(or do you just have to write it yourself?) The way flying mag is going they should pay you to feature your hotel. And no like us on facebook 'f' at the end of your post?
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Ah, AOPA is a good one. Back in 2004, when they did an article on our Iowa hotel, we got a really nice pop in fly-in business for a few months.

That was back when Julie K. Boatman was there, and she had Midwestern ties. I don't know how one goes about getting featured -- it just sort of happened to us.

Flying Magazine? They wouldn't give me the time of day. Their ads were so incredibly expensive, I nearly wet myself. All I could afford was one of those silly classifieds in the back that no one reads, so I passed. Too bad, cuz I still read Flying religiously.

I tried to get someone from EAA interested, but to no avail -- even though we offer their members a 10% discount. (We've been members since 1983.)

As for Facebook, we have over 1,000 fans on Facebook (look for us under our current name, "The Harbor Inn on Mustang Island") -- all of whom we will lose when we change the name. Facebook doesn't let you just change the name on your page, so we'll have to start all over.

We also link to Facebook from our regular website, so I think we've got Facebook covered.

I've got an ad on AirNav already. Dunno how many pilots use AirNav, but Mary and I use it a LOT.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 
You might try Barnstormers, they seem to have a huge following.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Um, nope. I don't even know how one works, or what, exactly, one would do with one.

Edumacate me, pleeze? :yesnod:
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Oh, sorry, I meant Nate has a podcast (denverpilot), at least I thought he did. There are other people here who do aviation podcasts too and I thought maybe you could promote your hotel that way if you managed to talk them into having you as a guest.
 
Hey, BTW, I don't know if this is a good place to mention this, but we're giving away all of our rooms to veterans and/or active duty military on Thursday, 11/10/11. If you're a veteran, or active duty, fly on down, spend the night for free, and wake up on Veteran's Day to our delivered breakfast -- on the house.

Just our way of saying "Thanks!" to our boys and girls in uniform...
 
SCCutler said:
That, there, is a good call, Jay.
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I wonder if I can mention that offer here in a separate post? I'll bet there are a fair number of veterans in the group?

It's not spam if it's free...right? :lol:
 
Will be happy to mention the hotel on the podcast if we ever get back to recording episodes. We've been on extended hiatus with everyone too busy to get all of us together on the same day to record.
 
Texas Highways Magazine. D magazine.

Get the really chatty members of the local and regional tourism agencies to come over and stay a night. Same with the better known/respected travel bloggers. Make sure they do top notch write ups on their experience and whynothers MUST stay there when you come to Port A.

Go visit with the owners of the Hangar Hotel at Fredericksburg and obtain some of their wisdom.

Cross promote with many other locals, especially those that cater to tourist businesses.

Find one of the better Press Release websites that are looked at by lots of various media. The national trade association for my business (www.a-r-a.org) does this and I'll see the same announcement pop up many times on the various news sites I monitor.

Find the best means to leverage social media. Hire a local kid who is really good at pushing the right stuff through Facebook and Twitter and develop a massive network of folks that will receive announcements like, "register for x nights and get a voucher for dinner for two at one of the top restaurants on the island."

Loyalty program...that also has a referral component (possible tie in to the social media)


And make darned sure your website makes the top third of the first page when folks search google for places to stay in your area.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Texas Highways Magazine. D magazine.

Get the really chatty members of the local and regional tourism agencies to come over and stay a night. Same with the better known/respected travel bloggers. Make sure they do top notch write ups on their experience and whynothers MUST stay there when you come to Port A.

Go visit with the owners of the Hangar Hotel at Fredericksburg and obtain some of their wisdom.

Cross promote with many other locals, especially those that cater to tourist businesses.

Find one of the better Press Release websites that are looked at by lots of various media. The national trade association for my business (www.a-r-a.org) does this and I'll see the same announcement pop up many times on the various news sites I monitor.

Find the best means to leverage social media. Hire a local kid who is really good at pushing the right stuff through Facebook and Twitter and develop a massive network of folks that will receive announcements like, "register for x nights and get a voucher for dinner for two at one of the top restaurants on the island."

Loyalty program...that also has a referral component (possible tie in to the social media)


And make darned sure your website makes the top third of the first page when folks search google for places to stay in your area.
Click to expand...

Good suggestions, all.

That last one is a tough nut, though. I've yet to figure that one out, in 9 years of trying. The chains have all the marketing clout, and they make sure that THEY are on the top of those search pages... :mad2:
 
Plus google keeps moving the target.
 
Google's all about the benjamins. It's easy to get on top of their list. You pay. ;)

Whether that's worth it, I don't know.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Good suggestions, all.

That last one is a tough nut, though. I've yet to figure that one out, in 9 years of trying. The chains have all the marketing clout, and they make sure that THEY are on the top of those search pages... :mad2:
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It's surprising what some targeted marketing will do with Google, though! Mine is doing pretty well at this point. Can't say that it will last, but some of my customers have told me that my ads are everywhere... You have to figure out how to target your ads to the the people you want to visit your website. In my case, I have certain demographics, and certain keywords that they may type into Google that will trigger my ads, and in my case, the amount I pay to Google per month, is about 2 intro flights worth of money, so if I do 2 intro flights off of my Google ads per month, I've broken even for the visibility. If I get a student off of it, I'm doing great.
It's also important that the wrong people (wrong demographics, location, etc...) do NOT see the ads, and click on them, costing you money for no return. That's the other half of the battle.

Ryan
 
Design up a killer flyer, and encourage your pilot friends to print it and post it at FBO bulletin boards when they fly Hither and Thither (and, perhaps, even the occasional Yon).

Be sure that your collection of aviation videos is accessed through the Amelia's Landing website, and ensure that the website is well promoted and cross-promoted. Noted here, there are people who are specialists in Search Engine Optimization.

Getting yourselves up in the Internet rankings is Really Important. This is how we research, these days - it just is.
 
I just watched the latest episode of The Aviators. Here they flew to Greenville, SC to do a feature on the Runway Cafe and their $100 hamburger.

I would invite them to your place and see if you can't become a TV celeb.
 
SCCutler said:
Design up a killer flyer, and encourage your pilot friends to print it and post it at FBO bulletin boards when they fly Hither and Thither (and, perhaps, even the occasional Yon).

Be sure that your collection of aviation videos is accessed through the Amelia's Landing website, and ensure that the website is well promoted and cross-promoted. Noted here, there are people who are specialists in Search Engine Optimization.

Getting yourselves up in the Internet rankings is Really Important. This is how we research, these days - it just is.
Click to expand...

On which sectional would one find Hither, Thither, And Yon? I've been looking for some new places forth toward which I may sally.
 
SCCutler said:
Getting yourselves up in the Internet rankings is Really Important. This is how we research, these days - it just is.
Click to expand...

Big agreement.

As an expert shared with me once, the 15-18 year olds are now my customers and the concept of a paper phonebook is completely alien to them.

Something else on your must have list are lots of online positive reviews. Think how of often you look on the net for what others have said about a product, service, or business and then base your decision on info from people you never met. For this, a good resource that can help you is www.SureCritic.com. We use them for the auto salvage yard and are vey happy. (see! A review right here and your making a decision to go check them out)
 
AggieMike88 said:
As an expert shared with me once, the 15-18 year olds are now my customers and the concept of a paper phonebook is completely alien to them.
Click to expand...
It's completely alien to me too. :rofl:

I can't remember the last time I didn't immediately recycle the one left in my driveway and I never pick up the ones left in the mailbox structure.
 
Instead of trying to market to such a small market (pilots) as a business owner I would be more interested in getting my message to a larger audience.

When I had my helicopter business I fell into the same trap trying to market to pilots only. When that didn't go over so well I expanded into other marketing and expanded my audience, thus picking up more customers. There are people interested in aviation that may not be involved in aviation, but the interest is there.

As far as "aviation themed" hotels near a beach, most people going to a beach destination are more interested in seafood, beach, ocean, etc. As a pilot I could care less if the room has an aviation theme, I look for clean, comfortable and reasonable price.
 
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Everskyward said:
It's completely alien to me too. :rofl:

I can't remember the last time I didn't immediately recycle the one left in my driveway and I never pick up the ones left in the mailbox structure.
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I quit paying for advertising in the paper yellow pages over 6 years ago and have never seen a reduction of business there because of that.

It would cost me over $375/month for bold named in column line listing (very basic) in all of the books across the Dallas Ft Worth area.

Interesting aside. My biz name, address and phone number continues to appear in those same books. For free. Go figure.
 
Who are your current customers? Why do stay with you? Where are they coming from? What do theyblike most about the place?

Knowing your current customer base is always the best place to start.
 
I'm wondering how many people first pick the destination then look for a hotel as opposed to people who want a certain hotel experience and will go to the place which has it. I would be a bad judge of this because I don't travel randomly just to do it. If I am going somewhere it's for something specific.
 
Let us return to those heady days of yesteryear, before the internet, before phones with an IQ higher than yours, before nasty smelling chemicals were put in auto gas and see what we can remember...

Lessee, it is (today) roughly a buck apiece to print and mail a 'quality' 8X10 color flyer...
There are roughly 5000 GA airports with a paved runway...
(dunno how many sod strips there are and I am waaay too lazy to look it up - tag, you are it)
For less than the price of a single, one month, quarter page, glossy color ad in a famous flying magazine you can print up color flyers (mentioned by a previous poster) and mail them (3 rd class) to each and every GA airport manager in the country with a request to have it put on the bulletin board in the pilot's lounge... Done in 250 to 500 print batches spread out over time you should be able to slip it into the budget...

If that does not spin your prop consider an ad in Trade-A-Plane for a few months...
Find some bright kid to make a funny video about Amelia's Airmotel and post it to Youtube...
Offer the Fox News producers to put up their news crew for free when they are working a story down that way in return for a small plug for Amelia's Airmotel...
Consider a blow-in color post card in AOPA and EAA magazines with some special offer or such...
Work a deal with some of the beach rentals along the Gulf Coast to have them post your color flyer on their bulletin board if you post theirs...
Send color flyers to flight schools with a request to put them on the bulletin board...
A color flyer mailed to CFI's offering a free night at your motel if they bring a student doing an RON cross country who rents a room...
Work a deal with your local airport manager that any business jet that buys fuel there can get discounted rooms with you... Send a color flyer to the flight department of corporations who use your local airport on a regular basis... Your local airport manager can give you that info - if he chooses...
Send color flyers to airplane related museums with a request to have them posted...
Offer Cirrus Corporation discounted rooms for new airplane purchasers getting their insurance mandated dual instruction XC time - or a free room to the CFI if he steers the XC flight to your island...
Same deal for Piper and Cessna...

This stream of consciousness does not even scratch the surface... There are the RV trailer folks, the high end motor coach builders like BlueBird, and every marina in the country, every country club, and on, and on, etc.

denny-o
gawd, I love spending OPM...
 
SCCutler said:
Getting yourselves up in the Internet rankings is Really Important. This is how we research, these days - it just is.
Click to expand...

I know. This is why the chains devote a huge effort to keeping themselves at the top of the page. Unfortunately, an independent has little hope of out-bidding the Holiday Inn chain for top billing.

Marketing is a fun (and funny, for those who understand it) thing. It's the art of taking your weakness, and making it a strength. Thus, the Holiday Inn Express commercials took the perception that only idiots paid more for an HIE room, and turned it on its head ("No, I'm not a doctor...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...")

The newest one is Miller Lite. They are trying to change the perception of Light Beer as being an effeminate drink, to something "real men" do, with their "Man up and choose a Miller Lite" commercials. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUJ36nFdOyg

I suspect this will be more of an uphill battle. :rolleyes:
 
Rotor&Wing said:
Instead of trying to market to such a small market (pilots) as a business owner I would be more interested in getting my message to a larger audience.

When I had my helicopter business I fell into the same trap trying to market to pilots only. When that didn't go over so well I expanded into other marketing and expanded my audience, thus picking up more customers. There are people interested in aviation that may not be involved in aviation, but the interest is there.

As far as "aviation themed" hotels near a beach, most people going to a beach destination are more interested in seafood, beach, ocean, etc. As a pilot I could care less if the room has an aviation theme, I look for clean, comfortable and reasonable price.
Click to expand...

I've had this conversation many times over the last 9 years. Usually it's a non-pilot, high roller businessman who will ask me: "Why are you wasting all of this time and effort on the aviation theme that most people don't care about? You could make a lot more money doing x, y, and z."

The answer I give is one they usually don't understand, but it's really true: We NEVER got into the hotel business because we wanted to make money.

We NEVER got into the hotel business because we're even all that interested in hotels.

We got into the business because we wanted to hang out with interesting pilots from all over the world. We looked at on-airport businesses, decided that none of them were viable, and more or less accidentally came up with the idea of an aviation themed hotel that caters to pilots. (The story of how we ended up buying the Alexis Park Inn in Iowa is like an Abbott and Costello short...)

I've been called crazy by a lot of people, but it's really that simple.

Then, along the way, because we had NO idea what we were doing, we started doing things that no other hotels do -- simply because we didn't know that we COULDN'T do them. I've been told by more than a few hoteliers that we are insane to deliver breakfast to every room, every morning. We started doing that because Mary and I HATE the "breakfast in the lobby" routine -- and it's turned out to be our signature service that people rave about.

Go figure.

We basically designed a business plan around OUR pet peeves about traveling. Amazingly, it turned out that our pet peeves were EVERYONE'S pet peeves -- and we've developed a hard core of repeat business in our 19 months on the island.

For the people who don't care about aviation, we've got outstanding amenities, service, and location, at a fair price. Marketing to them is easy.

For the people we care about -- pilots -- we've got an aviation theme, and two courtesy cars. How to reach them is the question of the hour.
 
Just looked at your site. First thing is, you're going to make me work to find an identifier for your airport. If you want me to fly in, it ought to be right there on top of the home page, along with a link to airnav. The weather cancellation policy is great.
 
Good point. What about the non pilot rated sim market(there are/was a couple of magazines devoted to them)? Or the R/C pilot market, those guys have tons of disposable cash.:rofl: I talked with a fulltime career CFI who said his best recruiting grounds for new students, were construction trade shows(course they aren't all doing so well now.) Where do the the nonpilot airshow goers get their news and entertainment?

Rotor&Wing said:
Instead of trying to market to such a small market (pilots) as a business owner I would be more interested in getting my message to a larger audience.

When I had my helicopter business I fell into the same trap trying to market to pilots only. When that didn't go over so well I expanded into other marketing and expanded my audience, thus picking up more customers. There are people interested in aviation that may not be involved in aviation, but the interest is there.

As far as "aviation themed" hotels near a beach, most people going to a beach destination are more interested in seafood, beach, ocean, etc. As a pilot I could care less if the room has an aviation theme, I look for clean, comfortable and reasonable price.
Click to expand...
 
I just googled fly-in hotels. The only one I got which was right on point, as well as right on top of the page, was Windwood at WV 62. Not a chain hotel in sight. A couple of Canadian fly-in fish camps were there too.

Category doesn't look all that crowded.

How's the fishing down there? Can you " lure" a couple of the type clubs down for fly-in fishing weekend? I know the Comanche tribes like to do that.

It's cold, rainy and there's ice in them there clouds here so i,'ve got time to play on the web.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
Just looked at your site. First thing is, you're going to make me work to find an identifier for your airport. If you want me to fly in, it ought to be right there on top of the home page, along with a link to airnav. The weather cancellation policy is great.
Click to expand...

Well, remember -- you're looking at the current site. We haven't fully "come out" as an aviation themed hotel...yet.

When that happens, the airport identifier will be on every page.
 
I agree with others that there may be a bigger market consisting of people who are interested in aviation enough to stay at an aviation-themed hotel but not enough to become a pilot or subscribe to aviation magazines.
 
Chip Sylverne said:
I just googled fly-in hotels. The only one I got which was right on point, as well as right on top of the page, was Windwood at WV 62. Not a chain hotel in sight. A couple of Canadian fly-in fish camps were there too.
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Interesting that the Hangar Hotel didn't come up on that search. Our old place in Iowa used to be #1 on that search.

I haven't marketed our new place as aviation themed just yet, so it's not on that list. We've been waiting until we had much of the work done on the place before "coming out" to the flying public. We're almost ready.

The fly-in guests we have enjoyed have heard about us only through word of mouth. I have spent ZERO on advertising to pilots, as yet.

That's about to change. Thus, this thread.
 
Everskyward said:
I agree with others that there may be a bigger market consisting of people who are interested in aviation enough to stay at an aviation-themed hotel but not enough to become a pilot or subscribe to aviation magazines.
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Absolutely!

At our aviation themed hotel in Iowa, less than 5% of our guests were pilots. But a HUGE percentage of guests were wannabees or just fans of aviation.

No business can survive solely on pilots. We are a dying breed -- literally. That doesn't change the fact that many people love the history and romance of aviation. These people have traditionally made up the lion's share of our guests.
 
Jay Honeck said:
Absolutely!

At our aviation themed hotel in Iowa, less than 5% of our guests were pilots. But a HUGE percentage of guests were wannabees or just fans of aviation.

No business can survive solely on pilots. We are a dying breed -- literally. That doesn't change the fact that many people love the history and romance of aviation. These people have traditionally made up the lion's share of our guests.
Click to expand...
Looking at a map it seems the two major cities nearby are Houston and San Antonio. They are also close enough to make your place a weekend getaway even for people who are driving so you could target some of your marketing there. It seems to me that you might have more success in your current location than in Iowa since the beach feels like a more logical vacation destination.
 
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