Landsichten.de –

An innovative marketing tool for medium-sized

hosts in rural areas

DANTE transnational German-Dutch Project Workshop 2, 4. July 2012

Inken Garbe

Federal Labour Society for farm holiday and tourism in rural areas of

Germany e.V.

garbe@landsichten.de, Tel. 030 / 28 44 41 19-0

Structure

► Starting point► Farm holiday one current trend► Situation for hosts

► Development of Landsichten► Starting point► Reasons for a new system

► How does Landsichten work?► Advantages for hosts► Advantages for guests

Farm holiday one of the current trends-An analysis of travel business by BMELV 2011 (May 2010-May 2011)

► 6% of all domestic travels are farm holidays (in a broader sense)

► 4,5 million guests with 5,1 million farm holidays in Germany

► About 24,4 million overnight stays

► Every second farm holiday is a short stay (max. 4 days)

► Average payment for bed and board 33,50 Euro per person and day

Farm holiday one of the current trends-An analysis of travel business by BMELV 2011 (May 2010-May 2011)

► The average guest of farm holiday:► 41 years old► Has Abitur and university graduation► Net income of 2.666 Euro

► Farm holiday-makers (especially of short holidays) are compared to the total population often male (61 %)

► 1/3 of farm holidays with children; seniors have the longest stays (average stay of 7,1 days)

► Federal state of origin: most are from North Rhine-Westphalia, Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg

► Some are from Brandenburg and Schleswig- Holstein (travel in their own federal state?)

Growth potential and special wishes of the guests

► Family holiday► Relaxation holiday► Beach holiday► Natural holiday► Health holiday

Activities:

1. Animals (cows, cowshed, pigs,…)

2. Enjoy regional specialities

3. Walking

4. Shopping in farm stores

5. Swimming in lakes/ sea

6. Natural attractions

7. Cycling

8. Barbecue, campfire

9. Sauna

10. Health offers

11. Driving tractors, doing farm work

12. Sledging

13. Beauty/ Wellness

14. Cultural and historic sights

15. Organized meetings with locals

16. Festivals and other happenings (rifle club festival, farmer`s market)

Situation of the hosts

► Federal Labour Society for farm holiday and tourism in rural areas of Germany e.V. holds a seasonal survey every year to analyze the level of the farm accommodation`s occupancy and the contentedness of the hosts

Average occupancy of the holiday flats and cottages

► Half of all farms had a occupancy of more than 160 days per year. Clear growth in high occupancy segments

Belegungstage

Average occupancy compared to last year

► 44 % of all farms are running better or much better to capacity, 44% have a stable capacity.

Development of the average days of occupancy (mean values)

► The average days of occupancy show a positive development since starting the survey.

guestrooms

Holiday flats/ cottages

Seasonal occupancy of 2006 to 2011

► Especially the travel periods at Easter and Whitsuntide show the positively developed occupancy and the constant increase

Christmas, New Year`s Eve

Winter holiday

Easter holiday

Whitsuntide Summer holiday

Autumn holiday

Intermediate season

Development of Landsichten

Starting point

► Federal Labour Society as the holding association with 12 federal state associations

► 5.000 characteristic hosts in rural areas (holiday farms, wine-grower farms, riding farms, hay inns, country hotels)

► Well linked in rural areas by sponsor members

Starting point

► Marketing of hosts only by federal state associations (online and offline) ► 12 different catalogues► 12 independent databases and internet portals

(different technical standards)

► the Federal Labour Society concentrates on: ► Linking to internet portals of the federal state associations► Passing on the requests of catalogues (online/ offline)

► Little synergy in the cooperation of the federal state associations

Pressure of acting

► High pressure of innovation in online marketing

► High need for investment in professional databases and internet solutions (independent of the number of hosts)

► Heterogeneous stucure of hosts and commitment to members

► Marketing of tourism in rural areas has to be refered to a topic; destination is (more or less) second-rate; federal state often unimportant for guests► Perceptible from catalogue requests► Consequence: purely federal state specific marketing of land tourism

leaves high potentials unused

Catalogue requests (example: North Germany)

Distribution of combination of incoming requests

„Sea or mountain“

Lower Saxony

Only 40 % determined to one federal state

Mecklenburg- West Pomerania„North Sea“„Baltic Sea“

„Sea“

60% search for destinations by themes (throughout all federal states!)

Decision in 2009/10

► Time for online marketing initiative throughout the whole of Germany instead of ealier work on federal state level

► Carried together by all federal state associations► common database, common technology► Clear allocation of tasks: federal state associations remain only

contact partner for members► Make a search for accommodation throughout all federal states

possible and save regional identity of the hosts as well as of the federal state associations

► Let (hopefully all) hosts be able to use the most modern technologies (online marketing, host management)

The project Landsichten

► 2010 founding of Landtourismus Marketing GmbH for the development and the running of the homepage www.landsichten.de

► Together with the German farmer`s association as the 2. shareholder► Online-start in June 2011► Now: about 2650 hosts!

How does landsichten work?1 Federal Republic of Germany and 12 federal state homepages

Lower Saxony – front page

Brandenburg – front page

Bavaria – front page

Principle of the Landsichten network

► Host gets one firm contact partner of his federal state association for all technical questions, incl. consultation and education

► The host is marketed on Germany- and his federal state homepage of Landsichten.de

► On request also marketing in more distribution channels (federal marketing organization, regional platforms, commercial holiday flat portals – bestfewo.de, Casamundo.de) – without extra data management!

Principle of the Landsichten network

► Subdivision of the Landsichten homepage into topics and natural landscapes (also throughout all federal states)

► Broad search possibilities based on a detailed data base (about 500 features)

► Host not only gets a marketing platform, but also a solution of organization especially for small and medium-sized firms, that gives additional benefit and makes daily work easier .

Subdivision into regions

Subdivision into topics

Service for all hosts

► Optimal presentation on the internet (basic pay scale) ► independent data management in password-saved login rooms ► Pictures, texts, calendar of occupancy, prices, features, location,...► On request: online-booking and and use of more distribution

channels without extra data care

► Additional option: „free of care- packet“ (premium pay scale)► Guest administration software► Newsletter-dispatch► Homepage- construction set► Calendar of occupancy linked on own homepage

► Consultation, education, manual, ...

Clearly structured hit list

Search for host with special features possible

► Every firm is in categories of different features (all together 500 features in the database)

► Creterions can be filtered – flexible hit list for each input

► example: Type of farms, living units, catering, classification, location, furnishings, attractions for children, service for guests…

► Special creterions for main topics: children, riding, wine…

Searching the ideal farm – for individualists

Optimal presentation in the host entry

Login area as a control centre:paste pictures and texts

Login area as a control centre :put bookings into the occupancy calendar

Online booking - Channelmanagement

Newsletter dispatch to regular customers

Newsletter dispatch to regular customers

Construct the homepage

Construct the homepage

Construct the homepage

Outview – future challenges

► Perception of daily offers, popular destinations, farm cafés, direct sellers, tours etc. possibility of a total planning of the holiday for the guest

► Increase synergies, avoid doubled work improve internal structures

► Competition with federal marketing organizations political lobbyism

► Decrease of public development funds reaching for financial stability

► Structural change in agriculture and rural areas qualification, develop new target groups

Thank you for your attention