With travel and tourism steadily improving, Singapore has become a hub for tourists’ first vacation after the pandemic. While businesses in Singapore no longer have to market to just locals, they now have a harder job of reaching out to tourists around the globe. With the current influx of travellers eager to visit Singapore’s tourist attractions, how can your business stand out from the rest so that they’ll visit your establishment over your competitors? Whether you’re a museum, a restaurant or a hotel, here are some tips to attract tourists to your business in Singapore.
Having a Google Business verified account is a no-negotiation, non-optional tool to have for any business. Google Business verification authenticates your business with any relevant information including your address, phone number and opening timings. This is your business’ first impression that can be easily accessed by all because who doesn’t use Google?
Google is your best friend especially when you’re trying to attract tourists across oceans and seas. Statistics show that over 90% of travellers do their research online and 82% end up making their booking online as well. So, what happens if your business isn’t picked up by Google? You lose thousands of potential customers. Having a Google Business verified account in Singapore also improves your local SEO ranking so many more leads and tourists can find you. Once you’ve set one up, remember to update it if any of your information like your opening hours changes.
We can’t deny the power of Google and it doesn’t just stop at being a verified business. Google Street View is another tool used by research-obsessed tourists that gives them a 360 view of your space. By having all your business information online including sneak peeks of your property, tourists can make more informed decisions. Tourists are also more likely to visit locations that are transparent with their details.
Google Street View is used by those that need help with navigation so having your business on the map can help tourists easily locate you especially when they aren’t familiar with Singapore’s streets. Having a virtual tour on Google shows potential customers what to expect so they won’t hesitate to visit your business. However, don’t ruin your business reputation with low-quality images. Approach a Google trusted agency in Singapore for a high-quality virtual tour.
Travel agencies have become a thing of the past because tourists can now do their research online themselves as information is so easily accessible on the web. What better way to choose a good hotel or restaurant than by their reviews? You can’t deny that you haven’t looked through a review of a restaurant and chose not to visit it because they didn’t have 4-star reviews or higher. It’s important to allow your customers to review your business on Google or any other site but remember, reviews can make or break your business so keep a close eye on them. If you have a disgruntled customer who has left a bad review, publicly reply to them to resolve any issues and show that you are a customer-first business.
We can’t deny that tech is the future of business (if it isn’t already). Our decreasing attention spans also mean that businesses need to innovate digital solutions that will keep their customers interested. One such tech solution is to create a virtual tour of your business space. Unlike Google Street View, virtual tours are versatile and customisable. If a Google Virtual Tour doesn’t go in-depth into your space, a 360 virtual tour will.
When you create a customisable virtual tour of your property, you’ll be able to add embedded videos, collapsible menus and even audio tours to make your space more visually appealing to your customers. This is especially helpful for the hospitality industry where hotels can showcase their different amenities and rooms to allow tourists to imagine themselves at these destinations.
When it comes to narrowing a list of hotels, restaurants or tourist attractions to visit on holiday, tourists are more likely to search options on travel aggregator sites like Expedia, TripAdvisor or Kayak. TripAdvisor receives 224 million visits in a single month so jumping on the bandwagon doesn’t seem like such a bad idea. To appear on these sites, you’ll have to register your business with them. While listing your business is free, these aggregator sites will usually take a commission fee for every booking done through their site. This is a small price to invest in because these sites get a high volume of clicks so your business will definitely get more visibility and bookings in the long run.
It’s a known fact that blogs can boost SEO and virtual footfall to your site but when attracting tourists, you should create specific localised content that appeals to that target audience. For example, you’re probably targeting tourists that are planning a holiday to Singapore and your goal is to get them to visit your business whether it’s a hotel, restaurant or museum. Informative content that benefits your audience always does well so you’ll have to create content that gives tourists information that they’d like to know about Singapore. In that same article, you can also promote your business as well. As long as you’re giving insight and knowledge to tourists abroad, they are more likely to click on your article which will redirect them to your site. Remember to use appropriate SEO keywords that your target audience is more likely to search up on Google.
Specialising in Google Maps and Street View, The Red Marker has the expertise, equipment and experience to put local businesses on the digital map. Besides Google Maps, we help companies create customisable virtual tours using user-friendly UI/UX designs and tools to bring any space to life. View our portfolio or get in touch with us to create a virtual tour of your own.
