Finding Money in the Budget Travel Niche - Kash Bhattacharya
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Kash Bhattacharya launched a blog called BudgetTraveller in 2013 focused on budget travel in Europe. He created guides on luxury hostels and cities which brought in sponsorships and fees from hostels. However, after 18 months he felt the content lacked a unique thread and memorable brand. He realized he needed a killer idea within the crowded budget travel niche. He developed the idea of "Luxury Hostels of Europe" by focusing on higher-end hostels and showing they could appeal to older travelers or travelers looking for more than a basic hostel. The guidebook and marketing campaign was successful in driving traffic and exposure for the hostels, demonstrating a return on investment. It also led to opportunities like his own
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Finding Money in the Budget Travel Niche - Kash Bhattacharya
- 1. Finding money in the Budget Travel Niche Publisher BudgetTraveller.org Facebook.com/BudgetTraveller Twitter.com/BudgetTraveller Kash Bhattacharya
- 2. Everything starts with the end in mind
- 3. At the end of this session 1. Blog= brand? 2. How to develop killer content ideas 3. Learn about a disease I have 4. Importance of ROI 5. Need for Authentic marketing
- 4. My name is Kash Better known to some as BudgetTraveller Worked in publishing for 9 years I started my own magazine when I was 22. Bankrupt at 23.
- 5. 2013: Launched a guide to Luxury Hostels of Europe & a series of 48 Hour Guides to 12 German cities. iAmbassador: #Blogmanay in Scotland & #BlogVille in Italy 2014? Cool! Budget Hotels in Europe
- 8. I had no { business } blog strategy Unless you call making money from sponsored posts and travelling the world for free a blogging strategy.
- 9. My content was not really unique. No common identifiable thread. My blog name, design of the blog was not memorable. Loved by some readers, some PR companies but not loved by marketing executives.
- 10. 1.Unique 2. Memorable + 3. Loved = BRAND= €€€
- 12. Needed to find a killer idea to stand within the crowded budget travel niche
- 13. Best ideas come from solving problems.. Your problems? Your readers, travellers problems Example: Airbed & breakfast
- 14. PROBLEMS... 1. Was I too old for hostels? 2. I ( and maybe you?) suffer from a disease called Parcopresis
- 15. 3. My last date was ‘a hotel kind of girl’ 4. Negative brand image of hostels within the industry and amongst destination marketing organisations.
- 16. OASIS SEVILLE PALACE HOSTEL OASIS SEVILLE PALACE, SEVILLE
- 17. CASA GRACIA, HOSTEL OASIS SEVILLE PALACEBARCELONA
- 18. OASIS SEVILLE PALACE HOSTEL OSTELLO BELLO, MILAN
- 19. LUXURY HOSTELS OF EUROPE 1. 5 key sponsors easyJet, Travelzoo UK, Busabout, Travellerspoint & Interrail. 2. £1000 plus in-kind support from sponsors 3. Visited 40 Hostels over a year 4. All of the hostels paid me a fee between £200- £350 depending on level of exposure they wanted. What did I offer them 1. Real-time exposure to the hostels involved. 2. Reviews on the blog 3. Wrapping up blog posts into a free e-book.
- 20. The importance of showing ROI To get paid, you have to be able to demonstrate some sort form of return on investment Check out Keith and Melvin’s online ROI calculator Backpacker Steve- #Holagringo http://bit.ly/1aIpdEp
- 21. ROI- Luxury Hostels of Europe 12 million people reached via PR exposure. 4000 downloads of Luxury Hostels of e-book. I’ve handed out 10000 postcards. #Luxuryhostels has received 15 million impressions so far.
- 22. ROI - Luxury Hostels of Europe I’ve looked at our Google stats and we’re getting a high referral rate from you blog, so it’s nice to see the work paying off. We’re looking forward to one of your busiest summers. ’ Charley Batt, Loft Bourg Mountain Hostel ‘Proud day for Safestay and we want to say thank you!’ Safestay Hostel, London awarded 4 star status by Visit England
- 23. Personal ROI ‘As one of the few travel bloggers who's managed to make their site pay, he's one to watch.’ Guardian UK Launching now my own booking website Luxury Hostels of the World, December 2013.
- 24. You can have your cake…
- 25. And eat it too..
- 26. Perfect blog project? Fuse your passion with the needs of your audience and that of the DMO, travel brands you want to work with. Create content, products, and services that will help people. This is what is called Authentic marketing.
- 27. Build relationships and networks with brands you are passionate about +share your values TBEX, WTM London, ITB Berlin. Get over the fear of selling yourself! ‘Self-promotion is essential for making yourself stand out in a crowded niche such as travel, yet for many people, it’s not easy to do.’ Brooke Schoenman Her Packing List. Brooke Vs World .
- 28. Thank you for listening! Any questions?