If your vacation rental is located in an area popular with hiking, you should make sure that guests looking for a vacation rental find all they need in your property. In our blog post, you’ll learn how to optimize your vacation rental for hiking tourism, how to adjust your listings accordingly, and which channels are best for reaching hiking vacationers.
Hiking vacations are more popular than ever
For some years now, hiking tourism has been celebrating a revival. More and more tourists are choosing to be active on vacation and spend their free time in the mountains or other regions where they can hike well. This includes all sorts of destinations such as the Alps, Yosemite, or the Pacific Crest Trail, just to name a few.
Hiking is healthy and a sustainable form of vacation. According to studies, regular hiking can reduce the risk of health problems by 50 percent.
It definitely pays off to optimize your vacation rental for hiking vacations as well. What do guests who book your vacation rental for hiking need?
Prepare vacation rental for hikers
In addition to a functional, but also tasteful furnishings, you should adjust your vacation rental to the needs of hikers and other active vacationers and provide the following:
- Hiking maps (check them regularly to make sure they are still up-to-date)
- First aid kit (check regularly + refill)
- Important telephone numbers such as mountain rescue etc
- If necessary, safety, and survival instructions
You can also add much of this information to your digital guest guide. This way, your guests can access it from anywhere via their smartphone.
Ideally, your rental is easily accessible by public transport and also has its own parking lot, which can accommodate multiple vehicles. Hiking vacations are also popular with groups and larger families.
Additional services for hikers and mountaineers
Your guests will also appreciate additional services during their hiking vacation. You should think about the following upselling or cross-selling possibilities:
- Shuttle service (to the train station or to the starting or end point of popular hiking trails).
- Provisions / snacks / food (pack your guests a lunch box and provide them enough drinks)
- Guided hikes or mountain tours (especially for beginners who overestimate themselves, but also for challenging hikes a mountain guide is always a good idea)
- Rental of hiking poles or other equipment (give your guests the opportunity to try out new equipment and maybe buy it right away if they like it)
- Selling sunscreen, water bottles, backpacks (maybe even with your logo?)
How do you reach the right target group?
You have now made your vacation rental the ideal accommodation for hikers and mountaineers. But how to make sure that it can be found? With the following tips, you can make sure that your listing will be easily found and booked by hikers.
- Filter options: Add “hiking” to the possible activities on Booking.com, Vrbo etc… This way, you make sure that guests who use filters when searching will find your listing.
- Special hiking portals: Advertise your accommodation on special portals for hiking vacations.
- Optimize your listings: Be sure to show in your pictures on your listings that your guests can hike, and mention it in the text. If your vacation rental is located in a popular hiking area, you should also mention a few well-known mountains or hiking routes. This way, your listing will also be found better via Google.
- Social media: Point out the hiking possibilities on Instagram, Facebook, etc. and share information about regional events such as competitions, innovations, etc.
- Influencer Marketing: Depending on the target group you want to address, it can also make sense to work with a travel influencer. You can find out more about influencer marketing here.
- Regional marketing: You can also advertise offline, for example by working with the tourist information office in your town.
Conclusion
If you tailor your vacation rental to the needs of hiking tourists and also point this out in your advertisements, you will address the right target group.
