How to Start & Run a B&B BandBED2eBook-1 | Page 95

The new “Star” rating scheme will, like the previous “Diamonds” scheme, become well recognized and trusted by the public. The fact that a B&B has been independently inspected and assessed to official criteria is a great reassurance to potential guests, and gives the B&B valuable credibility. This is worth a lot to you in marketing terms: just saying you have been officially rated at say Three Star or Four Star says more as far as a guest is concerned than pages of copy you have written yourself in your brochure or on your website. Unless you intend to run your B&B only on a very small-scale or occasional basis, we would recommend that you apply for an official star rating. This is because of the “credibility” factor just touched on, and also because this allows you to benefit from the tourism promotion budget of your local tourist authority. Now, it is becoming usual for tourist authorities to only list and promote B&Bs which have been officially star- rated (our own West Dorset happens to be one). This means that if you are not officially rated, you miss out on this promotional opportunity. Before going ahead, however, we recommend that you send for the full information pack from Quality in Tourism, including the “Common Standards for Guest Accommodation” booklet, and study it in detail. Then decide what star level you would like to achieve, bearing in mind your prices, your target market and your competitors. The “Common Standards” criteria will give you a good idea of what star rating you might achieve as things are; you might want to do some work to ensure that, by the time the inspector calls, you have a chance of achieving the rating you want – assuming this is higher. For example, we postponed our own inspection to upgrade a couple of bathrooms. We’d rather wait and hope to get a higher rating, than have had an early inspection and, in all probability, get a lower official rating than we would like. For further information, including latest fees and details about the assessment process, or to apply for a “Star Rating” under the new scheme, go to www.qualityintourism.com, call 0845 300 6996 or write to: Quality in Tourism Farncombe House Broadway Worcester WR12 7LJ Newspaper and Magazine Advertising If the “putting yourself in your customers’ shoes” exercise leads you to consider advertising in a newspaper or magazine: • keep the advert small to save money • do a short test run first to gauge response before committing to weeks or months • think about seasons and timing: save your money for key booking times • be careful about the section you go in: is “short breaks” or “luxury breaks” better than “lake district” for instance?