One of the main things I picked up on while walking around and talking to folks at the 2016 Knowledge Sharing Summit & Marketplace, was that the challenge of filling rooms is always there. Are you taking advantage of everything your area has to offer? I’ve traveled across the country to many fishing lodges and even if you don’t fish, there’s an opportunity to reel in some new quests to your inn.
The thing with fishing is that anyone can go. It doesn’t take much skill to put a worm on a hook and drop it in the water. While that kind of fishing is great fun, especially if you’ve got kids, that isn’t your target audience. The average fly fishing enthusiast is at a different level. The gear is more expensive, the sport is more skilled, and they like to travel. Search around the internet for fishing lodges and most of the higher end ones cater to the fly angler.
Location
There are over 250,000 rivers in the United States alone, with over 3.5 million miles of fishable water, and if you add Canada to that list… In other words, there’s fishable water near your inn. Yes, there are destination locations famous for just that. If you ask around, places like Montana, Colorado and my home state of Michigan always seem to top the lists. That doesn’t mean you are out of luck.
Lure them in
So how can you bring these guests to you? I’d suggest starting locally. Just about any town or area has a place to buy fishing stuff. You may have a local bait and tackle shop, or even a fly fishing shop. Ask the owner if they have any place for anglers to stay when they are in town. Many would jump at the chance to partner with you. Ask if they know of any local guides too.
Fishing guides have more in common with innkeepers than you might think. They work long hours and work really hard so their clients have a great experience. And they got into it by taking something they love to do and found a way to share it with others. One of the many challenges to guiding is having a place for clients to stay. The experience of the fishing trip combined with the experience of staying at your inn, well, it couldn’t get much better than that.
Reeling in new guests
By Derrek Sigler