Hiding to nothing here
It’s been a pretty miserable Summer weatherwise so far for the licensed trade. And with no sign of a break on the horizon any time soon, perhaps now would be a good time to re-examine the trade’s tenuous relationship with the ‘sunny day’.
So bearing the present inclement conditions in mind, I’ll pose the question, do we rely too much on the vain hope of good weather to boost drink sales?
Maybe in a country such as this, we shouldn’t.
Not too long ago I arrived at a hotel in the North West for a short holiday. It was a cold, grey, drizzly day and it stayed that way for the entire four-day break. So I enjoyed myself in other less weather-dependent ways for the duration. As I was packing up to go, a small boy passed my car and I asked him, “Does the weather here ever change?” to which he replied, “I don’t know – I’m only six”.
Let’s face it, any business that’s relying on good weather for good turnover is on a hiding to nothing here.
Better by far to provide your customers with an unassailable reason to rendezvous at your premises.
Better by far again, have an ‘outside the envelope’ attraction with which to make yours a Destination Venue.
Perhaps take a leaf from some of the hotels on the west coast of Canada’s British Columbia region who’ve gone from empty rooms (and pockets) to full capacity when they changed their marketing tack to make an attraction of the stormy weather conditions in Winter there.
Now they advertise romantic ‘Stormwatch’ weekends to potential guests with the offer of being able to enjoy the mighty power and majesty of the elements – the wind and the waves breaking over the rugged coastline just outside their windows, all the while snug indoors with a drink and other creature comforts to hand.
With Summerd such as ours becoming a regular feature, it’s time for all of us to think outside the box while staying, protected, within it.
