How To Attract International Tourists To Your Business

Canada’s lush natural beauty, world-class shopping, exciting winter sports and abundant cultural festivals are just a few of the reasons visitors from around the world flock to Canada in high numbers (a record breaking 20.8 million in 2017, to be precise). This is great news for Canadian business owners.

While it is important for businesses to remain locally minded and involved with their immediate community, casting a wider net – that is, catering to tourists from abroad – can be a great way to drive up sales and gain a wider recognition. This is especially true of retail and hospitality businesses, as those are the businesses most likely to be supported by overseas tourists. By revamping your business’ online presence, retooling your website, being shrewd about where you place ads, and, of course, utilizing R&P Prints’ screen printing in Toronto to create branded souvenir apparel, your business can attract more international tourists. Let’s take a closer look!

Tend To Your Online Reviews

Whereas before, tourists might have relied on word of mouth, or the opinion of a guide book to tell them where to eat, shop, drink and sleep, now tourists are increasingly turning to the user generated review aggregators. That means that a few negative reviews on Tripadvisor, Google, Yelp, Foursquare, etc., can push your business down to the bottom, where it can toil in obscurity.

The way to combat this is two-pronged: first, you have to make it a priority to create a welcoming environment for overseas customers; and second, you should take time to respond to reviews online, both negative and positive. Thanks the positive reviewers, and ensure the negative reviewers that you are looking into their issue, and taking steps to amend it.

Make Your Website Global

By taking the time to create a more globally friendly website, you can attract more customers from abroad. Add a currency calculator widget to your website, offer translations for a few key pages into some popular languages, and pay closer attention to the colour schemes you use (red, for instance, is a near universally positive colour, conveying passion, luck, joy and a bevy of other good things). For some more technical information on creating an internationally friendly website, check out this article.

Consider Advertising At The Airport

If your goal is to reach international tourists, it makes intuitive sense to advertise at the airport. Save for a few outliers (those driving up from the States, specifically), every tourist from abroad will pass through the airport upon arriving. The advertisement is almost guaranteed to make an impression on a few people.

Give Visitors Something To Remember

Having strong branding is important in attracting tourists, since it makes your business into a destination. There’s no better way to strengthen your branding than to offer custom branded apparel, which you can do by teaming with R&P Prints – we offer screen printing services in Winnipeg and Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, to name just a few places. The other bonus about offering branded apparel is that it creates an added revenue stream for the business. Just look at how Schwartz’s in Montreal, or the Drake Hotel in Toronto were able to leverage their strong brand to sell custom apparel. You get an added source of revenue and your customers get a tangible piece of clothing to remember your business by – it’s a win-win.

Canada is an alluring destination for people all around the globe, and we get tend to get tourists throughout the year. Capitalize on that influx of potential customers by following these simple tips, and by getting your custom shirts printed in Ottawa , Toronto, Montreal, or wherever your business may be.