News and Trends

Information you need to know to remain competitive in an online travel world, compiled from online statistical and analytical databases and third-party web marketing sources.  More in-depth analysis and statistics are available for subscribers.

Montana Bed and Breakfast Report

June 16, 2008 - Among locally-owned Montana bed and breakfasts, a handful of properties lead the pack in terms of the effectiveness of their online presence.  The Montana Bed and Breakfast Association website is the single most important website for B&Bs to be listed in.  While only an estimated 2000-4000 visitors frequent the site on a monthly basis, B&Bs are a highly niche market and the MBBA ranks #1 in Google and #3 in MSN when searching for "montana bed and breakfast." 

Among the Montana B&Bs managing to maintain a top 10 presence in Google searches for "montana bed and breakfast," Bozeman's Voss Inn and Lehrkind Mansion Bed & Breakfast are in a virtual tie in terms of Internet visitors.  Both sites receive in the neighborhood of 1000 visitors a month.  The Lehrkind Mansion benefits from its Internet domain name, while the popularity of the Voss Inn site stems in part from keyword advertising (including targeting phrases such as "bridger bowl ski area" and "montana vacation").

Bozeman B&Bs, in fact, represent four of the six B&Bs currently maintaining Top 10 Google positions.  The Silver Forest Inn and Fox Hollow round out the Bozeman four, while Eastern Montana is represented by Glendive's 1906 Charley Montana Bed & Breakfast and northwestern Montana by A Silver Rose B&B near Glacier National Park.  In terms of Internet traffic, all four receive less than 500 visitors monthly.

In short, while Montana B&Bs, a niche within the Montana travel industry, garner relatively little Internet traffic, the percentage of Net visitors who make reservations is higher than in the travel industry as a whole.  As such, an Internet presence is an excellent investment yielding a relatively high ROI.  

 

Ski Resort Trends 2007-2008

April 20, 2008 - Thanks to lots of snow, more skiers hit the slopes this past season. But how did the Internet impact customer counts? While Jackson Hole and Big Sky attracted the most site visitors, Bridger Bowl experienced the greatest surge in Internet visitors, nearly matching Big Sky in November. Only Red Lodge Mountain defied the trend of a sharp drop in site visitors from December and January highs, while Whitefish Mountain Resort maintained a near-tie with Grand Targhee Resort in both January and February.

Here's a rundown of how ski resorts fared in terms of site traffic, from highest to lowest:

• Jackson Hole (Wyoming)
  Topped the charts in terms of site visitors
  Site visitors peaked in January, dropped sharply in February.
• Big Sky (Montana)
  Sharp drop in traffic in February
  December and January were both good traffic months, but site visitors dropped very sharply in February.
• Bridger Bowl (Montana)
  Best November - December improvement
  Greatest surge in site traffic from November to December, as well as the greatest increase in traffic from February to March.
• Grand Targhee (Wyoming)
  Best staying power, December through March
  While not drawing the visitor volume of the top tier three, the site traffic remained fairly steady throughout the season. 
• Whitefish (Montana)
  Similar pattern to Jackson Hole and Big Sky
  Site traffic peaked in January, as did Jackson Hole and Big Sky.
• Red Lodge (Montana)
  Consistent site traffic
  Avoiding sharp ups and downs, the site recorded more visitors in March than December. Users searching for ski package specials flocked to the site.

Brief Notes: Regional Trends (June 2008)

• One online marketing research firm names "Yellowstone National Park" as a top 10 travel category search phrase. 
• Marriott and Hotels.Com lead the lodging market in online customer experience and service.
• Bozeman's Voss Inn and Lehrkind Mansion Bed & Breakfast lead the way in effective use of the Internet by Montana B&Bs.