GoBC Newsletter

Newsletter November 2005

Monday Nov 07, 2005

Get the message out. GoBC

• GoBC now launched in German
  Congratulations to our service team! GoBC can now proudly announce its launch in German
• GoBC offers translation services in German
  Up to 2000 characters are translated free of charge for your business listing.  Should you desire more – we offer translation services at a reasonable rate – done by professional native speaker translators
• Getting ready for customers from Europe
  Your European customers are considering their booking to BC now. Are you ready?
• Availability calendar: GoBC’s new feature
  GoBC is introducing a new feature to its site: our availability calendar is a new tool to help you manage the availability of your services and even present this information on your GoBC listing
• Accommodation tutorial end of November
  Yes, we have been very busy and have therefore postponed this tutorial. We feel though, that it is very important and so we are doing a special on this topic end of November.
  

GoBC now launched in German
Some of you might have noticed the little flag on our home page. As of now we proudly announce that GoBC’s information on your businesses, your region and the beautiful stunning attractions of BC have been translated to German and are now available to all German speaking customers in Europe. German is also spoken in Switzerland, parts of Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, Austria and Liechtenstein. And let me tell you: whow, what a great market. Just a bit of trivia: Did you know that according to the Goethe Institute, Germany is the world's largest exporter. German is the most commonly spoken language in the EU. No – it’s not English! 18% of the world's books are published in German. Germany is home to numerous international corporations. German is the second-most commonly used scientific language and….In many regions, Germans account for the largest percentage of tourists. So what about BC? According to the October 2005 issue of The BC Tourism Indicator US overnight entries year-to-date were down by 2.9%, Asia/Pacific had a 1.7% increase and Europe’s year-to-date customs entries rose a stunning 8.5%. According to the tourism department of the Federal Republic of Germany, Germans spend an estimated 50 billion (!) Euros annually travelling abroad.

GoBC offers translation services in German
We would like to facilitate your presence on the German website and therefore offer you as businesses listed on GoBC a translation of your GoBC listing free of charge for the first 2000 characters.  Should you wish for more text to be translated, or you have updated text on your site and wish to update your translation as well - please contact us and request an estimate of translation fees. We provide translation services done by professionals. Artists with a free listing on GoBC may wish to take advantage of our special rate of $49 for 2000 characters. Whatever you wish, don’t miss out on this chance to make your business accessible to a yet larger group of potential customers in Europe.
 
Getting ready for customers from Europe
Traditionally, Europeans plan their summer vacation time now. Many factors contribute to this phenomenon. Among them are lower pre-booking prices, air-fare specials but last not least the desire to plan this once-in-a- lifetime adventure with attention to detail and with the time and leisure to do research. Being prepared is a key issue – the tour planer, the trip itinerary, a heart’s desire to fulfil dreams or simply the joy of anticipating the adventures to come. Planning ahead can already be part of the fun travelling and internet access has definitely changed our ways of researching information. With booking only a mouse-click away, video streamers and 360° views available, destinations have moved closer. Are you aware that your customer might be sitting in the comfort of his/her living-room right now this very moment as you are reading this researching your listing? Are you ready? GoBC strives to develop new features that will help you to present your service in the best possible way. One of these is described below.

Availability calendar: GoBC’s new feature
We now provide an availability calendar for your accommodation setup. This new feature gives you the option of showing the availability of all your rooms and representing your events to potential customers.
OR you can use the availability calendar as a new tool only in order to manage incoming reservations at your B&B, Inn, Hotel, or Resort.
Put your listing on GoBC to work. You do not need to have a website of your own to be able to use GoBC’s new feature.
If you are not sure how to set up this feature let us help you. Contact Mario and he will see you through the process.
Add pictures and make a lasting impression. If you do not have suitable images or need better quality images, please contact photo @ gobc . ca. We are working with a professional. Our photographer has specialized in accommodation images.

Accommodation tutorial end of November
Yes, we have been very busy and have therefore postponed this tutorial. We feel though, that it is very important and so we are doing a special on this topic end of November. We would also like to encourage artists, who may wish to offer accommodation too, to enlist as businesses. As a business listing translation fees are waived for the first 2000 characters.
Again, you are important to us. If you feel you would like help please contact Mario .

Have a great time
Your GoBC team