Cape Colony Inn gets fabulous marketing makeover for a gay audience
Challenge: A Hotel in a Top Gay Vacation Destination, but unknown to the gay community
The Cape Colony Inn has been part of the Provincetown landscape for over 25 years. The previous long-time owners maintained a very budget-conscious product and there was little to no brand awareness in the gay community for this property. With Provincetown consistently ranking in the top five gay travel destinations in publications such as Travel & Leisure and Out Traveler, the new owners of Cape Colony Inn recognized they needed expert help to understand the Provincetown market and capture lucrative gay travel dollars.
Opportunity: Eager new owners recognize need to invest in lifestyle marketing
Cape Colony Inn is a classic Cape Cod hotel, affordable and cheerful. Working closely with the owners of the hotel, Greg designed a marketing and promotions strategy to introduce the hotel to some of the countries most avid gay travellers. Creating buzz for the property was of paramount importance, gay and lesbian travellers are well-connected to one another and good word-of-mouth is essential marketing in this community.
Results: Record number of GLBT reservations and guests already booking return trips
Using lifestyle marketing expertise as well as his extensive connections in the gay travel industry and the Boston GLBT market, Gregory created a plan combining web and traditional marketing methods to generate a big time buzz for the property. Inviting well known drag queens and having one of world's leading hosts and MCs of gay travel events visit the hotel introduced the property to thousands of potential gay travellers. The special events, poolside games and promotions all received attention online. Additionally, he worked with a well known gay clothing designer in the community to create custom branded apparel that was a huge success and had substantial demand. The hotel has never had so many gay guests and return bookings are already strong for the 2014 summer season.