Stephanie Thomas is on a quest to help hospitality owners succeed in their goals. Throughout her years serving as the head of The B&B School, she has given aid to thousands of hospitality owners and property managers worldwide who were struggling to establish a healthy short-stay accommodation business.
According to Stephanie, many hospitality owners are burdened by financial instability and exhaustion from putting in so much work only to get very little earnings. These often lead to problems with relationships as well, especially for couples who co-manage the business.
Stephanie further notes that among the biggest factors limiting the income potential of hospitality owners is the fact that most of their guests choose to book through Online Travel Agencies. OTAs apply a fee from the rental rates as commission, substantially reducing the revenue of the accommodation owners.
Stephanie recalls being in the same situation years ago when she and her husband Neil decided to give up their day jobs and invested almost all they had in having their own bed and breakfast back in 2005.
“Despite creating a beautiful place to stay and providing a fantastic service, the early days were a real struggle,” said Stephanie. “We found ourselves lowering prices in an attempt to ‘beat the competition’ and attract more guests. But the few bookings we were able to secure came through OTAs – and were often only one-night-stays – meaning any money we made went straight back out in the form of commission fees!”
Determined to improve their situation, Stephanie turned to her resourcefulness and learned everything she could about business and marketing to become a self-taught accommodation business expert. Applying the knowledge she harnessed, Stephanie Thomas was able to double their business’ profits for four consecutive years.
Moreover, instead of dropping their prices in desperation, they increased their prices by 60% and achieved an average occupancy rate of 92%. From single-night stays, their bookings went to an average of five nights. They also managed to cut free from OTAs completely. All of their guests booked directly with them with 65% of them being returning guests. And to top it off they achieved awards and accolades in recognition of their outstanding guest experience.
In 2010, after four years of doubling profits, Stephanie sold her accommodation business and founded The B&B School. Through online training and coaching, Stephanie now teaches her proven methods to other hospitality owners in need of inspiration, education, and support.
“We realised we were great at working in our business but needed to learn how to work on it,” said Nigel and Juliette who own a short stay accommodation business in the UK. “Working with Steph has helped us to transform our business. Our direct booking rate has increased from 30% to 92% and is continually increasing. We’ve reduced OTA commission fees by 72% and are on our way to saying goodbye to OTAs forever.“
In her experience, Stephanie discovered there was no venue available dedicated to teaching and supporting hospitality owners in particular. And she founded her school with the intent of making a difference. And over a decade on, she is still achieving her mission.
More information about The B&B School can be found on its website, https://www.thebnbschool.com/.
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Company Name: The B&B School
Contact Person: Stephanie Thomas
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Country: United Kingdom
Website: https://www.thebnbschool.com/
