Boost Your Fall Foliage Travel Season

By Bethany, Social Media Strategist | October 3, 2019

For many destinations, fall is the second “shoulder season” of the year. It’s a good opportunity for many places, especially in New York State, to get a second wind of travel.

Increase your fall foliage travel with these helpful tips for your destinations:

Special Hotel Packages

Create mid-week specials and weekend deals for your patrons to enjoy the fall weather. Negotiate with your hotel partners to offer a percentage off a 1 or 2-night stay. Work with your other attractions to see if you can add goodies to the rooms for these guests, such as a jug of apple cider, fall festival event tickets, a fresh apple pie, or a flannel blanket. Promote these packages through Facebook and digital ads to your targeted audience as a “flash sale.”

Fall Foliage Themed Menus

Do you have restaurants in your area with spectacular fall views? Work with your partners to arrange fall foliage luncheons. Create a fixed menu lunch with special fall items, and invite your guests to stay afterward to take photos with the fall foliage in the background. You can even offer to have professional photos done, and create props to use in the photos.

Foliage Trail Maps

Create trail maps with the best places to hike and view the fall foliage during different times of the season, and provide approximate dates of the “peak” color. Distribute the maps to your hotels and restaurants to give out to guests and encourage local fall travel.

Promote Your Events

Who doesn’t love a good fall festival? It’s important to promote your events such as Oktoberfests, pumpkin picking, fall runs and more. If your destination offers a unique fall event such as special haunted mansion tours, ciderfests, apple-paloozas or any other activities, promote them on social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram stories and your website. On weekends, locals or visiting travelers may be looking for something fall-themed to do! If you can manage, create branded hashtags for your larger events and share the images tagged with the hashtag on your feeds.

We are fall-themed, pumpkin spice, cozy flannel lovers here in our office. Contact us to discuss tips for promoting your destination during shoulder-season at SmartStrategies@bbggad.com.