NOW AVAILABLE - the following two titles can be downloaded as 'interactive' files, which means all the spreadsheets have built-in formulas (where applicable). They are;

A Feasibility Study for Aspiring Bed & Breakfast Operators - Cost $21

A Business Plan for Bed & Breakfast Owners  - Cost $21

Go to the publications page and get your downloaded copies now.

Would you be able to tell your readers about our new idea?

My husband and I own Craigievar B&B in Edinburgh, Scotland and are trying to
start a website with a list of B&B's that would like to 'swap' rooms. eg. we
would offer a double room and breakfast as an exchange with a B&B somewhere
else. It would be free for them to stay with us and for us to stay with them
meaning that we would only have to pay for transport - a free holiday! 

Obviously people would only offer to swap in quiet times.  Each B&B would have
to be ensuite and have a website so that we can all see what we are getting.

I am emailing B&B's abroad but it is hard to get to more than 1 at a time - so
it will take some time to get international members but that's what we're
aiming for.

We have set up a site at http://www.bedandbreakfastswap.com please have a
look. It's only in it's infancy just now but we would love to get more members
or even just some feedback.

Thank for reading this, Jacqui Gold - 112 Glasgow Road, Edinburgh EH12 8LP, Scotland UK

 NSW Bed & Breakfast and Farmstay Association

Thesis Abstract - Blue Mountains NSW

This 88 page, ‘self-help’ document was produced to assist existing and potential operators of accommodation-based businesses such as B&B and farmstay’s.  It is presented in the form of a University thesis. 

The first chapter, the literature review, covers a wide range of topics for improving ones business including: the scale of the market, trends creating growth in specialist accommodation, demographics of the typical specialist accommodation guest, the preferences of guests, barriers to growth in the sector, operator management issues and marketing considerations, amongst others. 

The remaining chapters are the authors own research.  It identifies opportunities for business in a region of Australia-the Blue Mountains, NSW.  Whilst this data is particularly pertinent to those potential and existing operators in the Blue Mountains, it is also useful to entrepreneurs in any area of Australia. 

It identifies a method to analyse the current competition in any region and identify opportunities for successful business.  More specifically it highlights how businesses try to differentiate from each other through; property features, themes and packages, activities on offer, location, providing for special needs markets, type of accommodation, the main target market, and price.  It gives specific examples of each and innovative suggestions to improving a business’s profitability.

The information is this document is not normally accessible to members of the public so would be beneficial to anyone in the industry especially those wanting to make the most of their potential and existing accommodation-based businesses.

The cost of this thesis is $70AUD and can be sent to you as a pdf document. Suggest you fax/email us your Credit Card details - see below

Fax - 61 2 4385 3676 or probe@bnb-central.com  

About the author: - Michelle Wade

I completed a Bachelor of Management Studies (honours) at Waikato University in 1995.  Since this time I have worked in the hospitality industry in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom in lower-level and managerial roles.  Recently I worked as a cleaner, breakfast cook, receptionist and part-time manager of a 24-bed motel in Townsville, Queensland.  Previously I have worked in larger resorts and five star hotels in Port Douglas and the Gold Coast.   

I returned to university in 2004 to complete a Masters of Tourism (honours) at James Cook University in Townsville with the aim to ‘brush-up’ on the latest trends and knowledge in academia, and to prepare myself more fully for starting my own specialist accommodation business in 2005 in New Zealand.  I graduate on April 9^th, 2005 and will move to Queenstown, New Zealand shortly after.  I am looking forward to putting in practice what I have learned over the years.

My thesis is a collation of the knowledge I gained whilst at university in 2004 and would be useful to individuals seeking to start an accommodation-based business or for those wanting to improve their existing business.  Good luck with your ventures! 

Tourism NSW Regional Campaign

Tourism New South Wales has just launched their new regional campaign based on seven new Zones (Sydney is the eighth Zone):

• Sydney Surrounds (areas within a 3 hour drive from Sydney)
• South Coast of NSW
• North Coast of NSW
• Heart of Country NSW
• Outback NSW
• Murray
• NSW High Country

Contact Tourism NSW for more details - www.tourism.nsw.gov.au/ 

The new Accommodation Directory (the Egg Book) will support the TNSW thrust by utilising the new Zones and the map provided by TNSW.  It is essential we, as an organisation, closely follow the marketing push by aligning our own promotional material with that of TNSW as well as utilising artwork provided by them (this also saves money).

Online Bed & Breakfast Course:

If you are thinking about getting into B&B then we can help you.

bnb-central has a self paced on-line course that will help you complete a feasibility study in order to test the viability of your business proposition.

We email you the feasibility study course as a pdf document and then walk you   through the course until you are satisfied you have made an informed decision as to whether to enter the business of Bed & Breakfast or move on.   

This course consists of the following:

      It will help you to:

• decide whether you would like to enter the market; 
• prepare a real financial analysis to help you enter the market; 
• ready your house for Bed & Breakfast or guide you in whether to buy or build a new one; 

All of these issues are significant, but professionalism over all, is the most important. This course will reinforce the need to gather critical information in the early phase of your proposed venture and give you an insight into the level of commitment needed to succeed in this business. 

Owning and operating a Bed & Breakfast is the dream of many. This course aims to help balance the dream with the reality by giving you the tools to help make your decision to enter this business a meaningful one

Course fee:

$99 inclusive of the title, ‘A Feasibility Study for Aspiring B&B Operators’, plus on-line tuition (Incl of GST)

For further information email us at probe@bnb-central.com