Ocean Club at Biloxi Marketing Initiatives

Mississippi Hotel & Motel Lodging Association – This association has really stepped up to take the lead in promoting tourism to the area.  We are currently on their website with a direct link to our rental reservation page and we also receive the additional items listed below: 

• Reservation Inquiry Service
• Directory of Accommodations
• Website and online advertising opportunities, including Biloxi Golf and Fishing packages.

GulfCoast Convention and Visitors Bureau - A vigorous revitalization campaign will take place once government dollars are in place, which should be forthcoming in the very near future.  Once this money has been obtained, the CVB will meet with the Mississippi Hotel and Motel Lodging Association to partner with the spending of these monies. This presents the following opportunities:

• Included in limited in house City advertising campaigns
• Listing on the in-house produced Visitor Guide.
• Endorsement by city
• Participating CVB website opportunities for lodging

The Mississippi Golf Association – It goes with out saying “Golf is part of the Gulf shore experience.”  We are capitalizing on our new partnership which will include print, website and direct mail opportunities.  This association has been very instrumental in negotiating and implementing discounts and booking capabilities at the property.  Call FORE a tee time! 

Casino Association- In the New Year we will be work closely with this association regarding print advertising opportunities. While the majority of our marketing dollars are focused on Internet advertising, we are investigating the following periodicals for print ads:

• Southern Gaming
• Strictly Slots
• Casino Player (Regional Addition)

Property Rack Card – We have completed a wonderful tri-fold brochure which serves as our direct sales collateral on property and as a mail out to those individuals requesting information via phone. It is our intention to have our website serve as the primary source of information on our property but on occasion, there is still a need for a brochure.  If you are interested in obtaining a brochure please contact our Presidian Management Team! 

Packages and Specials –Our Director of Sales, Pam Mullen, has been working diligently to negotiate golf, sport fishing and casinos discounts in combination with our room rental program.  These packages are being advertised and sold at the property, on the web site and through the Hotel Motel Lodging Association. In addition, we will also offer Seasonal Specials focused on long term rentals during the winter months. 

Special Events - Participation in several events, reorganized post Katrina, have certainly help to boost sales.  Cruisin’ the Coast was a huge success for The Ocean Club.  We received tremendous exposure; the Oxygen Channel interviewed some of our guests, took some great shots of our facility and The Ocean Club may be mentioned on the Oxygen Channel’s Cruisin’ the Coast Special. One of our guests is in the vintage car business and had several cars on display in front of the management office. He and his group have already booked for next year. 

InnLink - We have reached an agreement to host our property on their Global Distribution Sites.  Exposure to these distribution sites make us "sellable" on third-party booking sites such as Travelocity and Expedia. Once we are on the larger booking engines such as Travelocity, our placement in the Search Engines such as Google will increase. We are working now with their technology department to complete the interface with our property PMS. 

FEMA- Our agreement with Corporate Lodging, which handles all FEMA accommodations, opened the door to potential long term rentals from this government agency. Be reminded, as a government agency FEMA must abide by the per diem's set for the Biloxi market.  The maximum rate is 110.00 per day or $3300.00 per month. 

The Newcomers & Visitors Guide – We have a featured editorial this December and have secured full-page placement all four quarters.

Vacation Rentals by Owner (VRBO) – Third-party booking agencies expose our property to a greater rental pool primarily via the internet sites.  We continue to explore all opportunities with each of the sites and future benefits include but are not limited to:

• Casino co-op advertising opportunities
• Convention Visitors Bureau Group Lead Sourcing
• Snowbird advertising opportunities 

Third party sites are proving to be an excellent lead source for long term stays. Cyberrentals is an example of only one of our third party relationships.

Competitive Analysis - The market is analyzed as a weekly function of the operations staff.  These “call arounds” are conducted to maximize our rental rates based on market fluctuations. We work diligently to capture additional revenue during high demand periods as well as remain competitive during low demand periods. 

Please feel free to contact our marketing team with additional suggestions and opportunities!