More and more information about leisure opportunities or alternative plans that can be performed in each city demand. Thousands of Internet surfers seeking new adventures for the whole family, couple or with friends. The success of these businesses is to offer a wide range of possibilities that are out of the usual activities and within reach of every pocket. OkGranCanaria is one of those websites that have achieved success with their venture project focused on leisure activities exclusive of the island to guarantee a unique and unforgettable experience. How to give visibility to a local business on the Internet? We analyze the hand of Luis Manzano, OkGranCanaria.
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| How to undertake a successful online business |
Does it make sense to start a business very focused and locally based Internet?
Very specific niche market and have little sense in terms of the effort you put into it, both in time and costs, and profitability you get. In my case I was able to greatly reduce costs and optimize the most of my income for the project to be profitable.
Is there finally sufficient Internet penetration in Spain to take in almost any field based on the net?
I do not know if in all areas, as this is a function of the product or type of business that you head, but that for every business there is a strategy to get the maximum return on the Internet.
Where did the idea to OkGranCanaria?
I have over 15 years undertaking tourism-related businesses and internet. During the first half of 2000 I focused on promoting national hotels and the creation of systems of reserves for such establishments. Since 2006 I began to develop various projects for companies of leisure of Gran Canaria and in 2008 I decided to group leisure companies to promote them together, offering tourists a range of options for quality leisure to enjoy during your vacation. The selection of companies is exquisite, based both on the fulfillment by each of the companies of the rules and customer service.
What has been the hardest step in the whole process of creating the concept of OkGranCanaria?
To agree to companies to work together. In fact, OKGranCanaria began as a consortium of leisure, a company owned directly by businesses. In fact the idea was good and not in society we included companies that were direct competitors with each other for there to be more collaboration. But solidarity between companies is difficult to achieve as many of them only want to participate in actions that only benefited them directly.
All this led me to take a radical turn to the company to buy all the shares and be the one who sets the direction of the company and make the decisions. There are no negotiations between the companies. I am now to establish the business lines and actions to develop and are the companies which adhere to our campaigns.
OkGranCanaria still has the vocation to group companies for synergies that enable companies to reach sites that alone could never get or develop projects that would not be profitable to create a single company. We focus on things that really bring value to companies or by our contacts or by our knowledge. So, we have developed several lines of interest to business and leisure:
In Gran Canaria marketing of leisure activities in major hotel chains on the island and sales through our website (sales leader in leisure activities in Gran Canaria)
Booking system: we create the reservation system CloseBooking that he might be the best reservation system on the market, integrating the most important elements of selling hotel chains and airlines and the most attractive features of the big online shops, to suit singularities of entertainment companies.
Club entertainment companies: we help more than 700 entertainment companies of all Spain through our site providing information and specific training for member companies on issues related to the marketing and increased sales, mainly on the internet.
Do you plan to expand the concept to other regions?
Yes. In fact we took a year working on our big bet, Shortplans.com a portal that will be completed in less than a month, and in which we have integrated all the knowledge, developments and contacts we have acquired in recent years. In the first phase of launching the moment we have incorporated excursions in areas of Madrid, Barcelona, Costa del Sol, Seville, Granada and Lanzarote. Our goal is to expand the portal in both types of activities and areas in which we work. We hope to be the portal number 1 in the sale of leisure activities in Spain in less than a year.
The mission of this site will remain the same as we have in Gran Canaria but nationally, "offer tourists and residents in the area the most valuable entertainment experience at the best price"
