https://www.facebook.com/105398748305077/

Growing with SLK

Startpagina
Nederland
Amsterdam
Growing with SLK

Hospitality, Tourism & Retail Marketing Specialist. Sarah-Louise is here to help your business grow & blossom.

07/09/2026

We often talk about the guest journey as if it ends when someone clicks “Book.”

But that’s actually where something important begins.
A guest might discover your hotel through Instagram, find you through Google, read reviews, visit your website and finally make a booking.

At that point, the marketing has technically “worked.”
But then comes:
→ The confirmation email → Pre-arrival communication → The welcome at reception → The room → The recommendations from your team → Checkout → The follow-up email → The review → And, hopefully, the next booking

Every one of those moments shapes how a guest experiences your brand.

And every one is an opportunity to deliver on the promise your marketing made.

I explored this in my latest insight:
Hotel Marketing: Why the Guest Journey Doesn’t End at Booking

Because great marketing shouldn’t just get someone to book. It should make them glad they did.

Read the full article on my website (link in bio)

29/08/2026

The Southern West Coast of Portugal is one of my favourite places. For the first time I took my camera and tried to capture its essence 📸

Fishermen on the cliffs 🎣🐟🐠🐡

Colourful beach houses

Cliff top walks and ocean views for miles

Beach life ⛱️🐚

Van Life at one with nature ☘️

Surfers & fishermen. Where ancient traditions meet new

Summer evenings 🌅

Children’s playground

Mother nature & family days

No crowds, just you and the ocean 🌊

Unique people

Hi it’s me.. behind the lens. Sharing with you one of my favourite places 🇵🇹

21/08/2026

Some views simply can’t be captured through a lens.
Lake Brienz was one of those places for me.

The colour of the water. The mountains surrounding us. The quiet of being out on the lake. The feeling of simply being there.

You can take the perfect photograph, film the view from every angle and share it across every platform, but sometimes, a destination has to be experienced to really understand its magic.

And perhaps that’s one of the challenges of tourism marketing:

How do you communicate a feeling before someone has experienced it for themselves?

That’s where great storytelling comes in because we’re not just marketing places, we’re helping people imagine how it might feel to be there.

19/08/2026

For the first episode of Beyond the Brochure - Marketing vs. Visitor Reality, I’m looking at a hotel I recently stayed at in Cavtat, Croatia.

The hotel’s marketing promises beautiful views, a relaxing seaside stay and the calm atmosphere of Cavtat.

And the reality? It delivered. The views were just as beautiful as they looked online, the hotel matched the imagery, and the destination itself was exactly the kind of peaceful Mediterranean escape we were looking for.
But I also noticed something interesting.

There were so many parts of the experience that weren’t really being communicated online, from the delicious breakfast and incredible sunsets to boat trips, snorkelling, walks around the peninsula and evenings by the harbour. Even the sound of the cicadas became part of the memory of the place.

The marketing wasn’t inaccurate. It just wasn’t telling the whole story and that’s a great marketing opportunity. Because tourism businesses aren’t just selling a room, a tour or a destination, they’re selling the experience of being there.

14/08/2026

I can’t switch off my tourism brain., I’m always paying attention to the little things.

How welcome do I feel before I even arrive?
Does the experience match the promise made online?
Does the hotel tell me about local experiences?
Are staff creating memorable moments or simply completing tasks?

Sometimes it’s the smallest details that become the biggest memories.

What’s something a hotel has done that you’ve never forgotten?

11/08/2026

Marketing creates the promise. The experience brings it to life.

Having worked in destination marketing and now working within a boutique hotel, I’ve had the opportunity to see the visitor journey from two very different perspectives. And one thing I keep coming back to is the connection between what we promise visitors and what we actually deliver.

A strong tourism brand should create the right expectations from the very first interaction.
Then, every touchpoint that follows should reinforce that promise, from the website and booking journey to the experience itself and the way visitors discover the destination around them.

Great marketing isn’t just about attracting someone through the door.

It’s about attracting the right visitor, creating an experience that lives up to their expectations, and giving them something worth remembering and recommending.

That’s the perspective I bring to Growing with SLK.

I help tourism and hospitality businesses strengthen their marketing and create a more connected visitor journey, from first impression to lasting loyalty.

What do you notice first when you visit a new tourism business?

03/08/2026

Every hotel tells two stories.
The one guests see online.
And the one they actually experience.

As someone who has worked in both destination marketing and hotel operations, I notice this everywhere I travel.

A beautiful website might encourage someone to book.
A perfectly curated Instagram feed might create excitement.
But if the experience doesn’t live up to the promise, that’s what guests remember.

The strongest hospitality brands don’t just have good marketing.
They have consistency.
Every touchpoint, from the website and booking journey to check-in, local recommendations and check-out, reflects the same story and the same values.
That’s where trust is built.
That’s where five-star reviews come from.
And that’s what turns first-time visitors into loyal advocates.
It’s one of the biggest opportunities I see for hotels and tourism businesses looking to stand out.

Have you ever stayed somewhere that looked incredible online but didn’t live up to expectations? Or perhaps somewhere that exceeded them? I’d love to hear what made the difference.

27/07/2026

I never imagined my career in tourism would take me from leading destination marketing in the UK to welcoming guests at a boutique hotel in Amsterdam.

Working in both destination marketing and hotel operations has given me something I didn’t expect, a 360° understanding of the visitor journey.

I realised that memorable visitor experiences don’t start at check-in. They begin the moment someone discovers a destination and continue long after they return home.

That’s why I created Growing with SLK, to help hospitality and tourism businesses create experiences guests genuinely remember.

I’m excited to share more insights from behind the scenes of tourism and hospitality over the coming weeks.

05/02/2026

Capturing a snowy afternoon at Apollofirst Boutique Hotel. ❄️ This video captures the cosy and elegant velvet seating atmosphere of the hotel this January.

Winter is not the high tourist season for Amsterdam but the city and your hotel still has so much to offer! Get in touch today to discuss the best strategy for you to increase winter tourism.

See more content on

Adres

Amsterdam

Website

facebook.com

Meldingen

Wees de eerste die het weet en laat ons u een e-mail sturen wanneer Growing with SLK nieuws en promoties plaatst. Uw e-mailadres wordt niet voor andere doeleinden gebruikt en u kunt zich op elk gewenst moment afmelden.