Tour Operator Blog by Rezdy

In case you haven’t noticed, the world is rapidly moving from online to mobile.

In many countries (including the US and Australia) sales of web enabled mobile devices outstrip computer sales, and this trend is accelerating! For the young the world has already moved from the desktop and the laptop to the smart phone and iPad.

The implications of the rush to mobile are especially pressing for tour and activity operators due to the nature of their customer base and the purchasing preferences of their consumers.

Here's why a mobile-friendly website is essential for tours and activities:

A logo is an essential part of your business branding plan. You might be a small activity operator in a coastal beach town, but that doesn't mean you don't need a logo that allows people to instantly recognize who you are and what you do.

There's even more competition out there online, so you need to create a logo that grabs attention wherever it's placed.

There are many benefits to having a logo designed specifically for your company:

So you've developed an online presence for your tour and activity operation - but having a website with a pretty logo on it won't necessarily get you the bookings you need for your business.

The following tips will help you optimise your website so that you get the most bookings possible, allowing you to increase your profits and expand your presence in the local tourism market.

If you are considering investing in an online booking system, you will want a system that proactively helps you to generate more sales.

As you research the various options available to you, look for software programs that have features designed to increase your bookings and provide your customers with reliable service.

These 4 features ensure that your customers not only have the option to make a reservation online, but they enhance the overall experience of working with your tour or activity business:

In the digital world, the way that people consume information and make purchases is changing every day. Travelers today will book the majority of their reservations for tours and excursions online, and many of those will make those reservations on a mobile device. Mobile reservations aren't the way of the future — they are the way of today.

You have your Facebook page all set up, so that everyone who is traveling to your area and wants to book one of your tours or activities can interact with you. You've picked out the perfect cover photo, and you have a great profile picture that showcases your brand name and logo. You have your contact information listed, a few photo albums posted and a witty status already on your Timeline.

Now the real work begins — you have to get your past, present and future clients to interact with you. But how?

Jumping into the world of social media can seem daunting, but as a tour and activity business in a tourist destination, it's an essential element to your marketing plan. 

According to Frederic Gonzalo,

• Social media is one of the most successful ways to market your travel services, with more than 50 percent of direct bookings coming from social media accounts.
• Social media can reduce marketing costs by up to 24 percent, allowing your profit margins to increase significantly.

Twitter is one of the most important social networks to be a part of and have an active presence on, as it's one of the most widely used social networking sites.

If you run a tour and activity company in a particular area, and you don't have a Facebook page, you are missing out on a big opportunity.

As a small business, your resources are limited for just about everything. However, you know that investing in marketing and promotion is essential to helping your business grow, because it is so closely tied to sales.

The vast majority of tour and activity operators can substantially increase their profits simply by taking a more sophisticated approach to the pricing of their services.

Anyone who has booked a flight or a hotel room knows that their pricing can vary widely according to when the service is booked. It is thus surprising that tour and activity operators who also operate in the tourism industry have been very slow to get smart about what is generally referred to as “yield management” or “dynamic pricing”.

Increasing your profits often requires little more than applied common sense in setting prices that vary with consumer demand. This is how to do it.