Our Top 7 Tourism Website Marketing Mistakes – and How to Fix Them

A Guest Blog by Nirbhay Singh

The travel and tourism industry is without a doubt one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. Established travel businesses are thriving and capitalizing on the growing market’s full potential. According to market forecasts for the next coming years, the future of tourism is strong and will see an increase in overall profits. However, many travel businesses continue to fail and must close their doors. This applies not only to new entrants but also to existing businesses. One wrong step can knock them out of the competition, leaving the company to wonder where it went wrong. And the primary reason why that’s happening is low/poor online presence, as well as website marketing fails.

Having a website for tourism business is the first most important thing. But having a website is not enough, you need to make sure that the website is completely optimized to bring inquiries and bookings for you.

Why is having a business website important for touring companies?

One of the primary benefits of having a website is that it is available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. Customers can access your website and avail of your services or obtain the information they require even during non-business hours. This is one of the key elements in the importance of a website in the business. 

Your website can also be an excellent platform for communicating important information to your customers too. On your website, you can list all your available services along with enticing tour descriptions. Tour and activity operators can also upload images and videos of previous tours to their websites, which helps to make a good first impression on customers.

Every traveler is apprehensive about spending a large sum of money for the first time, so providing them with the right information will help in the decision-making process. Adding customer reviews or testimonials to your website will help with generating positive customer expectations.

The multiple processes involved in the travel business, such as gathering customer details, passing them details about tours, and handling customer queries had to be managed on-call or texts manually, which was a traditional way to manage the travel business, but now that technology has made things very easy, why not take advantage of it?

7 website marketing fails:

1. Lack of images and video content

Images are important as it influences not only people’s choice of destination but also their level of satisfaction. Because the travel and tourism industry is intangible, consumers rely heavily on images to get a sense of the tours. Websites that lack quality images and video content fall behind their competitors.

You should keep in mind that the human brain processes visual content more easily, so including images and video in your overall tourism marketing mix is a good idea.

Video-based content is also becoming more popular than text-based content because it is easier to consume. It also eliminates the need to read lengthy copies. There are numerous examples of brands and destinations using video to pique the interest of a traveler looking for travel inspiration.

Images and video on a tourism website play a functional and emotional role in the booking decision-making process. So, when designing your website, the infrastructure must include large, full-width hero imagery, as well as the ability to embed and play videos quickly.

2. No online booking functionality

Customers no longer want to make a booking over a call or text. They want a completely automated way and having an online booking functionality is the way to do that.

Customers frequently make reservations and payments online but must wait for confirmation of their reservations in the tourism industry because several websites lack the automated online booking feature. This occurs when a travel website does not offer real-time bookings. 

Customers who have to deal with the issue of waiting for confirmation may not choose to book from the same website again in the future.

Online booking software such as Rezdy is an effective and efficient online booking solution that will allow you to accept bookings across multiple channels. With Rezdy, you can, showcase your real-time availability, receive up-to-the-minute manifests, and process secure online payments. To see if Rezdy’s online booking system is right for you, you can sign up for a FREE 21-day trial today.

3. Not mobile-optimized is a common website marketing fail

A common website marketing fail are websites that are not mobile optimized. This makes it harder for users to navigate through your website on a mobile device. In certain cases, the user may leave the website and never come back.

Business owners should make sure that their websites are mobile-optimized to give the users the best experience. 

A mobile-optimized site will reformat itself to fit the handheld device on which it is being viewed. Larger navigation buttons, content formatted to fit your screen, and images that automatically resize are some of the distinct benefits of mobile-optimized design. 

This type of design goes above and beyond for the mobile user, making everything easier and encouraging them to stay on the site and even make a booking.

4. Slow speed 

A slow load speed on a webpage can result in a lack of sales conversions and a general loss of traffic for an online business. Modern consumers would rather search for a new page than wait for a page to load. 

One reason for this can be the images and the videos that you upload on the tourism website. By reducing or converting your image sizing and scales, as well as removing any video content that isn’t essential to your site’s content will help your site’s speed. You can also use lazy loading, which loads images as the user scrolls down the page.

The other way to ensure a fast-loading website is to host your website with a fast web hosting company. With so many hosting companies in the market, you don’t have to pay a lot for hosting that offers great performance.

5. No reviews displayed

The travel and tourism industry is in desperate need of online reviews. When your website lacks online reviews, it fails to gain the trust of the customers. 

Customers want to know what kinds of places they should visit and what kinds of hotels they should stay in so they can make plans as soon as possible. 

People will be able to get a sense of your business if you have a lot of reviews online. By displaying positive reviews, it can help influence people’s decision to book with your company. 

A great website marketing tip is to feature online reviews. Not only do online reviews promote your business, but they can also help you communicate with your customers. If someone is happy with your services or dissatisfied with them, you can show that you care by responding to their reviews. You will build long-lasting relationships with your customers if you communicate effectively with them.

6. No email updates functionality

Emails are a great way to update your customers about any changes in their bookings. It can also be an opportunity for your to promote new updates. By using an automatic email function, you can program this form of communication automatically.

Every customer wants to feel special and custom emails are one way to fulfill the customer’s desires to be treated differently. Customers appreciate it when their tour operators provide them with offers or advice based on previous bookings.

Customers are frequently lost to competitors as a result of a tour operator’s lack of personalization through emails. 

With a proper email automation system in place, you can send emails to the customers with more customized packages based on their interests and previous bookings. 

The feature that offers options to customers based on their booking history and preferences can be integrated into the travel website or app.

7. No blog

If you have a website, integrate a blog into it. Nothing beats high-quality (i.e. valuable) content. 

Blogs are also beneficial for SEO and can drive traffic to your website. It also demonstrates your in-depth knowledge of the industry, which increases credibility with potential customers.

Your website’s content should establish authority and trust with both tourists and local customers. 

While it may be natural to talk about yourself or your company, creating high-quality content for your users is critical.

Content that connects with your users should answer their questions. Your blogs should aim to provide useful insight, always offer value, and foster empathy between your company and your customer’s needs. Remove any tourism industry jargon and create content that is simple to scan and read.

Conclusion 

So, here are the top seven reasons why travel agencies fail and how to avoid them. 

Aside from these reasons, there are numerous other pitfalls that every tour operator must consider when conducting business. 

Staying up to date on market trends and changing customer behavior can help you modify your sales and marketing strategies to thrive in the market.

Author Bio:

Nirbhay Singh is a top-tier content marketer that helps companies create valuable & insightful content. On the side, he writes about Blogging & SEO on his blog nirbhysingh.com. You can connect with him on Linkedin.

To find out how Rezdy can help your tour and activity company, start your FREE 21-day trial or request a free demo today.

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