It’s the most wonderful time of the year — and often one of the most stressful times for those in the travel industry. The holiday season brings travellers to destinations in droves, all of whom are hoping to escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life in order to enjoy a refreshing break with the people they love the most. Perhaps they are celebrating with family who lives in the area, or maybe they are taking a vacation in order to avoid another awkward family gathering back home. Either way, they are looking to get away, have fun and make the most of their time off from work.As a tour and activity operator, this is a risky season for overbookings. As demand increases, it can be difficult to manage your bookings and coordinate your availability.How Do You Combat Overbookings During the Holiday Season?If you are manually managing your reservations, overbookings are almost inevitable. The risk of overbookings increases significantly if you are working with multiple agents in order to sell your tours and activities. In order to prevent overbookings, the best thing you can do is invest in an online booking system that automatically updates your availability with every booking, across all of your channels. This allows you to sell your products through a variety of distribution channels, without worrying that you will sell too many spots for one particular tour. Not only will your online booking system help minimize the risk of overbookings, but it also will allow you to increase your direct bookings. This is particularly beneficial during popular travel times, such as the holidays.What Should You Do in the Event of an Overbooked Tour?If you pull up your manifest and realize that a tour is overbooked during the height of the holiday season, try your best not to panic. This is a reality that every tour and activity operator has been faced with, and you will get through this challenge. Reach out to the customer personally and explain the situation. Make sure that you have an option for them in order to correct your mistake, and offer them an added promotion for their inconvenience. You could discount the tour that they are booking, or you could offer them an upgrade at no charge. Customer service is pivotal during a challenging moment like this, so always remember to be professional and polite.Investing in the right technology is the best thing you can do for your business, particularly during high-traffic times like the holiday season. As the only online booking system available specifically for tour and activity operators, Rezdy is the best option for your tour company. It’s easy to implement, and you’ll be minimizing your administrative workload in a matter of minutes. This holiday season, enjoy updated manifests, a cloud-based property management system, and a channel manager that allows you to expand your distribution network.Give yourself the gift of Rezdy this holiday season, and begin your free trial now.