5 Ways to Differentiate Your Tours & Activities in 2024

A guest blog by Saynine.

Updated January 2024 – As the tourism industry envisions one of its biggest years to come, it’s clear that tour and activity operators can start looking forward to great opportunities on the horizon. In the closing months of 2023, international tourism nearly reached 90% of 2019 levels, as reported by the World Tourism Organization. The 2023 Mastercard Travel Report further highlights the evolving landscape, revealing a significant shift in consumer preferences. Spending on unique experiences surged by 65% as of March 2023, surpassing the modest 12% increase in material purchases compared to 2019.

As the travel industry bounces back, fueled by this renewed enthusiasm and evolving spending patterns, tour and activity operators find themselves at the perfect opportunity where they can cater to the growing needs of international travelers seeking unique experiences.

In this article, we’ll go through 5 ideas that will help your tour and activity business stand out from all the rest in 2024.

1. Improve social media presence

There aren’t any signs social media will stop being a vital part of people’s lives. It’s hard to underestimate its power for different kinds of businesses that strive for growth. The travel industry isn’t an exception because it’s hard to imagine successful tourism marketing without having a strong digital marketing strategy and social media presence. So, tour operators should build a compelling social media marketing strategy.

Tiktok to differentiate your tours

Every social media channel demands special steps to win the game here, but in all cases, there are a few golden rules, which we’ll divide into three categories:

Help

First and foremost, tour and travel companies should be consistent and regularly connect with their potential customers. Travelers actively connect with tour agencies having different questions. And it would be a huge mistake to ignore the comment section and direct messages. Instead, giving solutions to all travelers’ concerns can create a positive relationship with potential customers.

Educate

Next, take the opportunity to offer tips about tours and traveling in general. Educate your online audience by sharing helpful content and opening new perspectives for them about the world and tourism possibilities. Your educational content can be as simple as a list of fascinating facts about different countries and cultures, promoting local businesses and partners, and showcasing your experienced tour guides on all the know-hows of your services. Think about creating an Instagram carousel post that shares helpful travel tips.

Engage

Lastly, make an effort to create entertaining and engaging content. It’s a great opportunity to highlight the value of the tours. Short videos offer endless opportunities for all types of businesses, whether it’s a TikTok video or Instagram Reels, generate a video that shares highlights of your tours. Moreover, you can partner with travel bloggers or encourage your followers to share user-generated content to showcase your different types of tours an travel experiences.

In all cases, whether you help, entertain, or educate social media followers, define and highlight your agency’s unique personality. This way, you can successfully market your tourism business and get a competitive advantage.

2. Provide a great mobile booking experience

In this digital era, customers use their mobiles to connect not only for communicating but also for doing research. And they plan their trip entirely using just their smartphones. The numbers speak for themselves, as 80% of customers said they prefer mobile booking to find and get information about tours. So, tour operators should try to deliver a positive experience to mobile users planning their next trip.

To further elevate the mobile booking experience, consider integrating a real-time availability viewer into your website. Rezdy’s real-time availability viewer allows customers to instantly check the live availability of your tours or activities. This not only enhances transparency but also empowers customers to make immediate decisions based on the most up-to-date information, ensuring a seamless and satisfying booking process.

Check out how easy it is to set up real-time availability on your website:

3. Elevate your customer experience

Building an outstanding customer support service is equally essential in enhancing the overall customer experience. This involves not only addressing queries promptly but also anticipating customer needs. Invest in comprehensive training for your support team, ensuring they possess the knowledge and skills to offer personalized assistance. A customer-centric approach goes beyond problem-solving; it involves creating positive interactions at every touchpoint.

Moreover, tour operators should be present during opening hours to answer all questions and guide the right direction. For that, they should consider implementing live chat and building an outstanding customer support service to boost the customer experience.

4. Offer multiple payment options

Providing flexibility in payment methods is a pivotal aspect of accommodating the varied needs of your customers. Offering multiple payment options ensures a seamless and convenient booking experience, catering to individuals who prefer different payment platforms and/or your international customers who may want to pay in their local currency.

Consider integrating popular payment gateways, credit card options, and mobile wallets to give customers the freedom to choose how they want to pay. For example, RezdyPay not only facilitates a range of payment methods mentioned above but also emphasizes secure transactions, thus building trust with your customers.

By facilitating a range of payment methods, you not only enhance the user experience but also capture a broader audience, potentially attracting international travelers with varied payment preferences.

How to accept mobile wallet payments with Rezdy

Click Settings
Select Online Payments
RezdyPay is required and setup must be complete, click here to learn more
Choose the mobile wallet payment options
Lastly, click the Save button at the bottom.

How does this look online?

Depending on the device, your guests will be given a choice of Apple Pay or Google Pay as a payment method.

5. Offer an outstanding cultural and sustainable experience

Interest in lesser-known locales and exploring memorable cultural elements is currently at an all-time high. Delivering unique and diverse cultural experiences such as cultural sightseeing tours, multi-day city tours, walking tours, or local food tours can set your business apart from the rest.

Simultaneously, the travel landscape is witnessing a growing commitment to sustainability. Environmentally-conscious travelers actively seek eco-friendly packages and are usually willing to pay more to reduce their carbon footprint. By adopting sustainable practices and exploring immersive and unique cultural experiences, tour companies can offer an advantage in the services they offer.

Offering cultural experiences can help differentiate your tours

6. Nurturing positive reviews

In today’s fiercely competitive tourism industry, cultivating and showcasing positive reviews is not only about reputation management but a strategic imperative. These reviews, acting as digital endorsements, provide potential customers with insights into real-world experiences, influencing their choice of destination or service provider. As travelers heavily rely on online platforms for decisions, positive reviews serve as authentic testimonials, building trust and credibility for your tourism business.

To enhance your marketing efforts, leverage SMS marketing campaigns with trigger messages that encourage customers to share their experiences through reviews. Additionally, word-of-mouth becomes a powerful tool as customers get to know your business, creating a pathway for them to share their positive encounters and contribute to your reputation through reviews. These personalized strategies, combined with effective SMS and word-of-mouth marketing, ensure a dynamic and engaging approach to building a unique identity for your tourism business.

7. Building a distribution strategy

Crafting a robust distribution strategy is essential for tour businesses aiming to broaden their market reach. Leverage technology by incorporating Rezdy Channel Manager, granting instant access to over 25,000 active resellers and facilitating seamless connectivity to distribute your offerings globally. Strengthen partnerships with key resellers, such as online travel agencies (OTAs) like Tripadvisor and GetYourGuide, local travel agents, and even other tour operators, allowing you to amplify your visibility and tap into a diverse demographic.

As a Rezdy booking software customer, you’ll get instant access to the industry’s largest distribution platform – Rezdy Channel Manager. Easily connect with over 25,000 active resellers and distribute your tours and activities to a larger audience all in a click of a button.

Conclusion

We discussed a few ideas for creating a tour that stands out. Following them, it is possible to provide an experience that will cater to the demands and expectations of your customers.

Utilizing an online booking system such as Rezdy will help you better manage your business. Furthermore, it’ll help you differentiate your business from the 50% of tour and activity operators that don’t use an online booking system. An online booking system equips your business with advanced tools such as a real-time availability viewer, the ability to accept secure online payments, and automate repetitive processes such as guest communication. A tour operator reservation software’s job is ultimately to streamline your processes and provide your customers with a seamless and simple booking journey.

Ready to join the thousands of Rezdy operators who increased their bookings by 25% in 2023? Start your FREE 21-day trial or book a demo today.

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