You’ve set up a brand new website complete with online booking capability, and you are promoting your tours on social media as much as possible. While your online marketing strategy will certainly help you increase your direct bookings, it’s also important to diversify your customer base. The best way to do this is by creating a distribution strategy that focuses on earning bookings through agents.

What Organizations Bring You Bookings and Booking Agents?

  • Local Organizations — Nearly every tourism destination has local travel organizations that are designed to promote the area as well as local tourism businesses in the region. Visitor information centres, for example, provide travelers with one-stop-shopping for all of the best hotels, restaurants and attractions in the area. If you are launching a new business or trying to revitalize your long-running tours and activities, you should contact the visitor information centre in order to partner with their agents. Through your online booking system and channel manager, they can book your tours instantly while conveniently earning a commission. This helps you develop a reputation with the travel leaders in your area, and improves your presence in the community. When it comes to tours and activities, many people decide what to do once they have reached their destination, and they will head to the visitor information centre for additional information. This should be one of your first stops on your networking journey!
  • Trade Shows — Trade shows are a great place to connect with travel agents, hotel operators and other tourism industry professionals. At these trade shows, you can provide other professionals with additional information about your company and its products. You can explain that you offer an innovative online booking system and channel manager that broadcasts your live availability and current rates at any given moment, and that agents can easily resell your tours in order to earn a commission (find out how much money do travel agents make here). This impressive technology will encourage those you meet to look into your products and book them for their own customers. A hotel concierge, for example, is often called upon to give recommendations for things to do in the city, and you will want them to be able to easily book one of your tours. These industry connections will help you gain additional bookings for your tour company, as well as expand your distribution network. Through networking and distribution, you can ensure the long-term success of your tour and activity business.

Networking within your local tourism region is critical to generating bookings from a wide variety of travelers and customers. You may even find that some local residents are interested in taking your tours and activities, or perhaps they want to gift that experience to their family members and friends. Connecting with hotels, visitor information centres, local businesses and other organizations in the area will help you generate more bookings for your tour and activity company.

To find out more information about creating a distribution strategy, download the Rezdy distribution ebook today.





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