By Blake Ng — 24 Feb 2022

Australia and the United States have already reopened their borders to international travelers. As more and more countries start reopening their borders, you’ll no doubt start to see an increase in international guests.

In preparation for these international guests, you may want to consider which payment gateway to use to ensure you convert more website traffic into confirmed bookings.

Why does a payment gateway matter?

Payment gateways are not just a method of taking payments online, they are also a tool to maximize your bookings and your revenue. In fact, the average tour operator loses around $7600 a month in revenue when using a payment gateway that’s not fully optimized for their website.

5 ways a payment gateway can help maximize your revenue:

1)Faster checkouts

Think about the last time you were at a store, the worst thing you could experience is a long wait at the checkout counter just to pay for your goods. The same holds true for your website, every second that your customers are left waiting affects your booking conversion rates and revenue.

In fact, a study by Google and Deloitte found that a 0.1-second improvement in your site speed can boost your conversion rates by 8%.

A good payment gateway(like RezdyPay) will ensure your guests experience a payment checkout that is quick and frictionless. The average conversion rate for RezdyPay tour operators in 2021 was 12% higher than that of operators using other payment gateways.

2)Increased security

Now more than ever, travelers are concerned about security. This is not surprising given that identity theft, internet fraud and online crimes are at an all-time high.

Your guests will abandon their booking at the smallest concern for their security online.

This is why it’s important to ensure your payment gateway does everything to inspire confidence during payment on your website. Some ways payment gateways can do that:

  • 2 factor- authentication
  • Biometric security scan
  • Global security certifications (Level 1 PCI Compliance, HTTPS)
  • Reputable names (eg. Powered by Stripe)

Note: Not all payment gateways have these, so do your research before choosing one.

3) Mobile-optimized checkout

In the US, purchases on mobile phones accounted for 38.5% of all online purchases in 2021. This number is expected to continue rising and is also expected to be higher among international travelers.

Think about the last time you traveled. As most travelers are constantly on the move, they are always looking for things to do and booking experiences through their mobile devices.

Meaning, a large number of your guests (especially international travelers) will be visiting your website from their mobile devices. You’ll want to ensure that your website and your payment gateway are mobile optimized.

Making a payment from a mobile device where the payment gateway is not mobile optimized is extremely difficult. Often the guests will not be able to find the right inputs or buttons to complete the payment. This will likely result in high booking abandonments.

Good payment gateways come optimized for mobile immediately, so little will need to be done on your end.

4) Taking payments in your customers’ preferred/ local currency


One of the main reasons that customers do not complete their booking is uncertainty. When you’re unable to take payment in a customer’s preferred/ local currency, you’re creating uncertainty.

Due to the changing exchange rates and bank currency conversion fees, a customer will only know the exact amount they are paying for your experience after they have made the payment.

Enabling multi-currency payment processing will ensure that as many of your customers as possible feel comfortable paying for your tours and activities.

5) Mobile wallets- Google Pay, Apple Pay & Ali Pay


IndieGogo, a popular crowd-funding platform that processes approximately 10 million monthly transactions, saw conversions increase up to 250% by simply adding Apple Pay as a method of payment, according to Stripe.

This comes as no surprise given mobile wallets are the fastest and most secure way of taking payments. They enable one-click payments which make payment processing as quick and seamless as possible. They also combine biometric scans (fingerprint or face scan) to keep transactions quick and secure. Finally, they are mobile optimized for travelers who are constantly on the go, hitting the mark with the 3 points mentioned above.

Capitalize on international travelers with the right payment gateway

As shown above, choosing the right payment gateway is an extremely important decision that affects your bottom line, especially if you want to maximize your bookings from international travelers.

Check out RezdyPay, our recommended payment gateway, or our full list of supported payment gateways here.