Improving Your Agency Tours and Packages
The tour and travel package sector has been strong for two years now. Travel agencies are doing well. Competition however is increasing as eager entrepreneurs sense the opportunity.
However, as the competition for travelers increases and as old sightseeing tours become too mundane for repeat travel buyers, your agency will have to find new ways to improve the value proposition of your travel experiences.
In this post, we explore some new approaches and revisions that could give your company an edge. And once you establish your new product and brand with travelers, you might enjoy more leads, bookings and repeat business in the years ahead. It takes some work to really juice up your product to where travelers see your agency as the only one for them.
So rather than relying on reselling others tours, this might be the beginning of creating your own range of rich, unique experiences that delivers the personalized touch travelers want — particularly senior travelers.
Some travel industry experts believe we’re transitioning away from self-directed tours, travel destinations and tourist attractions to enhanced, more immersive travel experiences. Certainly, these packaged products (e.g., long duration ocean cruise packages) offer more profit potential.
In this post, we discuss the many ways you can enrich your product and services to become a market leader. That effort brings long-term success and even greater revenues, thus saving you from perpetual battles with hungry competitors.
Bringing more value to your travel customers leads to more consistent revenue and customer loyalty, and keeps competition stranded in the mist.
Travelers Want More
One of the reasons wine tours in Italy are so important is not to see rooms full of barrels of wine, nor to sip wine everyday. These connoisseurs have a mind to mingle with other people who also love wine, food, music, history and to share their views, and to enrich themselves personally. Personal transformation remember, is a priority for travel buyers.
Part of the joy of travel to them is the transformative change it will bring — to free them up psychologically so they can enjoy their regular lives more. Exciting, engaging travel experiences elevate their everyday life. Immersive experiences might put all of that growth and self-esteem into overdrive.
Modern travelers (i.e. Senior travelers) are booking longer trips suggesting they want more authentic engagement in the places they’d like to visit. Sightseeing is still part of it, but that’s not enough for an increasingly traveled audience of tour and trip buyers.
Offering a tour, (as an example, a Rocky Mountain tour) might require more immersion into local activities, lifestyles, and to get closer to experiencing the views of local people. Then you traveler can say with sincerity that they visited and really got to know what it’s all about. And it’s not that travelers aren’t interested in awesome Rocky Mountain views, torrential rivers and sky high gondola rides. Oh yes, everyone wants to do that.
But travelers can only enjoy so much solo activity or viewing landscapes. That’s especially when returning to a destination they’ve already visited many years ago. On their second trip, let’s say to Banff Canada, they may want to immerse more in nature and wildlife, local cuisine and music, and spend more leisure time with people in those regions. They may be tiring of being a stranger and thus desire to make their journey more personally meaningful.
60+ seniors in particularly are more cognizant of how many years they have left to explore and connect with the world. Seniors tours, since they bring age-relevant people together can generate more rewarding experiences.
And these experiences are built and enhanced by marketing, because the mind travels first. The spicey flavor of your exciting offering is crafted from design through to post-trip communications. And your marketing adds spice throughout, constantly reinforcing the satisfaction with each email, SMS, blog post or video.
For travel agencies and tour operators, tour enrichment is an opportunity to take the lead in the travel and tour segment and produce exquisite experiences that will make competitor’s offerings pale by comparison.
Breaking away from the syndicated competition is vital for future survival. Larger tour companies and travel portals will be looking to monopolize the sector in this way too, to eliminate your access to great tours. Your future is in jeopardy.
Boost Your Imagination and Empathy for your Travelers
In the above Rocky Mountain holiday case, a tour offering can:
- focus on rural mountain life and local villages to satisfy all cravings including fireside chats, stargazing, and mountain life storytelling
- provide a culinary guide to find an highlight the most exceptional local fare, with extra special dishes which they would not normally receive
- arrange for local musicians and a host to help celebrate an evening of music complete with Swiss alphorns
- arrange for local mountain climbers and wildlife experts to provide a demonstration and discuss their passion with tourgoers
- arrange a tour of local residential neighborhoods with a Realtor to discuss how living in the region feels and how residents manage their daily lives here.
It’s All About the Engagement
Of course, the real creativity is the one-to-one engagement and how it encourages travelers to open up to learn and enjoy the region with all of its offerings. Obviously, destinations such as Italy, Spain, and Japan offer rich diversity in geography, culture, art, cuisine, and history. They have the product, so developing it is just a matter of imagination and connections.
The real value proposition arises from immersing them in the culture and lifestyle of locals and how travelers can enjoy it together. Much of the richest travel experience comes from meeting other fellow travelers and engaging with them in the destination activities.
Bringing people of similar backgrounds and interests together might well be the most effective tour design possible. The people we meet during our travels are often as memorable as the destination itself — especially when we’re 10,000 miles from home in a strange country. Many years after an excursion in the Rockies, I still remember the people vividly that I hiked up the mountain with from the newlywed couple from Belgium, and the guy from Israel, to the two women from Bermuda, along with the two mountain park guides.
Elements of Immersive Tours and Trips
- education – growth in awareness and appreciation and personal confidence
- sharing — communicating and participating in interesting activities
- unique — beyond the common with customized, extra special treats
- fun — enjoyable sessions in cooking, wine tasting, gardening, and hiking
- local culture — building empathy and escaping from the confines of their lives back home through immersion in cultural activities
- enjoyment — special evenings for concerts, speakers, short films, demonstrations
- transit — short drives to venues where tour-goers meet others for casual chatting which eases discomfort and relaxes
Great travel adventures need insights. Questioning travelers and your customers before and after can be especially helpful to designing the most immersive tours. Use your travel blog, Facebook page, and Instagram page to collect input about their ideals and disappointments.
How to Enhance Your Travel Packages and Tours
1. Bring out the Full Culture of Your Destination
Local Guides & Experts: Incorporate local guides who can offer insider knowledge, unique stories, and personal experiences that connect travelers to the local culture.
Hands-On Activities: Include interactive elements like cooking classes, art workshops, or traditional ceremonies where travelers can actively participate rather than just observe.
Behind-the-Scenes Access: Offer exclusive experiences, such as private tours of historical sites, meetings with artisans, or visits to local farms, which travelers wouldn’t easily find on their own.
2. Enhance Social Interaction
Group Dynamics: Arrange ice-breaker activities at the beginning of the tour to help travelers connect with each other. Incorporating group meals, communal experiences, or themed events can also strengthen social bonds.
Small Group Sizes: Limit group sizes to encourage a more intimate, social experience where travelers can easily interact and build connections.
Social Media Communities: Before and after the trip, create online communities (Facebook groups, WhatsApp chats) where travelers can interact, share photos, and keep in touch.
3. Personalize and Customize Experiences
Pre-Trip Questionnaires: Ask travelers about their interests, preferences, and any special requests. Use this information to tailor parts of the tour to their specific desires.
Add Flexible Itinerary Features: Offer customizable options within the tour, such as free time for individual exploration or optional add-ons for different interests (e.g., adventure activities, wellness experiences).
Unexpected Surprises: Add small, personalized touches like welcome gifts, celebrating birthdays or anniversaries, or unexpected local treats to delight travelers.
4. Focus on Storytelling and Education
Thematic Storytelling: Build your tours and trips around a compelling narrative, highlighting the history, culture, and local legends of the places you visit.
Engaging Travel Content: Provide travelers with engaging content like digital guidebooks, podcasts, or videos that explain more about the locations before they arrive.
Interactive Learning: Offer opportunities for travelers to learn more deeply through hands-on lessons, expert talks, or even short educational challenges.
5. Sustainability and Local Impact
Eco-Friendly Practices: Integrate sustainability into your tours by promoting responsible travel practices, staying in eco-friendly accommodations, and supporting local businesses.
Community Involvement: Partner with local organizations and communities to built their brand value and to give travelers an authentic and meaningful way to contribute, whether through volunteer opportunities or supporting local artisans.
6. Feedback and Continuous Improvement
Post-Tour Feedback: Encourage travelers to provide feedback and reviews. Use this information to continuously refine your offerings and address any common issues or suggestions.
Loyalty Programs: Develop loyalty or referral programs that reward satisfied travelers who come back for more or recommend your tours to others.
That’s just a few tips that might help you build out your improved tour and trip packages to grow brand value and enrich customer satisfaction.
Enjoy a few more strategies to energize your travel company, improve your travel content strategy and boost the power of ideas in travel marketing.
Contact me, Gord, at 416 998 6246 about helping you building your travel marketing prowess.