5 Ways to Get More Bookings for Your Upcoming Tour

Attracting more clients is an important part of any business. If you own a tour company, your cash flow depends on filling as many tours as possible. Clients may love your tours, but if they aren’t easy to discover, you may be missing out on plenty of potential business. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to get more bookings coming your way. Here are five of our top suggestions for increasing the number of people booking your next tour.

1. Make Booking the Upcoming Tour Easy to do

If your customer has to jump through a lot of hoops to sign up for your tour, they are much less likely to commit. If they have to call you in order to book the tour, the hassle may be a big enough turn off to choose somewhere else.

One of the best ways to do this is to allow online booking on your website. Online booking gives the customer better control over their experience, because they no longer have to depend on you to be available to get the tour booked. They can book at any time, even if the office is closed. They don’t have to worry about being put on hold or vying for your attention with customers who come in person. If online booking is easily available, customers are much more likely to book.

Even if they prefer to come in person or call on the phone, having options looks professional and helps make your website even more attractive to potential customers.

2. Take the Time to Optimize Your Website

When a potential client is looking for a tour, their first method of selecting one is usually through search engines. If your website doesn’t appear when a local search is made, you are missing out on a great deal of business.

You can increase the odds of your website appearing in local searches by including keywords pertaining to the area, such as the name of where the tour is being held, in your posting. Include these keywords a couple of times on your page, and also in the title to help boost your rankings. A blog can be a super helpful addition to the website here, because you can make blog posts that have the keywords you need in it to help boost rankings.

If you’re not sure how to do this, or you are struggling to get your pages ranked for the keywords you want to use, consider hiring a professional to refine your SEO efforts.

3. Flexible Payment Arrangements

The fewer payment options you have available, the harder you make it for your customers to shop with you. Giving your clients flexible payment options makes it easier for them to choose you over other tour places.

A good selection of options might be allowing your customer to pay online and with as many different forms of payment as possible. Your customer will love being able to pay on their own terms, and may recommend you to others simply because you have made the effort to be more accessible.

If possible, make sure bank transfers are one of the options you include. Travelers don’t always have ready access to cash or cards, and transfers may be the only way for them to access your tour. If this is the case, put clear rules on how to go about performing a bank transfer, but do include them if you can. Your customers will appreciate the added option.

If you’re not sure how to accept payments online, check your online booking software—most have options built in that will make this easy.

4. Make Your Tour Easy to Share

Word of mouth is a great form of advertising. Not only does the word of a friend or family member have more power than the strongest paid advertising campaign on earth, but it is also free. If your client ends up loving her tour, sharing it on social media is a natural next step.

Encouraging people to do so can be as simple as including social media quick links on your website. When the client clicks them, they can quickly share the page relevant to them on their social media. This not only helps spread the word about your business, but it also gives clients a chance to share their experiences in real and authentic ways.

As an added benefit, it makes it easier for clients to invite their friends to go with them on future tours, helping to increase your bookings even more. Shareable pages are a critical part of any tour business, and so is having a social media presence. An eye catching photo and a recommendation for a friend can do far more than a discount or a flashy poster in your office window can.

5. Show Customer Reviews of Similar Activities

Reviews are one of the most common methods clients use in order to decide whether they want to use a service or not. Reviews can provide a more personal view of what the tour was like for past clients. Hearing how other people felt when they saw a historical monument for the first time, or witnessed wildlife on a safari, can make a difference on whether they choose to pick your tour company over another.

Heartfelt reviews are a great way to help draw customers in and increase bookings. As an added benefit, it can help boost the all important SEO we mentioned earlier.

The tour business is a very personal one, and something that needs careful handling in order to grow. Clients want to know they are going to have a good experience, and part of that comes through in your website. By making the booking experience convenient, and giving your clients the tools they need, you can easily increase your bookings with very little additional effort.

Make these 5 changes on your website, and watch your bookings climb as excited customers share with each other the wonderful experience they had with you.

The TourTools package tour and travel management software can help you achieve much of the above and more! For more information and to schedule a demo, visit https://www.tourtools.com/