Want Your Tour Operator Business To Go Places? Here Are 11 Ways To Do It

Online Marketing • Tips • June 14, 2018 • Vacation Labs

A true traveller is never satiated by one destination. He is in constant thirst for knowledge, cultures, languages, artefacts, heritage and history where he goes. That can only be quenched by travelling to newer places and destinations.

What’s the take for a tour operator website?

Life’s not too different for a tour operator. As a travel or a tour operator business, you need to constantly evolve and grow. The question in your head should always be how to do that.

The simple way is by learning from the right tour operator resources. Here are some of the best travel websites for tour operators to learn from- so get set and go with your tour operator business. Whether it’s packages, content or design, there’s always something to learn:

1

What’s in a name? A lot to be honest

Once you name your child, it stays with her/him for a lifetime. Similarly, you have to be bang-on when it comes to naming your website. Here is how to get it right.

2

The search bar is a star

Remember why Google became so popular? Yes, the search engine and its results did all the magic. Having a search button right on top is a great add-on. It precisely tells the user that you can search for relevant information with one search bar. No clutter. No nonsense. Just like this site.

3

Let your offers be the lead actors. Not the sidekicks

The modern time crunch does not allow users too many seconds on a webpage. Especially, if the users are surfing on their mobiles. In three scrolls, you might lose a potential client or customer. Here’s an interesting statistic:

• 60 per cent of mobile users expect a site to load in 3 seconds or less.
• 74 per cent are willing to wait only 5 seconds for a site to load before leaving.

Get the gist? The secret is to put your propositions or offers upfront on your travel website to create seamless navigation. Especially for the no-nonsense traveller who wants to click, book and get on to their business rather than surfing page after page.

4

A good conversation starts with a great context

Travel websites for tour operators need to define a context. You need to define your exact proposition fair and square. It works both ways, for you and the customer. One, the customer knows exactly what they are getting into. And as a tour operator, you know the audience or niche you want to create. If you are into cycling then say that. If you specialize in arts and culture, let the user know it straight away.

Here’s a great example:

Read the first line of context travel and you know whether it’s for you. It reads
Private Guides and (Very) Small Group Tours for the Intellectually Curious Traveler.

They have defined their audience in one line. Period. They are into small group tours and they are looking for intellectual travellers. Now, it’s for the users to decide whether they want to proceed further.

5

Play and plug

You must have heard of plug and play. Wondering what’s play and plug? By play, we mean rich video content and plug is the process of engaging your customer.

Now, you must be asking why video for a tour operator website? Here’s why you need to ‘pause’ and take a look at these stats.

• 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week
• 87% of online marketers use video content
• One-third of online activity is spent on watching video
• Video on a landing page can increase conversions by 80% or more
• The average user spends 88% more time on a website with video

Now, imagine how much video content you can leverage by uploading videos on various digital platforms, social media and yes, your travel or tour operator website.

Take for example Trafalgar, the minute you land on this website it has quick snippets of video content that’s refreshing and engaging.

6

Package the packages well

Well, selling packages on your website is your make or break moment. And, make sure your travel website does a good job. For starters, make your layouts cleaner and leaner. Complement them with striking images, clean fonts and organized itineraries. Just like the way it’s presented on Trafalgar.

Look at the detailing of tours and packages. It has been well laid out without being cumbersome. The scrolling is seamless and so are the fonts, imagery and itinerary.

7

And here’s what not to do

Even the best of packages and itineraries cannot save a poorly designed tour operator website. If the content is king, a good design is like a commander without which you are sure to lose the battle. Let’s look at an example.

Okay, the good thing about this travel website is its region-specific packages for the Middle East. The flip side is its poor design and layout. Once you land up, you’ll realize that it’s not in tune with the modern designs and layout. It has the early 2000s feel to it. They might have an existing client base but new customers are sure to be disappointed after having a look at this. The content, however, is quite impressive. If you look beyond the design, the way the itineraries are made and presented is really remarkable. If you do packages in the Middle East, this website is a must-follow for you.

8

Mark your territory

Think you want to specialize in a particular region rather than the entire globe? That’s actually not a bad idea. In fact, it can really help if you have localized expertise as it gives you the edge over the competition. Here are a couple of examples:

‘Get up close and personal with Europe’- this travel website provides you inside-out information and travel resources across the length and breadth of Europe.

 

Swim through this site, Travelfish provides a complete know-how of where, why and when of travelling to South East Asia. There’s so much info that you’ll not need another resource.

9

Build a wanderlust community

While it’s good to provide info on your tour operator website about packages and itineraries, it’s far more important to engage your users. One great way to do that is to build a community page where travel operators or enthusiasts can ask and answer any travel related questions. The best travel websites have done it and done it very successfully.

Here’s one site that shows you how:

Trippy lets users connect, ask and answer travel related information. It even ranks the answers, which helps you get various insights from people all over the world.

10

Variety is the spice of the travel lifestyle

We mentioned marking a particular territory. But there are travellers or users that want information across the globe. One minute they are looking for a food tour in New Delhi and the next a walking tour in Barcelona. Here’s a great example of how Viator, the marketplace, does it.

While we are not saying that a marketplace is something you should be building, you should definitely be integrating with Viator– and you can do this with Vacation Labs!

11

Be content with your content

The rule of thumb when it comes to content on your travel website, update it regularly. This is especially important as you can improve your rankings on Google. One great way to begin is by starting a blog and updating it regularly. Use social media as far as possible to engage new users and maintain your existing client base. Struggling with content? Maybe we can help with our full-fledged content services.  

Ready to succeed with Vacation Labs?

Want to take your tour operator business or travel website places? Whether it’s content, design or planning your itineraries, we at Vacation Labs will find the right formula and mix for your business with our travel experts. Just like we have done for 200+ travel companies in a short span of time. So, calling all tour operators, this is your call to get onboard Vacation Labs! Fasten your seatbelts!