tour operations management

Tour Management: Efficient Ways to Get Things Done

Are you looking for a complete guide on how to manage a tour? Look no further! In this article, we will provide you with all the information a tour manager needs to know in order to make your tour a success.

It doesn't matter if you are running a concert tour or a hop-on-hop-off city tour , taking care of day-to-day operations can quickly consume too much time without efficient management.

From planning and organizing to training tour guides and marketing and promoting, we will cover it all! So read on and get ready to take your tour business to the next level!

A Guide for Tour Operators

Running a successful tour requires effective management. Your tour needs to kick off without a hitch if you want it to be successful.

Aspects such as planning, organizing, marketing, and promoting the tour, as well as handling any issues that may arise, are all included in what a tour operator handles.

By managing your tour business effectively, you can ensure that your customers have a pleasant experience and that your business is profitable.

In this post, we will cover tour management:

What are the basics of tour business management?

• How can a tour manager effectively plan and organize a tour?
• What is the most effective way to market and promote a tour?

Let's begin with the basics.

Tours run smoothly when they are managed efficiently. Managing a tour involves a lot more than just herding people from one place to another.

Tour managers are responsible for both the administrative side, such as booking hotels and transportation, as well as the operational side, like keeping the tour on schedule.

But a tour manager also needs to be a people person, able to manage both tour guides and anyone working for your tour company. After all, it's the tour manager's job to make sure everyone has a great time.

Here are the areas of management that every tour manager and all touring professionals need to know:

Resource Management

To achieve a truly outstanding customer experience, you need to ensure that your tours and activities do not get overbooked so that you can deliver a fantastic guest experience.

A packed tour can make you feel like you are part of a cattle call, and you don't want your guests to feel that way!

What can you do to prevent overbooking?

Use a booking system with resource manager functionality. This way, you can limit your trips to available resources if one or more of your tours or activities rely on the same resources - like bikes, guides, or boats. You can also block off a resource for routine maintenance for a few days.

No overbooking means happy customers...and that's good for your tour company business!

Distribution Channel Management

A channel management tool can simplify your management if you're using online travel agencies and marketplaces, like Viator and Expedia.

Using channel management tools, you can connect all of your booking channels to one central system, making it easy to update your listings, availability, and pricing.

Not only will this save you time, but you'll also avoid double bookings and overbookings. Plus, you can make sure your customers see the most up-to-date info with real-time updates.

Managing Tour Guides and Staff

As a tour operator, you have a variety of responsibilities every day. The job description can be long, which includes juggling day-to-day operations, helping guests, hiring local guides and managing them. Your tour guides are one of the most helpful resources you'll have. You can tell a good tour guide by the quality of their service.

As your business grows, you'll need more staff or tour guides to handle the growth. More staff means more onboarding and tour guide training .

But don't just copy your current operations and management processes.

Consider simplifying and streamlining your systems instead.

Consider switching to a booking system that gives your tour guides rough idea to clear details about upcoming trips. By doing this, tour guides will always know how many guests to expect, the age group to host, and what special requirements they need to be aware of.

How do I plan and organize a tour?

Everything from managing your calendar to tracking bookings to connecting with guests to invoicing and payments requires management.

What can you do to make sure you're doing it right?

To begin with, know what each area of administration needs.

Booking Management

Is your tour and activity booking process efficient? You could be losing out on potential bookings if you use a contact form or email address for booking inquiries.

Consider using an online booking system instead.

Need help managing refunds and cancellations?: 5 Tips On How To Manage Tour Cancellation Policy In 2022

Booking systems make it easy for customers to see available times and dates, choose the one that fits their needs, and make a booking right away. You can automate key tasks like sending confirmation emails and reminders, so you can focus on providing a great experience.

We've got a magic link feature to help activity operators deal with guest booking changes. Guests can manage their bookings, change dates, or convert them into vouchers.

Find out more about the magic link here . 

Receiving and managing payments.

When it comes to payments, you want to give your customers as many options as possible. That's why you need a payment gateway for your online bookings on your website, like Stripe, SumUp, Adyen, and PayPal- so you can accept online payments.

But you don't want to stop there.

You also want a Point-of-Sale solution for your business, so you can accept payments in person, too.

With a payment gateway and Point-of-Sale solution, you'll be able to take down payments and deposits, so you can make sure that your business is always running smoothly. And the cool part is that your customers will have more options to pay , which means convenience for them. 

Calendar Management

It's easy to overbook or make mistakes when you're keeping track and managing your calendar manually. Additionally, you might not utilize your capacity because you are concerned about overbooking guides or resources.

Live inventory booking systems ensure that your bookings are updated across all channels.

Additionally, you can sync your Google Calendar. This allows you to easily see upcoming tours and activities and avoid overbooking . Moreover, its a key part to maximize your business capacity.

Keeping in touch with customers

Pre- and post-trip notifications are an excellent way to streamline your business and improve customer satisfaction.

Your customers will receive email and SMS reminders to bring the things they need to complete a great tour experience. In addition, you can inform them of any changes to an upcoming trip.

By sending them an email after the trip, guests can also provide more feedback about their recent tour. With this system, you can save time and money while providing customers with a better experience. 

How do you price a tour?

Tour operators' business plans depend heavily on pricing. Choosing the right price for your tour will influence the tone of your entire business and help you stand out from your competitors.

When planning a fee structure for tours, factor in your target market and the types of tours your business will offer.

Consider these questions when pricing your tour:

• How are competitors targeting their tours?
• Organizing a tour can be expensive, so how do you balance customer interest with costs?

You can price your tour business using two main strategies: raising the price and lowering it . As with any strategy, there are advantages and disadvantages.

The most common strategy for tour businesses is to mark up their prices. By setting your prices higher, you are able to generate a larger profit.

One drawback of this strategy is that it can sometimes make it difficult to attract customers as it prices your tours out of the market.

Marking-down

Instead of raising your prices, you'll lower them to generate a smaller profit by marking them down.

You can use this strategy if you're trying to attract a large customer base since lower prices are usually more attractive.

The downside is that you won't make as much profit per tour.

What is the best way to market and promote a tour?

Marketing and promoting a tour can be a tricky task. With a dash of creativity and effort, it can be a great way to boost sales . The most effective way to market a tour is through a combination of traditional methods and digital media.

Reaching Local Audiences with Traditional Marketing

Traditional marketing techniques, such as flyers and brochures, can be effective at reaching local audiences. Displaying marketing materials in high-traffic areas, such as airports or hotels, is a cost-effective way to reach potential customers.

Attracting International Guests with Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is also essential for reaching a wider audience, including international guests. Utilizing social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is a great way to promote a tour.

"83% of US adults want to book their trips online" - Over 60 Online Travel Booking Statistics (2022) by StratosJets

Tour Reviews Matter

Additionally, leveraging customer reviews is an excellent way to generate word-of-mouth marketing. After every great tour, be sure to ask guests to leave reviews on your own website or on popular travel review sites , such as TripAdvisor , TrustPilot , or Google Reviews .

Start thinking by figuring out which platform people prefer. When you ask for reviews, add a little personal touch. It'll get you far in the long run. Popular tour operators can prove this tested method of marketing. You'll get more bookings with more positive reviews.

By using a combination of traditional and digital marketing techniques, you can effectively promote your tour and attract more guests. Spend time keeping tracking of your marketing strategy's growth, then tweak it if necessary.

Get started with digital growth hacking with our free guide: SEO For Tour Operators: 4 Tactics To Generate More Leads

Use the Right Online Booking System for Your Tours

Ultimately, it all comes down to how effectively you manage your tours and activities.

Choose the right online booking solution!

An effective booking system will streamline all your administrative tasks, and improve regular communication between you and your guests and with your team. It also helps you plan and organize your tours more efficiently.

Whether you are running a grand cruise tour or smaller tours , tour managers of all sizes and touring professionals in the tourism industry all need the right tools to maximize time management.

An online booking system is definitely worth considering if you wish to improve tour management. 

Getting Started Finding the Right Booking System for your Tours:

• Distillery Tour Booking Software: 10 Must-Have Features
• Zoo Software: 8 Must-Have Features For Tour Operators
• How To Find The Best Online Booking Software For Tour Operators

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Why a Mobile-Friendly Booking Engine is Important in Selling Tours and Activities

How Zoo Ticketing Software Helps in Managing Visitor Capacity

10 Simple Ways to Supercharge Your Tour and Activity Business with Keyword Research

What is a Tour Operator Software System?

Keep Reading

Save time by simplifying daily operations & grow revenue by marketing smart. All of these require effective management. Here's what works!

Travel agency and tour operation

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Travel agencies and tour operators are two related but can be independent business models that operate as intermediaries between suppliers and tourists. In many cases, travel agencies are also tour operators and vice versa, particularly in countries other than the United States . This is understandable considering the history of their evolution in different countries.

Structure and history

Travel agencies can be defined as a sector that books, sells, and arranges travel , tour , and accommodation services provided by suppliers of the industry (Bhatia 2013 ). Some are primarily engaged in making travel arrangements and reservation services. These agencies include online-only booking systems such as Expedia.com. Others offer their own packages and thus act as tour operators.

Tour operators are businesses that plan, package, market, and sell multiple vacation elements, including air or surface transportation and accommodations (USTOA 2014 ). Package tours are generally sold through travel...

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Bhatia, A. 2013 The Business of Travel Agency and Tour Operations Management. New Delhi: Sterling Publishers.

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Meyer, J., and C. Oster 1987 Deregulation and the Future of Intercity Passenger Travel. Boston: MIT Press.

Stevens, L. 1990 Guide to Starting and Operating a Successful Travel Agency. Clifton Park: Cengage Learning.

USTOA 2014 United States Tour Operators Association www.ustoa.com (20 April).

Zhou, Z. 2004 E-commerce and Information Technology in Hospitality and Tourism. New York: Delmar.

Zhou, Z., and L. Lin 2000 The Impact of the Internet on the Use of the Print Brochure. Proceedings of the CHRIE’s Annual Conference, 19-22 July, New Orleans, Louisiana.

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School of Hotel and Tourism Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

Honggen Xiao

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Zhou, Z. (2014). Travel agency and tour operation. In: Jafari, J., Xiao, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Tourism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-01669-6_206-1

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Tour Operators

Tour operator is an organization, firm, or company who buys individual travel components, separately from their suppliers and combines them into a package tour, which is sold with their own price tag to the public directly or through middlemen, is called a Tour Operator .

More precise tour operators are primarily responsible for delivering and performing the services specified in a given package tour. They can provide these services themselves as some have their own cars and coaches, hotels, and other travel-related services or can obtain these from the other suppliers. That is why they are called manufacturers of tourism products .

Tour operators are sometimes called wholesalers but this is partially true because a wholesaler buys goods and services in bulk at his own account to prepare a tour package and then retails it through the travel agencies or directly to clients. However, a tour operator who has his own one or more tourists products components, (SOTC, TCI, Thomas Cook, Indo Asia KUONI formulates a new tourist product for example ‘ inclusive tours .’

Tour operators generally offer a variety of package tours to cater to the needs of different kinds of travelers.

Definitions of Tour Operator

Poyther (1993) defines, “tour operator is  one who has the responsibility of putting the tour ingredients together, marketing it, making reservations and handling actual operation.”

Holloway (1992) stated that tour operations undertake a distinct function in the tourism industry, they purchase separate elements of tourism products/services and combine them into a package tour which they sell directly or indirectly to the tourists.

Today, tour operators have become highly competitive. They endeavor to achieve a high volume of turnover, and maximum International and domestic market share by effectively operating. Moreover, the success of many developed and developing nations as tourists destinations depend heavily on a tour operator’s ability to attract tourists, development and promotion of tourism plant, diversification of tourism product and their social responsibilities to develop a remote and backward area.

Types of Tour Operators

Tour operators are basically categorized into four types . These are categories on the basis of their nature of the business and its operations.

Inbound Tour Operators

Outbound tour operators, domestic tour operators.

• Ground Operators

These are also known as incoming tour operators . Technically, the operators who receive guests, clients/tourists, and handle arrangements in the host country are c alled inbound tour operators . For example, a group of American Tourists is coming through TCI Ltd. to India and the company makes arrangements and handles the group in India then TCI is called an inbound tour operator.

Incidentally, the inbound traffic to the country for the last two decades has been decreasing. Essentially the tour operators need to adopt innovative marketing strategies and should introduce a special interest tour to cater the special needs of Japanese, Americans, French and British people.

Tour operator who promote tours for foreign destinations, maybe business tour or leisure tour is called outbound tour operators . For example a group of American tourists going to a trip of India and Thomas Cook handle arrangement in America like as ticket reservation, hotel booking etc. then Thomas Cook is called Outbound Tour operators in the context of America.

Domestic tour operators are those who assemble, combine tourist components into inclusive tours and sell it to the domestic travelers. In general, these tour operators provide travel services within the tourist’s native country.

The domestic tour operators operate within the boundary of the home country and offer package tour to the travelers viz. Domestic inclusive tours or independent tours.

Ground Operators/Destination Management Companies

These are commonly known as handling agencies and their main function is to organize tour arrangements for incoming tourists on the behalf of overseas operators. Let us take the case of India as a destination that – has a varied culture.

When a tour operator himself promotes beach holidays, wildlife holidays, adventure tours, heritage tours at the different places, the difficulty arises. It is the ground operator then who by handling the incoming travelers in the same season but at different places ensures that the entire operation is according to the package tours or agreements.

Sometime when a handling agency is at a prominent tourist place i.e., Delhi and it has to make arrangements to Goa, then it contracts (If it has no office of its own) with a local operator (known as excursion agent) to handle the arrangement on his behalf.

Why Ground Operators?

Obviously, the tour operation companies do not have close contact with suppliers, governments, destinations and so on. It leaves no choice with the companies but to appoint handling agencies at the destinations.  The main reasons are:

• Introduction of new products or plant to promote an exotic destination.
• Lack of Government regulations.
• Lack of personal contract.
• Language problem.
• The company cannot establish its own branch.

Recognizing the very fact that the reputation, performance, and profitability of tour company in its own market largely depends on the efficiency and effectiveness of ground operators, it has because necessary for the company to consider various factors before the selection of a handling agency, they are:

• Size of business
• Professional staff
• Length of business
• Area of operation/Product line
• Market share

Functions of Ground Tour Operators

Over the years of functions and activities of the destination, companies have changed drastically to cope with the changing environment of the tourism industry. In fact, today’s destination companies have become more professional and are bound to provide personalized travel services to the tourists. The following functions are performed by ground tours operators:

• Land arrangement
• Contract and Negotiate with other vendors
• Handling of Arrival and departure procedure
• Planning and organizing local package tour
• Escorting the tourists
• Providing market information
• Costing and pricing package tour

Practically, if we see the working of the travel agencies and tour operators in the industry we find that most of the organizations are performing different types of activities like the retail travel agency , wholesale travel agency, and tour operators.

The travel agency business is no longer an amateurism. Over the last two decades, the pattern and structure of travel agencies have changed to meet tough challenges in the international market. Today, small-scale agencies are finding the travel industry increasingly complex.

Thus, the small and medium scale travel agencies are disappearing or merging or falling instead of rising. On the other hand, a new concept has also emerged i.e. tour operation business . The tour operation business is new but a maturing business at the global level.

Functions of Tour Operator

A tour operator is an organization, firm, or person who is responsible for the actual arrangement of transport and accommodation facilities on any tour or vacations. They are also responsible for operating and providing vacation through contracting, booking, and packaging together of the various components of the tour such as hotel, transportation, meals, guides, optional tours, and sometimes flights.

A tour operator is like a service provider, providing the most convenient option for tourists to stay, visit, as well as leave from the city. A tour operator owns a high volume of travel services across carriers, services, and accommodation. Some most important functions of the tour operators are following as:

Planning a Tour

The most important functions of the tour operators are planning a tour. Tour operators plan a tour and make tour itinerary which contains the identification of the origin, destination and all the stopping point in a traveler’s tours. A prospective tour operator also gives advice to intending tourists in various types of tour programmes, which they may choose for their leisure or commercial travel.

Making Tour Package

Tour operator buys individual travel components, separately from there suppliers and combines them into a package tour. Tour operators make tour package by assembling various travel components into a final product that is called tour package which is sold to tourist with own price tag. Making tour packages is also an important function of Tour Operator.

Arranging a Tour

Tour operators make tour package and also arrange a tour according to tourist demands. Tour operators arrange the tour package and various tourists activities to provide the best experience to tourists/traveler.

Travel Information

Whatever the size of tour operators, it has provided necessary travel information to the tourists. This task is utterly difficult and very complicated. A tour operator must give up-to-date, accurate and timely information regarding destinations, modes of travel, accommodation, sightseeing, immigration, health and security rules about various permits required to travel in a particular area etc.

Reservation

It is a very important function of all type tour operators and travel agencies. Tour operator makes all the reservation by making linkages with accommodation sector, transport sector and other entertainment organizations to reserve rooms, and seats in cultural programmes and transportation.

Travel Management

Tour operators manage tour from beginning to the end of the tour. A tour operator has the responsibility to look after the finer details of a vacation or tour such as hotel, accommodation, meals, conveyance etc. Tour operators provide travel guide, escorting services and arrange all travel related needs and wants.

Evaluate the Option Available

Tour operators evaluate all available options to provide a unique or unforgettable travel experience to tourists during their journey. Tour operators evaluate the various options available for a tour package and provide best of them to tourists.

Tour Operators makes tour packages and promote them into various tourists markets at domestic as well international level. Tour operators promote a travel destination to attract a large group of tourists at domestic as well as international level. In the promotion of tourist destination, tour operators play a key role. Travel agencies or tour operators are called as image builder of a country.

Sales and Marketing

Tour operators do sales and marketing of tourist products. Tour operators buy individual travel components, separately and combine them into a tour package, which is sold with their own price tag to the public directly. Tour operators do marketing of tourist destinations and tourism product to attracts the attention of the tourists/travelers.

Taking Care of Glitch

Tours operators are also called handling agencies which handles tour package and take care of all the glitches and problems arises during a tour package. Tour operators fix the glitches and provide the best available alternative to tourists during their journey.

Importance of Tour Operators

Tours operators play a key role in the tourism sector. Tour operators create tourist products, promote them a finally sold them to tourists.

Tour operators provide the best and competitive price to the tourist. Tour operators negotiate with suppliers of tourism products such as hotels, airlines and provide the best possible price to the tourist. Tour operators buy tourist products in bulk and get huge discounts from suppliers. So that they provide tourist products at a cheap price.

Tour operators organized a tour in the best way. They personalize and make sure each and every component of the tour is well-taken care. Tour operators provide the best travel experience during a tour. Tour operators save tourists time and money.

Tour operators provide immediate support systems at the host country as well as a foreign land. When tourists travel to a foreign land and things get uncertain, maybe its a health or loss of documents and need to return back or change of travel plan. A qualified tour operator takes care of all these unseen events with efficiency.

Tour operator caters to the needs of tourists on the based on their taste of travel. Tour operator provides all the best available option according to tourist needs and demands

Difference between Travel Agent and Tour Operator

There is a lot of confusion about the difference between tour operators and travel agents what exactly makes them different. The main difference between a Travel agent and Tour operator are following as:

• A travel agent is a person who has full knowledge of tourist product – destinations, modes of travel, climate, accommodation, and other areas of the service sector. He acts on the behalf of the product providers/principals and in return get a commission.
• Tour operator is an organization, firm, or company that buys individual travel components, separately from their suppliers and combines them into a package tour, which is sold with their own price tag to the public directly or through middlemen.
• Tour operators are like wholesalers and travel agents are the retailers.
• A tour operator makes the package holidays up and the travel agents sell them on.
• Tour operator taking up the bulk of the responsibilities and his fee is obviously much greater than a travel agent.
• A tour operator has the responsibility to look after the finer details of a vacation or tour such as hotel, accommodation, meals, conveyance, etc.

The wholesale travel agencies may offer or operate the package tours or may specialize in developing tours for inbound as well as outbound travelers. They are often referred to as tour operators, but there is a difference between Wholesale Travel Agencies and Tour operators .

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Tour Operators and Operations: Development, Management & Responsibility Paperback – December 19, 2017

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• Print length 292 pages
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• Publisher CABI
• Publication date December 19, 2017
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1780648235
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ CABI (December 19, 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781780648231
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• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.8 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• #3,704 in Hospitality, Travel & Tourism (Books)
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About the author

Jacqueline holland.

Jacqueline Holland grew up in Ohio and Southern California. She's lived in Chicago, New York, Kansas City, and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. For the sake of their two sweet, poor sons, Jacqueline and her husband, fellow itinerant artist, Peter Holland, are now attempting to stay put in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Jacqueline holds an M.F.A. from The University of Kansas, and her short fiction has been published and recognized in a variety of magazines and contests including Glimmer Train and Big Fiction Magazine. Her debut novel, The God of Endings, is forthcoming from Flatiron Books, and will be translated into Spanish, Russian, and Croatian. Find her on Instagram @jacquelinehollandauthor or visit Jacquelineholland.com

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9 ways tour operators can optimize their tours in the new normal

By Kevin Tjoe — 8 Mar 2022

business tips   customer experience   new normal   operations

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the travel industry, and tour operators have had to adapt and make changes to their operations. There’s no denying that every travel-related business felt the sting of the pandemic. However, with the crisis slowly subsiding travel will inevitably start picking up soon. Now that many countries around the world are finally opening their borders and lifting their COVID-19 restrictions, tour operators can prep for the peak season and start to optimize business and their operations.

In this article, w e’ve outlined the top 9 tips you should take to heart in 2022. These tips will help you bolster your business, get more bookings, and ensure success in the new normal. 

1. Understand the needs of your customers

Customer demand and sensibilities change over time. Socio-economic conditions and other drivers will affect the popularity of different tourist locations and the tours they offer.

While the locations you offer your tours might always be popular, there’s no denying that the sensibilities and unique requirements of your customers may change. This is what’s happening right now in the post-pandemic world.

The COVID-19 crisis might be subsiding , but that doesn’t mean that the customers themselves are coming out of it unchanged. Their priorities have shifted, primarily towards:

• Health and safety
• Contactless technologies
• Expecting tour companies to adhere to COVID prevention measures
• A streamlined digital booking processes, and digitization in general
• Flexible cancellation terms with full or partial refunds

A post-COVID-19 customer might be eager to book your tour. But along with prioritizing the prices and the experiences tour operators offer, they’re now extra cautious when it comes to COVID restrictions, sudden changes to travel plans and tours, as well as their personal health and safety. Keep all of that in mind when crafting your strategy for the new normal.

2. Monitor COVID-19 restrictions and changes

Aside from researching and analyzing the demand and the needs of your target demographic, you also need to conduct industry, market, and competitor research. This is essential not just for creating a business plan but also for optimizing it in these uncertain times.

Make sure to keep a close eye on the current political trends in countries and local areas where you operate. And try to always stay up to date should the authorities institute any new restrictions.

Reacting in a timely manner and notifying your customers of any changes will allow both parties to adapt quickly. It also prevents you from losing business. Should one of the locations impose any new restrictions, you can communicate the change across all your brand-customer touchpoints. Ultimately, this can help you and your customers work towards a mutually-beneficial solution.

When this happens, instead of giving people a refund immediately, you want to have enough time to come up with other options. These could include new dates or alternative match-value tours.

3. Use video marketing to attract the post-COVID demographic

Business owners will need to invest heavily in marketing in the new normal. Creating a marketing strategy will help to spike interest and boost demand in the travel industry. Given the fact that prospective tourists are extra concerned for their health and the health of their loved ones, many are still reluctant to book tours or make any definite travel arrangements.

While this is understandable, it doesn’t mean that you should let customers slip through your fingers. Instead, you should use your brand’s voice and reach to engage, incentivize, and inspire your audience to take action.

One of the best ways to do this in your niche is through engaging tour videos . You can easily create promotional videos that don’t just focus on the tour, but the perks that matter in the new normal.

Almost all free video editing software today has the features you need to piece together promo videos that are both entertaining and informational. By overlaying snippets from your tours and locations over a compelling narrative, you can easily inspire trust and peace of mind in your audience. 

4. Leverage AI-driven tools to reduce call center volumes

The pandemic has affected the industry in many ways, one of them being the exponential rise in call center volumes, especially with tour operators. This should come as no surprise as most customers are now concerned about the state of their booking, and are frequently seeking updates about new restrictions or travel changes .

Higher call center volumes are not bad, because every time you open a line of communication with a customer you have a chance to create a positive outcome. That said, the higher the workload, the more resources you’ll have to put into your call center staff and your communication tools.

The solution here is simple enough —  use chatbot technology to automate repetitive tasks and resolve repetitive issues. Furthermore, you can also create a clearly visible FAQ page on your website. These steps will allow your human staff to focus on the complex problems and work on customer acquisition and retention rather than redundancies. Your chatbot and FAQ page will answer menial questions, deliver information quickly, and even open cross-sell and up-sell opportunities. 

5. Add subtitles to your promo videos to boost engagement

We mentioned briefly the importance of video marketing in the travel industry, and how you should leverage videos to build engagement, generate bookings, and revive the demand in your industry. That’s all great, but how do you optimize your videos to boost bookings in the post-Covid world?

One effective strategy is to add subtitles to your videos. Here’s why:

• Subtitles make your content easier to follow and understand
• 83% of digital content consumers watch videos with the sound off
• Creative subtitling can enhance the engagement value of your videos

Adding subtitles to your videos should be a simple and straightforward process, and a good subtitle editor will have all the drag-and-drop features you need to do it quickly. The results, however, will be well worth the investment, as you start to disseminate your videos across the web.

6. Use contactless tech to prioritize health and wellness

While the pandemic might be dying down, the new normal will continue to witness a rise in contactless technologies. This is extremely important as businesses continue to invest and prioritize customer health and safety. In 2022 and the years to come, travelers will expect business leaders to digitize their processes as much as possible. This will help to minimize the risk of exposure and contagion.

You as a business owner must do your part to safeguard your company and customers. With that in mind, it’s important to invest in some contactless tech — the sooner, the better.

Here are some of the technologies to consider:

• Contactless employee cards to monitor location and staffing
• Contactless check-ins for tour-goers via dynamic QR codes and mobile apps
• Online booking systems with zero on-site requirements
• Automated disinfection, hygiene booths, and UV light stations

These technologies are just some of the health and safety solutions you can invest in to inspire more people to book their tour with you now and into the future. 

7. Utilize social platforms as much as possible to optimize business

Boosting the demand for your services in a post-pandemic world will greatly depend on how active you are on social channels . This is a community effort, requiring all business leaders in the sector to contribute, but you can and should do your part.

That said, getting started early with social media marketing allows you to stand out from your competitors. Again, you’re in the tourism industry, so you should leverage visual content as much as possible on your social profiles.

Different social platforms favor different video formats and styles, so you can play around with editing and tailoring your videos for each. For instance, on TikTok, it pays to know how to change background in video so that you can showcase different tours and locations behind the presenter. You can do this on Instagram as well, but on Facebook you might want to stick to longer promotional videos.

However, don’t forget to keep publishing quality articles that will help you drive traffic to your website. 

8. Smaller tour groups, more frequent tours

Scaling your operation in the new normal is not an easy challenge, and there are many factors that may be out of your control. Now that customers are placing additional emphasis on their health and safety, many are apprehensive about touring in large groups . So you might need to rethink your scheduling and tour-group sizes.

One possible solution is to start offering more frequent tours but for smaller groups. Taking steps like this can help put peoples’ minds at ease, and even help you market your tourism business as one that cares about its customers’ safety concerns in the new normal. 

Specifically, a big part of your marketing strategy should be about the great lengths you’ve gone to keep your customers safe. You simply can’t do that effectively if you push people into large tour groups. 

9. Invest in staff education and training

Last but not least, one of the key ways to ensure success in the new normal is to invest in staff training and education. Your employees are the face of your brand, and to make sure they represent it in the best possible light, they need to know exactly how to handle the post-COVID crowd.

Make sure to run specialized training sessions to educate your staff on proper wording and safety practices. Training your staff to adhere to new safety practices is needed to succeed as part of the new normal. Your employees should adhere to proper hygiene, wear masks, avoid physical contact, and encourage (or even incentivize) others to do the same.

Unfortunately, poor staff training is still one of the biggest mistakes tour operators are making this year, so don’t fall for this common pitfall.

Start optimizing your business for 2022

In the new normal, tour operators will need to ensure to align their processes. These processes vary from operations, marketing, and communication in order to attract more customers. All while simultaneously adhering to post-COVID-19 rules in different locations and countries. Make sure to implement these best practices throughout 2022, and you should have no problem getting more tour bookings by inspiring trust and goodwill in your customers.

Once you have successfully optimized your tour business to fit the new normal, you’ll need to be equipped with the right tools for a smoother workflow. An online booking software will help you optimize your business operations, making it not only more efficient for you but also for your customers. For instance, an online booking software like Rezdy will help simplify your admin and booking processes. Rezdy features a real-time availability viewer, automatic email reminders, integration to over 20 payment gateways, and a detailed reporting metrics system that will help you understand your overall business performance.

On top of all those features, Rezdy booking software customers have the benefit of free access to the largest reseller network within the Experiences Industry – Rezdy Channel Manager .

Curious to see how Rezdy will fit your business needs? Start a   FREE 21-day trial today or book a demo .

If you enjoyed this article then make sure to follow the  Rezdy  blog . There are a lot of marketing tools and tour operator tips designed with businesses like yours in mind.

Geoffrey Scott is a prolific content creator and copy editor with 5+ years of experience writing blog posts, landing pages, product reviews, product copy, and more. He currently works as the head of content at ResumeGenius.com and BigPDFConverter.com , and writes regularly for sites like Movavi.com and GoDaddy.com on the weekends.

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Tour Operations

ICM Professional Diploma Unit

The Fundamental Working Structure of Tour Operating

• Learning objectives
• Introduction
• Features of the tour operator’s product
• The main categories of tour operator
• Domestic tour operators
• Specialist tour operators
• Incoming tour operators
• Independent contractors and producer-owned companies
• Setting up a tour operating company
• The market-place for tour operators
• The tour operating company

The Planning, Pricing and Production of the Package Programme

• Planning a programme of package holidays
• The outline stages involved in the planning of a tour programme

The Tour Operators’ Products and Destinations

• The short-haul product – Europe
• The long-haul product
• Holiday product types

Tour Operating Marketing

• Advertising
• Direct marketing through the media
• The internet revolution for tour operators

The Brochure

• The booking form
• Brochures: the legal position

Administration Procedures

• Administration departments
• Manual reservation systems
• Computerised reservations systems
• Holiday documentation
• Other administrative functions
• The role of the sales representative
• Recruitment and training

Operations Overseas

• The overseas department
• The overseas staff
• Resort representatives
• Ski resort staff
• Campsite organisers
• Adventure tour leaders
• Cruise company employees
• What happens in emergencies?
• Questions and discussion points

Tour Operating and the Law

• Introduction to the history of legislation and control
• The package travel, package holidays and package tours regulations 1992
• Consumer law
• Bonding of holidays
• The CAA and bonding of holidays with an air travel component
• Air Travel Trust Fund (ATTF)
• Insurance law
• Tour operators’ trade associations
• Discussion point

Travel Patterns and Trends

• An overview of destination trends
• The future picture
• Fighting back

The Impact of Tour Operations on Destinations

• Factors which can affect a tour operator’s programme
• Access and transport
• Tour operators’ reactions

Case Studies and Press Articles on the Travel Industry

• Tapestry Holidays
• Warsaw Convention airline case
• Operators face fuel rap too
• Destination marking
• Cruise venture
• The grey market
• Sustainable travel
• Virtual brochures

Example Candidate Response Booklet

Example Candidate Response (ECR) Booklets are a source of crucial information for Centres and Candidates as they use real candidate responses. We ask Senior Examiners to comment on five or more responses in terms of why the mark was awarded with commentary about how to improve the answer (if necessary).

Recommended Reading

Main text: ‍.

The Holiday Organisers – Christopher Mace

Indicative Text:

Alternative text and further reading:.

Phone: +44 (0) 1202 490 55 5

Email: [email protected]

Address: ICM House, Yeoman Road, Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 3FA, UK

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