Open Connectivity for Tours, Activities & Attractions (or OCTO  as it is known) was founded in 2019 as a non-profit organization by a consortium of booking and ticketing system providers, distributors, operators, attractions, and other companies.

Based on open source technology, OCTO’s mission is to develop and promote the adoption of standardized technology and software specifications across the industry.

How do the OCTO API specifications help our industry?

OCTO aims to simplify connectivity by seamlessly integrating multiple systems for the tours, activities, attractions and experiences industry.

Instead of a tour operator or activity provider having to invest in bespoke technology development for each API connection, standardization significantly reduces costs while providing a seamless customer journey to the clients.

You can think of an API (or Application Programming Interface) as a tour guide at a local attraction. Just as a tour guide provides information and connects the various parts of the attraction to its audience, an API provides a technical entry point to connect and access the software application.

Without the standardized OCTO API specifications, technology companies in our industry would develop multiple APIs based on individual specifications and customized for a specific connection.

Technology improvements continue to gain momentum

Tourism as a whole has historically lagged behind other industries in terms of technology investment.

Due to their size, many small tour operators and activity providers don’t have technology specialists on staff and lack the resources to build integrations with external tech partners. Larger suppliers, on the other hand, have focused on delivering custom integrations to enhance and differentiate their offerings – leveraging larger budgets and in-house specialists.

Over the past decade, however, the situation has begun to change.

The rise of online travel agencies (OTAs) and other digital platforms has accelerated the pace of innovation, and travel and activity providers have invested in new technologies to keep pace with the market.

The challenges of collaboration and interoperability

Typically, a company would develop its own technical protocol for receiving and exchanging information, which meant that every time one organization wanted to interface with another, it would have to create a custom connection to that new partner.

With so many providers, it has been difficult for technology partners to integrate their systems and ensure that data is exchanged properly and that the customer experience is frictionless.

We must also consider that the tour and activity sector is highly fragmented, with many different providers offering a wide range of experiences. This fragmentation has made it difficult to create a unified system that works seamlessly across multiple providers and experiences.

Part of OCTO’s role is to foster a culture of cooperation and openness to discuss these complex issues. Ultimately, the main goal of developing common standards is to build partnerships and collaborate effectively.

OCTO Specification: One API Standard Across the Board

So OCTO decided to address the connectivity challenges by collaboratively developing an industry-standard API specification. The association provides an open source specification (the OCTO Spec) that allows booking systems suppliers to connect their software to OTAs and other resellers.

Rather than each company developing its own API and requiring custom integrations, a standardized API specification allows operators to connect with suppliers much more quickly.

Legacy Tech that Needs to be Updated

To overcome these challenges, the industry needs to establish common connectivity standards and protocols that enable seamless communication between systems and technologies, much like ensuring that the pieces of a puzzle fit together.

According to Phocuswright and their study The Outlook for Travel Experiences 2019-2025, more than seven out of 10 operators reported using the downtime of the pandemic to make significant investments in their websites, digital marketing, and software.

So while the COVID pandemic had a huge impact on business, it also provided an opportunity to look internally at how companies operate and how to improve efficiency through better integration and connectivity.

OCTO – An Open API Standard that Removes the Barriers to Collaboration

OCTO is independent, not affiliated with any company or group of companies. The organization is run and managed by a group of volunteers with no commercial bias or ties to any company in the industry.

Part of OCTO’s success is due to its ability to get everyone in the same room to educate the industry and start having some of the hard conversations about how to address the connectivity pain points.

OCTO aims to create a unified platform to facilitate communication and data exchange between various stakeholders, including tour operators, travel agencies, distribution channels and technology providers.

Regiondo wants to use its position as a founding member of OCTO to work towards improving the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the industry by promoting the use of the open API specification, which will make it easier for technology partners to communicate with each other using a common language.

By adopting the OCTO specifications as our chosen API for connecting to our partners, we can help minimize inefficiencies and errors, and make integration easier.

Having a technical standard significantly reduces the cost and time required to build additional integrations in the future. This means that the focus and allocation of partner resources can be on innovation and improving the end-user experience, rather than custom connections.

Ultimately, OCTO makes it easier (and less expensive!) for buyers and sellers to do business together.

Use Regiondo to build better relationships

Overall, OCTO is an important development for the travel industry industry as it has the potential to revolutionize the way companies operate and interact with each other.

The standardization of connectivity will allow our industry to distribute its products much more effectively, fueling growth in the tours and activities segment.

At Regiondo, we want to provide the best experience for tour operators and activity providers. For this reason, being a founding member of OCTO is an important milestone for us.

Throughout the years, we have developed the most efficient APIs to connect with resellers and OTAs, giving our customers a powerful channel manager built into our booking system. Leading the way to a more connected future is the logical next step to grow even further.

Would you like to grow your distribution network, promote your offers on a larger scale and experience the best-in-class connectivity experience? Book a demo with us to learn how your business can take advantage of the OCTO API integration.

The post What is OCTO and why is Regiondo joining as a founding member? appeared first on Regiondo.

Today, we are happy to announce that Regiondo is now recognized as an official tech partner by Google. This means that thanks to our booking system, you’ll be able to reach millions of customers who do travel-related searches on Google daily. Thanks to the visibility guaranteed by the popular search engine, you’ll improve your brand’s image and significantly boost your direct bookings. The best thing (pun intended) is that listing on GTTD is 100% free! Sounds promising, right?

In case you already know what Google Things To Do is, feel free to check out our knowledge base to understand how you can connect this channel to Regiondo. Otherwise, keep reading the following paragraphs; you’re in for a wild ride!

What is Google Things To Do?

If you have been in the industry for a few years, you may wonder what happened to “Reserve with Google” and how Things To Do differs from it. In case you’re new, just know that it was a service launched in 2017, allowing people to search, book, and pay for just about anything travel-related directly from Google Search, Maps, or the Google Reserve search bar. It provided an easy, end-to-end solution for travel and tourism professionals to get their business in front of millions while allowing Google to handle the booking and payment process.

Like Google Reserve, Things To Do functions as a way to connect travel and leisure enthusiasts with businesses and venues that provide relevant services.

Users can access the Things To Do search bar within Google’s Travel App. Type in a location, and Google will work its magic by delivering all there is to see and do in the following categories:

• Top sites
• Top sites by interest (local favorites, kid-friendly, arts and culture, history, museums, outdoors)
• Top experiences
• Notable neighborhoods

Each listing features ratings and reviews, operating hours, and a web results link, which takes users to a SERP featuring the official Google My Business page of the selected listing at the top.

Additionally, any Google search query on a particular destination will feature a ‘Things To Do’ section embedded within the SERP. Likewise, each listing features ratings, operating hours, a short description, and a list of ticket prices from various companies that offer this activity as a standalone product or as a component of a larger tour package.

How is it different from Google Reserve?

Things To Do brings three substantial changes for professionals throughout the travel and leisure industry.

• A revamped customer journey

The most significant change is that instead of booking directly with Google, users are directed to a landing page of the respective partner’s website. Here, businesses can display package options and other services users may be interested in based on their query.

• More marketing and upselling opportunities 

Since Google Things To Do connects users directly to business websites for booking, operators can capitalize on the increased traffic in various ways that we’ll dive into below.

• Greater dependence on ads 

Google Things To Do also offers paid advertising options to participating businesses. As you can imagine, relevant search queries will trigger these ads to appear at the top of the SERP. This will be vital because adding a booking link to the listings is free, which creates a need to stand out from the crowd.

How do tours and activities providers benefit from GTTD?

• More visibility

Google Things To Do opens up more avenues for businesses to be discovered through the Things To Do search bar within the Google Travel App and the Things To Do section near the top of the SERP.

Additionally, because companies can now offer package options for standalone products, you can optimize the booking link of a single package to appear in multiple search results.

• Increased website traffic

With Things To Do, Google makes it possible for your business to appear in more searches and directs users straight to your website or landing page via the booking button. It goes without saying that companies can leverage the increase in traffic in multiple ways.

First, you can optimize your booking links for upselling by creating packages that can appear when triggered by relevant search queries.

Second, more users visiting your website means more foot traffic in your digital store. You can try asking them for their contact information so that you can add them to your mailing list.

Third, a larger traffic volume gives you more detailed data on audience demographics and profiles. Are your booking links attracting more men than women? More seniors than students? More users based out of Asia rather than Europe? Thanks to this information, you can improve your marketing strategy even further.

Last, along with marketing strategy, capturing user data helps create remarketing lists with the intent of boosting ad campaigns.

• Higher revenue potential

Assuming you’ve defined a viable marketing strategy, greater visibility and website traffic will definitely lead to revenue growth, increased average transaction values, and improved ROI.

As we have seen, Google Things To Do empowers you to optimize your content to capitalize on meeting customer needs through targeted upselling opportunities.

Furthermore, increased traffic allows better data collection and analysis so that you can make the most of your marketing and ads budget.

What does the shift to Google Things To Do mean for the travel and leisure industry?

The changes mentioned above carry direct implications for professionals within the travel and leisure industry.

• Updating and maintaining relevant content is crucial

With GTTD, it’s even more critical for tours and activity operators to follow SEO best practices. However, keeping a close watch on the market will be equally, if not more crucial. You should ensure your Google My Business page is up to date to rank well.

Since Google will only include a limited number of booking links, businesses must determine when it’s best to feature booking links related to single-activity products instead of packages. This leads to our next point.

• Package offerings and pricing strategies are key

Google shifting the booking process directly to business websites means that keeping up with current market trends and making data-based decisions is paramount.

Each booking link leads to a more detailed product or package page typically featuring other related services/products that customers may be interested in. Thus, monitoring products/packages, traffic, SEO, and conversion rates will be critical to success.

• Booking systems need to be user friendly

Users click on a booking link. They like what they see on the landing page. Now they’re ready to make a reservation. What could possibly go wrong? An over-complicated booking process.

Tour operators must ensure that their online booking system is fast, easy to use, and reliable. Otherwise, all marketing efforts will lie in ruins among a landscape of abandoned carts and page bounces.                         

• Tour operators will be more dependent on Restech providers

Tour and activity operators will have to devote an extraordinary amount of time to creating, monitoring, and managing listings and bookings. For this reason, they’ll need more sophisticated solutions for content management, SEO/data analysis, and a top-notch online booking system.

This change has made life difficult for tour and activities companies that don’t have proper restech software, which is more in demand than ever.

How do you connect with Google Things To Do?

Because registering with Google Things to do requires a complex integration process, Google highly recommends partnering with a sponsored restech provider to assist with the large data transfer and other technical configurations. As mentioned above, Regiondo is one of the official connectivity partners that can help you join Google Things To Do. 

In 2023, Google has launched a new booking module designed to give more visibility to your product offers. The new module allows you to display your products directly on your Google Business Profile. This means you will have direct booking links integrated into Google’s products (search & maps). The update is designed to drive conversions and requires less maintenance, as your Regiondo offers are updated on Google automatically.

The new module makes it easy for travelers to find your products and book directly from you when they search for your business. This is a great opportunity for you to display your products on Google, get more conversions and grow your revenue.

How to participate?

On Google:

1. Create a Google Business Profile if you don’t already have one.
2. Check if you have the right business category (see here how to set it up). You need to have one of those categories:

• Tour operator
• Travel agency
• Tour agency

     3. Make sure that the ‘Products’ feature is deactivated in your Google Business Profile.

On Regiondo:

• Make sure your supplier information matches your Google Business Profile details
• Categorize your offer
• Activate Things to do channel.

We have prepared a detailed guide on how to connect Regiondo and Google Things to Do to drive more bookings for you. You are also encouraged to talk to one of our product experts to learn more about this exciting opportunity.

Important: Operator’s business must be findable on Google Maps. Operators should register a Google Business Profile for their business in the case the business is not already findable on Google Maps. The new Google module currently works on mobiles only, the desktop version will be supported soon.

Conclusion

Google’s move from Reserve to Things to do is one of the most significant developments within the travel and leisure industry over the last few years. Here are the most noteworthy changes tour and activity businesses need to adapt to.

• Companies, rather than Google, now handle all bookings via direct links to their business websites.
• Expanded search visibility means increased competition and, therefore, a greater need for paid ads.
• Integration with the new system requires a complex configuration which Google recommends be handled by restech providers.

Regiondo makes it easy to generate leads and increase bookings with Google Things To Do 

We’re proud to team up with Google Things to do as an official connectivity partner. We are beyond pleased with the results our customers already see with the new interface; let us help your business experience the same success. Book a free demo to see how easy it is.

Update 02 June 2023: The article has been updated for clarity and to announce a new Google Things To Do update.

The post Here’s What You Need to Know About Google Things To Do appeared first on Regiondo.

Looking for a tool to distribute and manage your offers across multiple OTAs and resellers? Check out Regiondo’s Channel Manager.

Online shopping in the post-Covid era

Over the last couple of years, there has been a noticeable shift in consumer buying behavior. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the paradigm shift from offline to online, and there’s no going back. According to a McKinsey research study, over 60% of consumers worldwide have changed their preferences in favor of online purchases. And as the demand for leisure experiences bounces back, businesses have to rise to the challenge of making themselves heard in a noisy marketplace.

Purchase habits aren’t the only thing that has changed in recent years: nowadays, customers have significantly higher expectations regarding their buying experience. Even when they book a tour from a small operator, they expect the process to be as painless as buying a ticket from a big OTA like Viator and GetYourGuide. This scenario caught off guard many actors in the leisure industry: they’re unprepared to satisfy the new tech-savvy customers and struggle to catch up with more attuned competitors.

Channel marketing and the role of  Viator and GetYourGuide

A successful business needs to optimize those distribution channels that bring customers at the lowest cost and provide the highest revenue and profit. By “distribution channels,” we refer to a network of intermediary businesses that display, promote, and sell your products and services.

Each distribution channel has its advantages and disadvantages (we’ll talk about that later). So, as a leisure company, you need to leverage each platform’s strengths to impact your bottom line positively. As you can easily imagine, spreading the risk by using a mix of channels is more effective than relying on just one. That being said, intermediaries such as OTAs (like the aforementioned Viator and GetYourGuide) have the power and global presence to impact your business.

Viator, GetYourGuide, and the other OTAs

OTAs act as an online marketplace, aggregating inventory and then using their marketing muscles to generate website traffic and sales. As a channel, they tend to have the highest cost of sales because of their commission rates (usually between 20% and 30%). However, their massive volume of visitors can turn into a significant stream of prospective customers.

There is also a positive “billboard” effect on branding, as your business benefits from being in company with other prominent brands and gains the exposure provided by the millions of users that visit OTAs daily. OTAs offer a valuable service, but it comes at a cost. I’m not only referring to their sales fees but also to the risk of losing the ability to engage directly with a customer. After all, they are the ones in control of the relationship.

If you’re a small activity provider, there is no way to match OTAs’ reach. So, the costs associated with a high sales commission are considered a necessary evil — especially during hard times. More often than not, the typical buyer’s journey for a “day tour” customer often starts with a search on an OTA website, usually Viator and GetYourGuide.

Regiondo, the all-in-one booking solution for tours and activities, boasts a channel manager that integrates seamlessly with 200+ OTAs and resellers. This means you don’t have to manage each OTA listing individually. Also, all bookings are stored in the same centralized directory.

Viator

Viator – founded by Rod Cuthbert in Australia in 1995 – was acquired by the TripAdvisor Group in 2014, allowing the OTA to add significantly more inventory to its listings. As the world’s largest online marketplace for day tours, Viator has over 395,000 bookable experiences across 2,500 destinations worldwide. According to Similarweb (a reputable digital intelligence provider), Viator recorded over 30 million monthly visits during the first half of 2023. 50.27% of this traffic comes from the United States, where the OTA is listed among the 1,000 most visited websites of the year.

The relationship with TripAdvisor gives Viator a decisive advantage over its main competitors, given the volume of referral traffic mentioned on the review site. In fact, TripAdvisor is the most popular website in the travel industry worldwide, with over 150 million visits (!) each month. Viator has also forged a strong partnership with the two most important travel agencies for lodging reservations, Booking.com and Expedia.

Anybody can add a listing on Viator, from large tour operators to family-run businesses or even a local expert offering a cycling tour of their town or city. To add inventory to Viator, you need to open a TripAdvisor account. Your listing will appear on both portals (plus their smartphone apps), giving you plenty of visibility. Although the listing is free, Viator has a standard commission rate of 20%. There may also be some other incidental charges, for example, a non-refundable fee that suppliers have to pay for submitting each new product. Viator offers its customers a full refund if they cancel at least 24 hours in advance. As a supplier, you can’t impose a more restrictive cancellation policy on Viator customers.

According to Viator, they have more than 3,500 partner websites globally, and among them, you can find some of the most prominent actors in the travel industry. This provides you with an opportunity to extend your reach to 455+ million visitors that will potentially see your product. As with other OTAs, you can’t contact customers for marketing purposes without permission. Any communication must be aimed either at giving the clients the info they need to enjoy their purchase or at answering a complaint.

If you want to create a listing on Viator (or any other OTA), you need to understand which criteria are adopted to rank the offers. The ranking can be affected by your adherence to the product quality standards or by the size of the commission you offer. So, if you don’t have enough margin to pay higher fees, make sure you have an outstanding listing and provide an excellent customer experience.

GetYourGuide

GetYourGuide (GYG) was established in 2009 and lists over 60,000 tours and activities in over 2,500 destinations across more than 110 countries. Based in Berlin, GYG claims it will find highly relevant experiences for each user. Similarweb reports that GYG receives over 20 million monthly visits, with a strong presence across all of Europe. Over the years, GetYourGuide has formed partnerships with plenty of airlines, hotel chains, and other key players in the tourism industry. Among them, you can find Accor Hotels, EasyJet, Booking.com, Emirates, and Icelandair.

It’s free to sign up with GYG, but you’ll need to be an experienced supplier and show a professional approach to managing your online presence. GYG sets a commission rate between 20% and 30%. The exact amount depends on multiple elements like where the supplier is based, the type of activities offered, and the volume of bookings. Suppliers can request their payouts monthly, but there is also an option to get paid every two weeks (with a surcharge).

GYG is interested in ensuring suppliers create an impactful description and display of their tour or activity. Requesting customer reviews is also encouraged as they also affect how the algorithm ranks your product. From a brand positioning point of view, GYG seems to be more in tune with sustainable tourism. They proactively promote tours and activities that are responsible and environment-friendly. In addition, their content is available in 14 languages, with product listings optimized for each one of them.

Getting the best of both worlds with Viator and GetYourGuide

When it comes down to it, the most significant differences between the two are the size of the network, the reach they can provide, and the commission rates they charge. As we have seen, Viator and GetYourGuide charge suppliers a commission between 20% and 30%.

You’ll want to consider Viator’s enormous reach online, but at the same time, GYG offers a broader selection of different experiences. With the vast inventory on the Viator site, unless you have a product listing that really pops, you may be lost among the competition.

So, when deciding on how both platforms fit and complement your distribution strategy, GYG may be better positioned for targeting the European market, with Viator doing better in North America and the English-speaking areas.

How can I manage multiple sales channels?

Regiondo allows you to automatically list your offers through popular OTAs like Viator and GetYourGuide.

Our goal at Regiondo is to help you maximize reach and reduce the overall admin work involved with managing multiple sales channels. From showing the correct availability on every platform in real time to avoiding double-bookings, we are here to help you perform at your best.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that lets you sell tickets online, manage reservations, and connect with leading OTAs, you’re at the right place. With our software, you’ll get up to 35% more bookings, you’ll significantly lower your cancellation rate, and you’ll be able to communicate with your customers much more efficiently, thanks to the integrated CRM.

For more information, book a free demo with one of our consultants.

You may also like

• How to Become a Viator Supplier and What You Need to Get Started
• How to Become a GetYourGuide Supplier the Easy Way
• 8 OTA Marketing Strategies to Increase Your Visibility & Sell More
• How to join and connect with the major OTAs [Ebook]

The post Viator vs. GetYourGuide: which OTA can get you more bookings? appeared first on Regiondo.

Unfortunately, if you aren’t careful, opening many different distribution channels can lead to overbooking situations where you have too many people signed up for your tours. Contrary to what one would think, this isn’t a nice problem to have. In similar cases, you have to either reschedule or cancel bookings; there’s no other way around it. Both these choices can significantly impact the overall guest experience and can lead to negative reviews and refunds. Between managing so many sales channels and dealing with the challenges of running a tourism company on a daily basis, I know how easy it is to get into a situation where you have sold more tickets than available. To make things a little less complicated, I have created a guide that will teach you how to avoid overbooking.

Why do overbookings occur?

Overbookings can occur for plenty of reasons. Sometimes it is due to human error, and other times, it is due to systemic issues. It is essential to understand which of these two types of problems is the leading cause of your overbookings. While training can help your staff avoid mistakes that they usually make when managing reservations, systemic issues can be trickier.

Systemic overbooking issues happen when you accept bookings from multiple channels (such as OTAs, direct, walk-in, etc.) and receive two reservations for the same spot on your tour. If you’re lucky, you can just hire an additional tour guide and split the participants into two or more groups. Keep in mind that this is the best-case scenario. In reality, we all know how difficult it is to hire a guide with short notice. Reducing overbookings can be challenging, but with my tips, you’ll be able to improve the situation in no time.

Four ways to reduce overbookings

If you’re asking yourself how to avoid overbooking, you can try the following strategies.

Increase staff training

If you’re receiving a lot of overbookings due to your staff making mistakes when using your reservation system (it doesn’t matter if it’s an old-fashioned notebook, an Excel spreadsheet, or a dedicated software), I’ve got an easy fix. In these cases, it is always good to organize a training refresher for existing employees and ensure that new hires fully know the importance of entering reservations correctly and thoroughly.

If you work with OTAs, you may also want to teach them how to open and close inventory on their admin portals. While some owners and managers prefer to keep these channels off limits to staff, the last thing you want is overbookings coming in during a high-demand period and your team has no way to close them.

Offer incentives to the guides for last-minute tours

Another option to limit overbookings is by offering extra benefits for freelance guides who take on last-minute tours. It goes without saying that the most effective incentive is a higher pay rate. Based on the size and value of the overbooking, this may or may not be worth it. While this strategy doesn’t help reduce the number of overbookings you receive, it eases the impact they can have on guests.

Reduce your distribution channels

Suppose you are experiencing overbooking because you have too many channels to manage and not enough hours in the day. In that case, you can think about cutting the number of distribution channels you work with. They could be some underperforming OTAs, wholesalers, local resellers, etc. When considering this option, focus on the ones that create more work than value.

Sadly, this choice could be detrimental to your bottom line because it limits the reach of your business. This is particularly true for OTAs, which often have an international audience, and you know how difficult it is for SMEs to reach overseas customers through typical marketing strategies. Luckily, there are a few other options that you can try first before limiting your distribution channels.

Use a booking system.

A booking system is one of the best ways to reduce overbookings. A complete booking solution empowers you to sell tickets online, receive reservations, and manage your distribution channels, which may include online travel agencies like Viator, GetYourGuide, and Expedia, as well as local resellers and your own website. These booking solutions allow your clients to book directly through your website and, at the same time, they show your actual capacity on every channel in real time. They can generally integrate with both your website and OTAs to provide a seamless management system where you can open or close your availability as needed. Similarly, the inventory is automatically adjusted when bookings are made or canceled.

A booking system can also help you stay organized by creating guest lists for your tours or activities, sending out automatic confirmation and reminder emails to your guests, and generating sales reports. They can even send out emails reminding your customers to leave you an online review so potential guests can see how amazing your services are! Thanks to these features, you can save a significant amount of time which you can use to focus on growing your company and keeping your guests happy.

Regiondo, the all-in-one solution for the leisure industry

With more than 4,000 customers around Europe, Regiondo is the leading booking system for tours, activities, and destinations. Regiondo allows you to sell tickets online, manage bookings, and connect with the leading OTAs. It gives you all the tools you need to grow your business faster. With our software, you can create your offers once and push them through 230+ sales channels without managing each listing individually. The integrated channel manager will show the correct availability on every platform in real time, helping you avoid double-bookings.

Schedule a demo today to learn more about how Regiondo can help you streamline your business, reduce overbookings, and sell more online.

The post How to avoid overbooking as a tour & activity provider in 2022 appeared first on Regiondo.

Having a solid presence on the leading OTAs can bring valuable benefits, from increasing your online visibility to generating more bookings during the low season. In this article, I will share eight OTA marketing strategies that you can use to boost sales and improve your brand awareness. If you’re willing to put in the effort, you’ll get excellent results in no time.

What do OTAs do?

Even though OTA stands for Online Travel Agency, OTAs are not very similar to their retail counterparts. While traditional travel agencies are focused on organizing tailored trip arrangements for their clients, OTAs are more akin to enormous digital catalogs that aggregate offers from thousands of different suppliers, empowering users to compare many options on the fly. They also let travelers share their experiences by writing reviews: a fantastic tool that helps visitors make more informed decisions. During the last ten years, OTAs have become increasingly popular in industries such as hotel bookings, flights, and more recently, in the “tours & activities” industry.

Why should you partner with OTAs?

The answer is pretty straightforward: OTAs will give you access to more potential customers. Have you tried searching on Google for tours and activities in a certain destination? Rest assured that the first results will be pages from the biggest OTAs.

Online travel agencies are marketing powerhouses that attract millions of tourists each month. There are no better allies if you’re looking for ways to grow your presence on the internet, and we all know how hard this can be. With OTAs, you’ll get more bookings and, at the same time, you’ll be able to save on your advertising budget. Sounds too good to be true, right?

What you need to keep in mind

Unfortunately, the gift of visibility comes with strings attached. Using OTAs isn’t free; quite the contrary! You’ll usually have to pay commissions that range between 20% and 30% of the price of your tickets. The exact amount depends on multiple factors, such as the policies adopted by each platform, your sales volume, and the kind of experiences you offer. These fees can quickly erode your profit margins if you’re not careful. For this reason, you should focus on getting most of your bookings through direct channels (e.g., your official website, via email, on-premise, etc.).

Online travel agencies can come in handy to score some last-minute reservations and for filling up capacity that otherwise would be wasted. Similarly, they can lend you a hand if you have trouble gaining momentum during the low season, but depending too much on them could be a fatal business decision. However, thanks to my OTA marketing strategies, you’ll learn how to increase your visibility on these platforms and take advantage of them to get more direct bookings. The first step is relatively painless: you simply need to understand who your customers are.

How to increase your visibility & sell more with OTAs

Understand your audience to choose the right OTA(s)

When it comes to planning a marketing strategy, you need to have a deep understanding of your target audience. Knowing who your customers are, their needs, and where they come from is paramount for choosing the right OTA(s). Each online travel agency boasts unique characteristics and attracts different kinds of travelers. For example, Civitatis is extremely popular in Spanish-speaking countries, while people in the United States prefer Viator.

When you have found an OTA that can be a good fit for your activity, it’s time to dig up the dirt. Ask your colleagues if they had any bad experiences with that particular agency, double-check its policies, and verify if it offers some proper customer support. Before choosing a particular agency as your partner, you must be 100% sure it’s the right one.

Find the perfect OTA mix

As we have seen, different OTAs attract different kinds of people. Therefore, collaborating with multiple travel agencies is a wise idea if you want to broaden the horizons of your business. It’s a win-win situation: you’ll amplify your visibility on search engines and reach more demographics at the same time. In general, it’s a good practice to diversify your distribution strategy. Relying too much on one channel can harm your growth and hamper the company’s future development. If you want to gain exposure, never put all your eggs in one basket.

Choose OTAs that support your booking system

While choosing your distribution partners, you must check if they support your booking system. Trust me on this: manually updating your availabilities, especially if you decide to collaborate with multiple OTAs, is a recipe for disaster. You’ll have to waste plenty of time on such a menial task, and even if you’re laser-focused on it, mistakes can be made.

If you’re looking for a booking system that can be integrated with all the major OTAs and resellers, check out Regiondo. We’ve established solid partnerships with Viator, GetYourGuide, Klook, and other online travel agencies to help you get all the visibility you want and need. For more information, book a free demo with one of our consultants.

Work on your photos and descriptions

OTAs can provide you with a lot of visibility, but remember that they do the same for your competitors as well. You’re jostling with hundreds of other providers to reach the same customers, and standing out is not easy. The harsh truth is that in such a crowded environment, the first impression is the last impression.

That’s why you need to take care of our listings with meticulous attention to detail. For this purpose, eye-catching photography is an absolute must: after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. I suggest posting tons of photos of people enjoying your tours and activities so the readers can easily see themselves in their shoes.

Similarly, the description plays a crucial role in intriguing a potential customer. As marketers know, data don’t resonate with human beings because our decisions are mainly driven by emotions. Instead of focusing too much on the characteristics of the experience you’re offering, describe the incredible memories your visitors will be able to share after participating.

Build brand awareness the right way

Even if you’re getting more visibility, catching the full attention of the visitors is one hell of a problem. The sad truth is that people look at tours and activities on OTAs like they’re groceries in a supermarket. In other words, they don’t care who the provider is; they’re just interested in finding something fun to do while on vacation. If tourists perceive your experiences as a commodity, they’ll base their decisions solely on the cost. Competing on price is a slippery slope, and engaging in a race to the bottom with your competitors could be catastrophic. Increasing brand awareness should be your top priority if you want to keep the prices steady without losing sales. A smart way to do it is to print your logo on some shirts and give them to your staff. This way, your logo will be clearly visible in all the photos taken by your customers.

Take care of your online reputation

OTAs rank their experiences using complex algorithms that take into account a multitude of different factors. One key element is your online reputation, which means that the more positive reviews you have, the more visibility you’ll get in return. Ideally, you should encourage your guests to leave reviews and take the time to answer their feedback. The reality is that reaching out to them one by one would be a humongous time sink. Luckily, with Regiondo you can enable automatic feedback requests after each booking. In addition, you can direct customers to your TripAdvisor listing using our connection with TripAdvisor Review Express.

Improve the booking experience on your website

I’ve already mentioned it multiple times: the point of partnering with OTAs is to get more visibility. When people are interested in your offer, there’s a huge chance they’ll decide to visit your official website to get more information. This is the perfect opportunity to convince them to book some of your tours and activities, possibly by using your direct channels.

First, you must give a clear structure to your website so that visitors can find the necessary information without hassle. That’s easier said than done, but don’t worry: you can find some valuable tips in this guide.

Second, you need to make it easy for users to book your activities online. Undoubtedly, allowing people to book a tour with a few clicks is one of the reasons why OTAs are so successful.

Regiondo’s booking widget can be integrated into every website without any effort on your side; our onboarding team will take care of it in no time. With this amazing feature, you can offer your customers the same smooth booking experience provided by OTAs without paying their commissions!

Use a channel manager

Managing multiple sales channels requires plenty of attention, especially when dealing with big OTAs. Regiondo’s channel manager allows you to push your offers through more than 230 online travel agencies and resellers without needing to manage each listing individually. It’s a convenient tool to show your availability on every platform in real time, helping you avoid double-bookings. Regiondo will also keep track of your bookings through each channel, so you know where your offers perform best.

Getting the most out of OTAs is possible — with the right tools

OTAs are a valuable partner for every provider of tours and activities. They’ll give you access to more potential customers and broaden the reach of your business. Of course, using OTAs isn’t free. You will often pay high fees (up to 30%), significantly reducing your profit margins. I’m confident that my OTA marketing strategies will help you to get better results, but if you want to achieve significant improvements, you need to invest in the right tools.

With Regiondo, you can get up to 35% more bookings, and thanks to our channel manager, you can manage your reservations and distribute your offers on over 230 OTAs with just one click. For more information, book a free demo with one of our consultants.

The post 8 OTA marketing strategies to increase your visibility & sell more appeared first on Regiondo.

On the one hand, thousands of travelers are forced to cancel their trips or alter their plans. On the other hand, people who haven’t booked a vacation are now considering the idea of not taking a trip at all. According to Bloomberg, “there was a slowdown in demand in June in the US and UK, for both international and domestic travel.” Airline strikes are not the only reason behind this alarming trend. Inflation is taking a significant toll on spending habits, and most individuals are adjusting to soaring prices by cutting off non-essential purchases.

Due to these difficult circumstances, businesses in the leisure industry are registering higher-than-usual cancellation rates compared to the pre-Covid era. In this article, after deep diving into the reasons behind the strikes, I’ll give you some tips on reducing cancellations and no-shows. With the right strategies in place, you’ll avoid losing revenue while retaining customer loyalty and satisfaction. Sounds promising, right? Without further ado, let’s jump right into it!

Europe’s airline strikes

First of all, what’s happening?

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, employees of all the major European airlines and airports are striking. The first walkouts happened this June, causing long queues at check-ins, chaos at security gates, delays, and cancellations. To give you a few examples:

• British Airways has announced it will scrape 10,300 flights(!) before the end of October.
• SAS AB (the biggest airline company in Scandinavia) has canceled hundreds of flights as over 1,000 of its pilots decided to walk out. The strike was so unsettling that the company had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US to cut debt.
• In June, over 4,000 Italian travelers suffered from cancellations because air traffic controllers went on strike. Italian trade unions have also threatened further sit-downs in the following months.

The worst thing is that strikes aren’t threatening only air transport. The London Underground was closed for long periods in June, and more walkouts will happen in August.

I get it, but why are workers striking?

The short answer is that workers are fighting for better wages and more hiring. The long answer is that “getting back to normal” is much more complex than we thought. Sadly, the pandemic has severely hit the travel industry. During the last two and a half years, airlines and airports have laid off hundreds of thousands of baggage handlers, ground crews, and other employees. Plenty of airlines have also slashed the salaries of their staff and haven’t restored them yet to pre-Covid levels.

As you can imagine, many of these workers have found jobs in other industries and don’t plan to return. Between the pay cuts and the hectic schedule, working in aviation has become highly unattractive. Overworked and underpaid, airline staffers see striking as the last resort to get better working conditions. Can we blame them?

Honestly, this sucks. But the situation will improve soon, right?

I’m sorry to deliver bad news, but I wouldn’t be so sure about that. According to Roger Jones, head of equities at London & Capital, “Cost inflation, especially fuel and wages, is aggravating the situation and making it a really difficult operating environment, which is weighing on profitability.” In other words, airlines won’t be able to offer better wages in the short term.

For the same reason, hiring new employees won’t be a quick process. And even once they are able to find them, vetting applicants and training the recruits will take several months. As the wise man once said, there are no simple solutions to complex problems.

Sounds like a nightmare. What are the airlines and airports affected?

We’ve already spoken about British Airways and SAS AB, but they’re far from being the only companies affected by the strikes. Europe is in turmoil, and the list of airlines involved in the protest is growing daily.

• Ryanair – Between June and July, Ryanair’s employees have gone on strike multiple times in Belgium, Portugal, France, Italy, and Spain. In the Iberian Peninsula, cabin crew union members plan weekly walkouts until the end of the year.
• Easyjet – Crew members have taken industrial actions during the second half of July and will organize more strikes in the upcoming months. The destinations most affected by the disruption are Malaga, Palma, and Barcelona.
• Italy – Trade unions have organized strikes all over the summer season. Pilots and flight attendants from Volotea, CrewLink, Ryanair, and Malta Air are involved in the walkouts.
• Paris – Charles de Gaulle airport employees have been striking multiple times between June and July and are planning to take further actions in the upcoming months.

How to reduce cancellations

Cancellations and no-shows are just a part of the business for tour and activities providers. However, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do something about it, even during exceptional times like the ones we’re living. With the right policies, you can protect your revenue without antagonizing your beloved customers.

Be flexible

There’s no way around it: during this period, the name of the game is “flexibility.” Flustered by the strikes, your customers will probably fear to book any activity if they can’t cancel them with short notice. I suggest allowing your clients to cancel their tickets free of charge up to one day before the tour takes place.

Encourage rescheduling and buying vouchers

When a customer cancels their reservation, send them a message highlighting the option to reschedule or, if they’re still unsure about the date, to buy a voucher. You can sweeten the deal by adding some small perks, like a free merchandise item.

Make your customers excited with pre-arrival emails

When clients book their tours and activities in advance, it can be a long time before their vacation actually starts. To make the waiting period more pleasant, build anticipation with a series of pre-arrival emails. That’s the perfect opportunity to create excitement and check your clients’ expectations. Furthermore, you can also entice them with cross-selling and upselling opportunities.

Upselling and cross-selling to build commitment

Speaking of which, upselling and cross-selling aren’t just strategies to generate additional revenue; they’re also effective in making your clients committed to their booking. Offer them the chance to buy a merchandise item, showcase your other activities, and suggest they book a premium version of the tour they already reserved. If they feel invested in your experience, they will be less likely to cancel.

Focus your marketing efforts on the locals

It goes without saying that locals are less impacted by airline strikes than tourists from abroad. Given the rise of the staycation trend, try to attract regional travelers! They are less likely to cancel due to force majeure, and if you’re able to build loyalty, chances are they will come more often than foreigners to experience your activities.

Reducing cancellations is easy — with the right tools

I’m sure these tips will help you receive fewer cancellations, but remember that planning a good strategy is not enough; what matters the most is applying it efficiently. For instance, it would be a huge time sink to contact your customers one by one trying to encourage them to reschedule after a cancellation. Thankfully, plenty of applications can help you automate menial tasks and better organize your business.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that lets you sell tickets online, manage bookings, and connect with leading OTAs, check out Regiondo. With our software, you’ll get up to 35% more bookings, you’ll significantly lower your cancellation rate, and you’ll communicate with your customers much more efficiently thanks to the integrated CRM. For more information, book a free demo with one of our consultants.

The post Air traveling is a mess: here’s what’s happening and how you can reduce cancellations appeared first on Regiondo.

Marketplaces and travel agencies are not the only ones benefiting from the recovery. In a survey organized by Arival and Tiqets, involving 250 operators worldwide, 67% of the respondents declared they were at, or above, 2019 levels.

On the flip side, the biggest concern of OTAs and providers is keeping up with the ever-rising demand. Some could argue that this is a nice problem to have after the last couple of years, but it’s still a problem. Currently, multiple players in our sector are struggling to hire and retain employees. According to Le Monde, in Emilia Romagna (Italy), 83% of businesses cannot find enough staff. Similarly, over 50,000 seasonal workers are missing on the Spanish coastline.

Here at Regiondo, we’ve been asking ourselves what we can do to help our partners during such a hectic period. As you probably already know, we strive to build the most loved booking solution in the world. For us, providing a fantastic piece of software is not nearly enough. Our goal is to be there for our clients and to support them when they face difficult challenges.

For this purpose, we’ve completely revamped the navigation of our web app. The new interface will empower you to work faster and more efficiently. At the same time, it will improve the user experience on phones and tablets. The result is that you’ll be able to comfortably manage your reservations on the go, even when you’re busy with other tasks.

Last but not least, the new design is brighter, cleaner, and more beautiful than ever. Who said that form and function couldn’t go hand in hand? Anyway, let’s take a look at the most significant changes, and how these new features will improve your day-to-day operations.

Top Navigation Bar

• Now the navigation bar is fixed at the top of the screen. This means that, even while scrolling, the navigation menu will remain visible in the upper part of the page. This way, you can always access the main functionalities of Regiondo in less than a second.

• Check all your booking notifications by clicking on the bell icon.
• There are five types of notifications related to your bookings. You can see examples of each in the screenshot below.

• Swiftly add a new booking by clicking on the plus icon (the first one from the left).
• To avoid confusion, we have removed product update notifications. To keep up with announcements of new features, please subscribe to our newsletter.
• Click on the question mark icon to open our Knowledge Base.
• We have moved the option to change the language of your dashboard under the “Profile” drop-down menu. You can access it by clicking on the icon located at the right end of the bar.

Side Navigation Menu

• Now you can scroll through the side menu independently from the body of the page and vice versa. This new feature allows you to keep an eye on the information you’re reading while looking for the next tool you need.

• Previously, if you wanted to access the submenu for one of Regiondo’s tools (e.g., the Channel Manager) you had to click on it and wait for a new page to load. Only then could you see – and select – the items inside it. Now you just need to click on the down-arrow icon to open the corresponding drop-down menu. From there, you can select the feature you need to use. As you can imagine, this is a far smoother workflow that saves you a lot of time in the long run.

• As you have probably noticed, each item on the menu now has an icon on its left side. You can spot faster the functionality you need to use, especially on mobile and tablets.
• For clarity, opened menu items are highlighted in grey and orange.

Footer and Mobile

• There are no significant changes in the footer, except for the new graphic design.
• The above tweaks and improvements dramatically benefit our web app’s mobile interface. You can expand the navigation menu on your smartphone by clicking on the burger icon on the left. Check out the video below to see it in action.

• On tablets, the navigation is almost identical to the desktop version. The main difference is that you can collapse the sidebar by clicking on the burger icon next to the Regiondo logo.

Release Date

The new and improved navigation menu will be available during the next few weeks for all our customers! We’re confident that its cleaner design and faster performance will significantly improve your user experience. Furthermore, the improvements to the mobile interface will make using Regiondo on the go much easier. This way, you’ll be able to check your bookings and do some administrative work even when you’re busy with your tours.

Keep in mind that this is only the first enhancement of many. During the following months, Regiondo will change for the better: our software is getting faster, sleeker, and more feature-rich than ever. It will be an exciting journey, and we want you to be an integral part of it.

As mentioned before, to stay updated with our product-related announcements, subscribe to our newsletter and keep checking out our blog. Don’t miss out on new exciting features!

If you have any questions regarding Regiondo, contact our Customer Support team or consult the Knowledge Base.

The post Save time and improve your workflow with our new navigation menu appeared first on Regiondo.

But meanwhile, something else has become increasingly important. In this аrticle, we will go beyond the successful strategy to explore its starting point – the brand building.

Destination branding is not only part of the marketing strategy. It’s actually the foundation that creates a positive image and unique identity of every place. It also defines what will remain in the visitors’ minds and memories. In other words, the complete performance of your destination. The journey, the experience, the long-lasting memories.

Destination branding could be complex so a good understanding of the basics is essential. This article will go through its core components, as well as the marketing tactics you definitely need to consider when working on your brand.

Below, we share our 8 keys for successful destination branding.

Set Clear Goals

Or in other words, your ways to:

• Improve your brand’s weaknesses
• Give your customers what they need
• Outperform your competitors

Establishing a successful brand goes far beyond the fancy logo. Take your time to understand what constitutes a brand and explore each element in detail. Carefully analyze your brand to compare and set a desired vision and concept. From fonts, palette, and design to voice, letterheads, and prints – define the areas that require improvement. And make sure everything consistently reflects your values and vision.

Let’s face some facts about destination branding. The rapid growth of travel and tourism has shifted the focus from the actual place towards the customers. To transform your brand into something that makes a difference you need to get to know your audience.

Understanding the customer journey and where is your place in it is essential. Find out what attracts them and use it to define how you can capture their attention and interest – visually and conceptually. Be there when your customers need you!

Tip: In addition to actual and potential visitors, modern cities are attempting to create attractive propositions for stakeholders, residents, and business owners. Don’t limit yourself to the traditional audience you’ve been targeting for years.

Last but not least – let’s think about distinction. Research your competitors and what they do. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Knowing that will help you distinguish your brand. Even if you offer similar experiences, it is important to present yourself in a unique way.

Plan Ahead

Once you find the above answers, your goals will start building up in your mind to outline your main objectives. However, a goal without a plan is just a wish.

So take a deep breath and create a timescale to follow and make the most of it.

Set the key areas you want to improve and write down your ways to achieve that. Remember that destination branding requires time, effort, and attention to detail. Some things will take a while to reach the desired audience and gain popularity.

So relax and patiently follow your plan for action. And remember – there isn’t a successful strategy without a good plan so it’s always the right time to start building one!

Optimize Your Website

Brand building is all about consistency. And your website plays a significant role in brand formation.

Studies show that first impressions of a website are formed within 0.05 seconds. Make sure that yours represents your destination’s identity and key advantages.

Create a compelling design that catches attention. Build meaningful content that answers customers’ questions and engages with local aesthetics and character.

Tip: You can make tours and activities bookable on your website with Regiondo’s booking software. This way, website visitors can book offers from local suppliers directly on your website, earning you commission and enhancing your profile as your destination’s central management body. Start your free trial today.  

Don’t Underestimate the Power of Print

Print media has undergone some major challenges that led to new forms and types of advertising materials coming into existence.

Brochures, flyers, banners, catalogs, billboards – they all come in your advantage when spreading the brand’s message. With the numerous services offered by mail delivery companies, you can easily reach thousands of potential tourists in your desired area – both locally and abroad.

Enhance Authenticity with Instagram

Instagram is changing travel irreversibly and could play a significant role in the success of your destination branding. Here’s why:

Travelers are getting tired of the staged marketing images we are all familiar with. They portray destinations in a very favorable, but also unrealistic way that often doesn’t meet our expectations. Instagram is the place that transforms the high-gloss image into something much more realistic and accessible.

To make the most of this platform, create hashtags and connect with influencers that can promote your destination and increase your reach within hours.

Recommended reading: How to Use Social Media for Destination Marketing

Bring Your Brand to Life with Video Marketing

Tourism is no longer solely dependent upon the existence of resources and cultural heritage to attract visitors. Nowadays, visuals are the actual cornerstone of the travel industry, as selling intangible experiences requires strong and attractive visual arguments.

Moreover, they are critical in the inspiration and decision-making stage of contemporary travelers. Understand how your destination is perceived and outline the unique expectations you want to set.

Do you want to amplify the positive image or completely challenge it and set a different one? Either way, a visually engaging video campaign will beautifully strengthen your brand identity while capturing the unique essence of your destination.

Stage Memorable Events and Festivals

Once everything is in place, you can start proactively utilizing the uniqueness of your destination and complete the brand vision. Stage events of international significance or small local ones. Explore the latest trends to gain some inspiration for exciting themes and concepts. This is a cost-effective method to promote your destination which will lead to tons of user-generated content across various media platforms.

Recommended reading: 4 Destination Marketing Campaigns to Inspire You In 2020 and Beyond

Promote All Year Round

The journey of modern travelers begins long before they reach a destination. In fact, their experience is fractured into a number of stages that makes them mentally travel the world while still exploring the web.

They dream and research, like and share, consider, and plan. Thinking about this, even the most perfectly built destination brand would not bring an ROI if it doesn’t appear or match the customers’ search. Capturing them at this very early stage of the travel experience is the best opportunity to shape their further decisions.

Google Ads can help in that direction. The various possibilities with Search, Display, and Video campaigns will give you the chance to become among the best options showing up on the search feed of potential customers.

Google has solutions that can accomplish key actions like driving incremental traffic to your site, providing relevant information when potential customers are searching in the research stage, as well as re-engaging with past visitors.

Conclusion

Achieving the best version of your destination brand will determine the success of almost every marketing strategy.

Don’t treat your destination as a product you are selling, but rather as a heritage you are building.

And remember – popular destinations live beyond the hype. Invest in increasing the brand value because it will remain in people’s long-lasting memories to establish relationships, popularity, and growth in tourism.

The post 8 Tips for Successful Destination Branding appeared first on Regiondo.

If you’re constantly running your tours at max capacity, expanding your global reach probably isn’t a big priority. But if you’ve found that despite your best efforts, you’ve still got some spots left open, it might be time to consider expanding your marketing efforts.

International guests are great because they can act as a massive opportunity to increase your sales, depending on where you run your tours. Tour operators in the United States, for example, may not be so reliant on visitors from outside the country simply because the population itself is large enough to sustain high tour numbers. For business owners in Mauritius, however, attracting an international audience is an absolute must. Here are a few tips to get you started introducing your tours to a global audience.

Editor’s note: This is a guest contribution by Alison DeGuide. Alison is the Sr. Web Coordinator for TourismTiger – the premier web design agency for tour and activity operators.

1. Translate your website and marketing efforts into other languages.

The easiest way to market your tour business to international guests is by making sure your website, brochures, pamphlets, and any other materials you use are in the language of the country or region you’re after. For example, if you’re seeking tourists from Latin America, your website should be translated into at least Spanish and Portuguese. As long as you make it clear that the tours themselves aren’t offered in this other language, having a translated site can be useful for your guests.

I am personally much more comfortable browsing a site in my native language, English, and nearly always do so, even if I’m looking at experiences that I know will only be offered in another language like Spanish. There’s something about going through the booking and payment process that is much less anxiety-provoking if I can read it in my native language, and I’m less likely to stop the process simply because I don’t recognize a certain word.

On the tours themselves, however, it’s not as big of an issue if I misunderstand a word or two. Therefore, even if you don’t offer bilingual or multilingual tours, I still recommend translating the site itself.

With Regiondo, you can implement your ticket shop, booking widgets or booking buttons in different languages. That way, you can place offers on your multilingual website in up to 11 languages. Try it for free.

2. Keep your audience in mind when considering your content and SEO strategies.

Implementing keywords in your content is great for search engine optimization, but you never want to prioritize it over actual readability. You’re not going to be able to translate your website into every language, so it’s pretty likely that at least one of your visitors will be forced to read in a language they aren’t as familiar with as their own.

Stuffing your content full of irrelevant keywords is not only bad for SEO: it can also make your content difficult to comprehend. At Tourism Tiger, we’re big fans of the Hemingway App, which tells you what reading level your content is at. It’s good practice to aim for 8th grade or below, as it will be understandable to the largest amount of readers possible.

The same care should be taken when deciding what keywords to use. If you’re a tour operator targeting the U.S. audience, you can bet that they’re going to be looking up “customizable tours” with a “z”. On the other hand, a U.S. tour operator may want to keep in mind that their friends across the pond are more likely to look up “bespoke tours” or “customisable tours” with an “s”.

3. Get on the relevant social media and use the necessary software.

Having a strong presence on Facebook, Google My Business, and Instagram is definitely a recommended practice since those are big sites with lots of users. However, it won’t do you much good to share the posts that you’ve had meticulously translated into Chinese onto these forms of social media since they’re blocked in China. Instead, you need to go to the social media that the people in your targeted international audience are using, like VK in Russia.

The same goes for how you receive inquiries from clients. While it might not be a big deal for your German customers to phone a tour operator in Spain, your Australian guests probably won’t want to pay for long-distance phone fees. Making yourself accessible by Skype or similar video chat software is one way to solve this issue and ensure that guests who prefer to discuss an experience over the phone are still able to do so, despite the distance.

This is also why it’s important to use the popular messaging application WhatsApp. If your customers are from a country where communicating via this platform is a way of life, you won’t be winning them over by not using it. It’s easy enough to make an account for your business and to take calls or messages there. Making yourself available on WhatsApp might even set you apart from your competition if other tour operators in your area don’t allow potential guests to reach them via this software. And who wouldn’t want to take advantage of extra opportunities to make your business shine?

4. Make use of targeted advertising opportunities.

Both Facebook and Google allow businesses to use their advertising services to target specific groups of people, whether that be by age, location, or another demographic. The location targeting option is especially useful if you’re trying to attract guests from a specific country. Just create your ideal ad, have it translated to that country’s language, and let it fly! Not sure where to start? Check out Tourism Tiger’s guides on how to use Google Ads and Facebook strategically for your business.

Remember that advertising doesn’t have to be completely online. Putting ads in local newspapers or magazines in the country whose residents you’re trying to attract could get you directly into the hands of your target audience. If that sounds like a lot of work, don’t fret! You can always begin by reaching out to travel agents in said countries and seeing if they would be willing to help sell your tours. Once you develop a relationship with them, they’ll probably be able to tell you the next best place to market your brand.

Conclusion

All in all, expanding your promotion strategies to an international audience doesn’t mean you have to learn a new language or completely revamp your tours. It just requires a little more thought about the needs of potential guests when they’re looking to book with ease. This is something you’ve probably already considered for your domestic audience, so don’t let the process intimidate you! Just start with some of our tips, and get ready to welcome your new international guests.

You might also like:

• 10 Ideas to Help Differentiate Your Tours in 2021
• 10 Tourism Marketing Campaigns that Work Despite Difficult Times
• 5 Ways to Offer an Innovative Tourism Experience to Your Clients

The post Four Ways to Promote Your Tours to an International Audience appeared first on Regiondo.

Website builders are tools that allow you to put together a website without coding experience. They have a “drag and drop” interface that is easy to use, while at the same time offering plenty of flexibility and customization. With some good photos and catchy descriptions, you’ll create a fantastic website in no time. Sounds pretty straightforward, right?

If you work in the leisure industry, Regiondo Website Builder is your best option. We have carefully crafted it with the intent of delivering the definitive website builder for tour operators and activity providers. It’s such an intuitive program that you’ll be able to master it just by following this 10-step tutorial.

1) Set a clear goal

Before starting, you should ask yourself why you’re creating a website. Do you intend to mainly sell tickets or vouchers? Which tours or activities do you want to showcase? Maybe your objective is to get more reviews?

It would be best if you defined your goals from the very beginning: they will influence both the structure and the content of your website. It’s a good idea to follow the SMART framework to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-based. 

2) Choose your template

When your objectives are clear, you can finally open Regiondo’s website builder. The first step is to choose which template you want to use. Our templates are sleek and inherently responsive, which means they automatically adjust for different-sized screens. In other words, your website will look fantastic on both your laptop and your smartphone. 

Each template is crafted to satisfy the needs of different types of businesses. In this phase, don’t worry about the colors and images, you can edit them during the next steps. Instead, look for a template with a layout that helps accomplish your goals. With different options to choose from, you can easily find one built for a similar purpose to the site you’re about to create.

3) Define your global design

Now that you have an incredible template, it’s time to customize it to show your brand’s unique personality. We recommend starting with the Design section, which can be found in the top right corner of your dashboard. Here, you can set all the site-wide customization settings, such as the fonts you want to use, default background, and color of the buttons.

Defining precise guidelines from the get-go will drive consistency and speed up your processes. This way, your website will look more professional, and you won’t waste time configuring each element. 

4) Place the main info regarding your business

The next step is making sure that your clients can quickly find what they’re looking for on your website. For instance, they surely need to know where you’re located, how they can contact you, and your opening hours. Believe us, even if you have plenty of experience, it can be easy to forget including some of this information. Thankfully, the content section of your dashboard will give you a complete rundown of all the details you should include. From there, you can also upload your logos and pictures, which helps keep your branding consistent. 

You can also use this section to upload the most important files related to your business; just keep in mind that the size limit is 50 MB. For more info on uploading and importing your data, you can check out this guide.  

5) Decide how to structure your website

All our templates (except for the one-pagers) include several pre-built pages, giving you a good starting point. Of course, you can modify the default structure however you want. Again, the top priority is finding a setup that allows you to achieve your goals. You can create new pages in the pages section, delete or rename existing ones, and modify their order. For example, you can decide if the Contact Us page should be a subpage of the About Us page or if it should be directly reachable from the Home page. 

You can modify the order of your pages by just dragging and dropping them around, but if you need some more info, you can find it here.

6) Configure your pages

With a clear structure in place, you can focus on configuring each webpage. Just go to the Pages section of your dashboard and select each webpage to edit its specific settings. It’s particularly essential to pay attention to the SEO tab. As you may know, optimizing your website SEO-wise, will improve its visibility on Google so that more customers can discover your business. To get better results, make sure that the keywords and the description are genuinely related to the page’s content. If you want to master this field, check out our beginner’s guide.

7) Create content for your pages

Our editor arranges content in rows and columns. As you can imagine, rows are the horizontal sections of your site, and you can easily insert more of them through the Add button in the editor. To edit the design of a Row, right-click an empty space within that row. Next, select Edit Design. This menu allows you to change the row’s background and spacing. 

Every row contains a maximum of four columns. By default, columns are arranged side-by-side in desktop and tablet view and stacked vertically for mobile users.

Thanks to widgets, you can add content like text, images, and videos to your website. To add a widget, select it from the editor’s left panel. Pick the one you want, and drop it where it fits best. 

To edit it, right-click anywhere on the widget to open the Contents menu. If you’re unsure about what you’re doing, you can find some additional resources here.

8) Catch your visitors’ attention with pop-ups

Now you have created all your pages, but what if some piece of information is still missing? Let’s imagine that you want to highlight your newsletter or a limited-time promotion. In scenarios like these, you can use pop-ups, which are windows that appear while browsing a webpage and immediately catch the reader’s attention. You can create pop-ups from the Personalize section of your dashboard using a simple drag and drop editor. When the pop-up is ready, the only thing left is selecting the page where you want it to appear.

9) Edit your site-wide settings

Before going time, it’s best to check the general setup of your website from the Settings section of the dashboard. In this section, you can customize some essential features, including your favicon. The favicon is a small image that appears next to your page title in the tab of your browser. It allows users to identify your website at a glance, even if they’re multitasking. You can upload your custom favicon from the Site Icons tab.

That being said, there is a lot to unpack in Site Settings, so we invite you to read our support article explaining these features. It will only take you four minutes.

10) Go live!

Before publishing your website, here is a list of some things you should check:

• Consistent branding (fonts, logo, favicon)
• SEO optimization
• Copy of your content, buttons, and forms included
• Responsiveness (desktop, tablet, mobile)
• Legal aspects (privacy page, opt-in fields)

If everything works out perfectly, you’re ready to go live! Click on the Publish button in the top right corner and let the magic happen. Now you’re the proud owner of a website that will help you attract more customers and improve your brand’s image!

To check if your website performs well in terms of speed, SEO, security and content, try SEO grader. This free tool provides an overview of your website and gives recommendations on how to rank higher in search engines and drive more organic traffic. 

You could also like to learn more about: 

Free SEO grader

SEO in 2022: SEO tips for leisure providers

Web design inspiration – checklist for leisure providers

The post How to use the Regiondo Website Builder in 10 easy steps appeared first on Regiondo.

Web design can be this easy – let’s get started right away!

Web Design Inspiration – Checklist for Leisure Providers

1. Intuitive and well-organized Page Structure
2. Well-placed CTA Buttons
3. High-Quality Photos and Videos
4. Optimization for Mobile Devices
5. Separate Page for Contact and Arrival
6. Search Web Design Inspiration from Competitors
7. Calendar with all Availabilities for your Activities
8. Social Networks for Maximum Presence
9. Informative and easy to understand Content
10. Online Booking System on your Website

1. Intuitive and well-organized Page Structure

Our first web design inspiration: The optimization of your site should start with the page structure and navigation. On the one hand, this helps you immensely with a better search engine ranking, because an important Google ranking factor is a simple and user-friendly structure. Furthermore, it helps your customers to navigate through your website with just a few clicks and to make a booking in the end.

Above all, make sure that you have a clear and easy-to-understand menu, from which your customers can access the most important pages of your website with just one click. If you cannot manage with just a few menu items, you should create additional subcategories, for example for different leisure activities. Therefore, link only the top categories on the homepage and allow your customers to open another drag-down menu if they are interested in the subcategories within a category.

(Source: Regiondo)

Shhh… a simple but effective tip we have: Also keep your URLs clear and as short as possible!

2. Well-placed CTA Buttons

The CTA (‘Call-to-Action’) button entices your website visitors to take the decisive step and book your leisure offers. Thus, the choice of words on the CTA button should be short and precise, prompting the customer to buy or book. “Book now!” is simple, but effective. Also, pay attention to the color choice. The CTA button’s color should not be red, as those signals “stop” to the user. Green or blue are ideal, but it’s also recommended to try different colors and see which one achieves the highest conversion rate. It is also important to place it in a visible position so that the user will not have to search for it.

CTA-samples (Source: Vertus)

3. High-quality photos and videos 

Photos and videos of your leisure activities and business give customers a good impression of your offerings and what they can expect when they book. At the same time, photos and videos are also a great way to stand out from the competition. Make sure all your videos are high quality and not pixelated. If you plan to feature multiple videos on one page, keep page speed in mind. If your page takes a long time to load, many users will quickly bounce and close your page before they can post (“bounce rate”).

4. Mobile device optimization

Everyone has a smartphone these days, and many people even own a tablet. The use of the Internet via mobile devices is higher than ever before. Very often, the number of mobile users even exceeds the number of users accessing from the desktop. Especially for you as a leisure provider, this is important because people often spontaneously or on the go make a booking of exciting leisure activities on their cell phone. So, make sure that your website is also optimized for mobile devices so that you don’t lose any customers. At the same time, Google also rewards you with better search engine rankings if your site is optimized for mobile devices.

5. Dedicated page just for contact and travel

Ensure it’s as easy as possible for your customers to contact you, whether it’s for questions or to make a booking. A separate page is ideal, where customers can find contact details such as a phone number, an email address, and the address. Having a contact form is also excellent, as users don’t have to go to their email inbox first. A live chat and Whatsapp number are also popular, especially with younger target groups. In addition, you could create your own “Contact” button, which is visible on all pages of your homepage and is linked to your email address.

Below you can see how to contact us at Regiondo. As you can see, we even give you several options on how to get in touch with us – depending on your very personal request.

Example of contact (source: Regiondo)

6. Look at your competitors for web design inspiration

Are you looking for web design inspiration or want to find out what the competition’s sites look like? Good, because you are supposed to. Find out who your competitors are and learn from their websites what they do well and what you could do better than them. Google will help you out here. Take notes and pay attention to things like page structure, navigation, content, CTA buttons, photos, and videos.

7. Include a calendar with all the available days and times for your activities

For an easier booking experience for your customers, you should include a calendar on your website with available days and times for all your activities. This way, customers don’t have to contact you with questions about availability and can decide to book right away. Make sure that your calendar is always up-to-date. With Regiondo, it’s easy to add a calendar to your website. The automatic update is included. A little web design inspiration from our Partners Eifelnomaden: Here you can see how our partner implemented the Regiondo calendar feature into their website.

Example calendar view (Source: Eifelnomaden)

8. Include social networks for maximum presence

In addition to a website, you should also have a presence on major social media platforms. These include Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, for example. By using multiple channels, you can reach even more customers and also easily share more impressions of your activities. In addition, customers themselves can also share their experiences on your social media pages and contact you there. On your website itself, you should link your social media pages with clearly visible buttons so that visitors to your website can access them quickly. The number of followers and fans on your social media accounts will also show your website visitors that you are a reputable and recommendable leisure provider (“social proof“).

Some web design inspiration from us: If you have a very nice Instagram feed, for example, you can integrate it into your website using various tools. This way, your website also reflects the look and feel of your social media presence.

9. Provide informative and easy-to-understand content

As a matter of course, the texts of all pages on your website must be informative enough to convey all important information to the user in a short time. This includes detailed information about your offers as well as prices and booking options. Your texts should be easy to understand and quickly give the visitor a good picture of your company. Also, make sure to always use paragraphs so that the visitor is not put off by too large a block of text. To optimize your texts for SEO, you should perform keyword research, for example with SEO tools like Ahrefs or SEMRush.

10. The online booking system on your website

As a leisure provider, you should definitely integrate your own online booking system on your website. Valuable customers can be lost if they can’t book easily and immediately on your website. One of the many advantages is that a booking system on your website is “open” 24/7, i.e. it is not subject to any opening hours. This means that your customers can book at any time. Customers can also see immediately which offers are available when and how much they cost. With Regiondo’s booking system, you will be able to attract more customers, optimize your bookings and significantly increase your sales. Arrange a no-obligation consultation now and learn more about how we can effectively support you as a leisure provider.

• Create your own tours and activities website in 10 minutes

• How to use the Regiondo Website Builder

• SEO in 2022: 8 SEO tips for leisure operators

The post Web design inspiration for leisure providers appeared first on Regiondo.