Tourism in India provides 40 million jobs. The sector is expected to grow at an annual average growth rate of 7.9% until 2023, making India the third fastest-growing tourism destination over the next decade.
Travel and tourism are two of the world’s industries with the fastest revenue growth rates. Hundreds of people enter the travel industry every day, and sooner or later, most of them end up on a complicated and perplexing note.
“Starting a travel business may be simple, but operating it profitably is damn difficult.”
The travel and tourism sector can be ranked among the top 10 industries because many people admire it. Travel is one of the largest industries in the world, contributing $7.6 trillion to the global economy, according to Statista. Finding efficient marketing techniques and strategies is crucial if you want to win over customers and stay ahead in this rapidly changing society.
1. Have a Unique Business Website
In this day and age, your company’s online presence is crucial. The first and most important step in starting a travel business is to create an eye-catching and effective business website. Customers for most travel businesses come from the internet and other digital channels. A travel company with a solid online presence always has more opportunities to draw clients. Right? And guess what? According to a quick survey conducted by our team, more than 50% of travel agents lacked any online presence or website.
You don’t have to start with an online booking feature on your website; you can start with a simple one. But, first, be sure that your company’s website has the following functionality and features:
Must-have features and functionality for any website serving the travel industry
- User-Friendly
- Responsive
- Attractive Design Good quality images and content
- Social Media Links of Your Company’s
- SSL Certificates
- SEO
- Maps on Google Form
- Email Subscription
- Create a credible online presence.
Also Read: 6 Advanced Tactics To Promote Events with Social Media
2. Establish a strong social media presence
Creating a few social profiles will be a good idea if your travel company needs to make the most of social media. However, there’s a good chance that your customers use social media for travel-related purposes, even though each business’s user base and social media habits will vary slightly.
According to a Deloitte report, more than a third of people book their vacations online, and most travellers post about their trip on social media sites as soon as they get home.
Social media, “multi-channel strategy” if properly executed has been one of the most effective methods for increasing revenue.
“Each platform is different and created for a different purpose.”
“Utilize each’s advantages and create a multi-channel strategy with an integrated campaign in mind.”
3. Ask for Referrals
Demand recommendations If adequately implemented, customer referral programs can be a powerful way to boost sales for your travel agency. Referral Saasquatch conducted a roundup of customer referral program statistics to determine these programs’ actual statistical effectiveness.
They discovered that 65 per cent of new business comes from referrals, and 92 per cent of respondents trusted recommendations from people they knew. So the number one strategy for increasing revenue is asking for referrals. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Now, asking for referrals can be tricky; Hubspot discovered that many referral programs fail because employees frequently feel uncomfortable asking for recommendations. So they created some helpful templates and tips to aid in the process to help combat this, which your sales team can use.
4. Metasearch Engines
Many travel agencies have used metasearch engines like Webjet, Tripadvisor, and Trivago as stand-alone marketing tools to stay competitive and increase their online visibility.
Exciting Data on the Support Provided by Meta Search Engines for Travel Marketing 82% of digital marketers from various travel agencies reported that metasearch had profitable results.
Metasearch engines are used in the search process by 72.5% of travellers. In the US alone, 57.46% of people use metasearch engines, and 39% of Millennials use metasearch websites.
How Can Metasearch Engine Marketing Help Travel Agencies?
- Travel booking dynamic pricing budgets are updated daily, weekly, and monthly.
- Encourage clients to provide feedback and reviews of the travel company.
- Criticism expressed by visitors.
Your travel website can get more bookings from millions of would-be travellers by having a solid presence on metasearch engines.
5.OTA (Online Travel Agencies)
Online travel agencies, or OTAs for short, are formidable offer a seamless travel planning experience. Nevertheless, OTA giants like Booking.com, Momondo, Expedia, and Hotels.com have captured the attention of a sizable group of travellers.
The Role of OTAs in Successful Travel Marketing: Interesting Statistic Online travel agencies currently control 39% of the global digital travel market, and this percentage is predicted to rise. What Advantages Do OTAs Offer to Travel Marketing?
- Increase website visibility
- Offer services to different traveller groups
- Enables quick access to reviews
- Single-stop price comparison for users
- OTAs provide a dedicated support team.
6. Email Promotion
By building an email list, you can keep in touch with your customers and tell them about your newest offers. People who travel frequently tend to do so often, so you should do everything you can to entice repeat customers. Keep in touch with customers both while they are travelling and at home. Travellers can be made aware of upgrades and extras along the way. As more and more people open emails on mobile devices, ensure your emails are responsive.
- Create email list segments.
- Send information that is relevant to the recipients.
- Offer informational content.
- Make it into a newsletter and feature vacation spots, leisure pursuits, and upcoming events.
- Promote your other channels through email.
It is a powerful marketing strategy to connect with tourists from all over the world. Additionally, more travellers will access your travel website to make reservations for travel, lodging, and various other travel-related tasks by developing efficient travel email marketing strategies.
7. Offer Add-on Services and Packages
When travelling, everyone likes to cut costs. In addition, people enjoy discovering things they need to become more familiar with, such as events and services. As a result, you can provide more value as a travel agent by connecting your clients with local excursions, city passes, discounted car rentals, transfer services, and other advantages.
Also read: How To Promote Software Development Business
The more you can tailor your offers to your customer’s needs and look for specific services provided in various areas, the better. For instance, people frequently prefer to purchase daily or weekly passes for public transportation in big cities with metro systems.
If there are well-known museums, theme parks, or other attractions, see if you can get tickets at a discount. Finding these deals for your customers is straightforward when GDS systems are integrated. You can also get in touch with nearby tour operators and business owners to offer your customers sales and discounts.
Conclusion
In addition to these six practical strategies for travel marketing, travel agencies and tour operators should make it a habit to adapt to new technologies. Do you require assistance putting effective digital marketing strategies into practice for your travel-related marketing campaigns? Travel agencies have successfully used these techniques. First, however, you must understand the needs of modern travellers if you want to connect with them.
Reaching them on social media and through their mobile devices is part of this. But, to keep them returning to you repeatedly, you also need to give them information that enables them to find good deals and travel experiences. According to research, spending money on travel rather than material possessions makes people happier. Dr Thomas Gilovich, a psychology professor at Cornell University, researched the issue and found that people are more comfortable spending money on experiences rather than material possessions. It’s true- travel makes you happy.
