1. Niche down and sell experiences
Today, when almost anybody can book a basic trip, the role of a travel business is shifting to offering niche expertise to smaller target audiences who want to save time on planning.
Here are a few ways to choose the best travel niche:
- Focus on a particular destination. Look for cities or regions your audience might be interested in that other travel companies in your niche don’t specialize in. For example, your theme might be islands, trips to your home country, a particular continent, and so on.
- Focus on your target audience. This might mean specializing in budget travel, luxury tourism, trips for senior couples, honeymoon vacations, etc. And for many audiences, the standard flight-and-room package doesn’t do it anymore. For example, one study shows that almost 70% of high-income tourists prefer experiences over hotels.
- Offer custom packages. Personalized experiences mean higher revenue for travel businesses and help build loyal audiences. To understand customer wants, ask open-ended questions such as “What is your ideal vacation?” or “What do you remember most about your last trip?” Creativity in crafting unique adventures will mark you as a true pro.
2. Grow your online presence
You can start by joining relevant groups and communities on Facebook, Quora, Medium, and niche forums. Sharing tips and tricks from your professional experience can help build meaningful conversations and, in the long run, promote your brand.
But socials aren’t enough – it’s even more important to create your own website or blog. This allows you to promote your brand and be there for your customers wherever they need information.
3. Offer new online services on your website
Opt for new services that won’t require much time or effort to implement. For example, you can launch a custom flight or hotel search so clients can find flights or hotels in your key destinations without having to click away.
This can benefit your business in several ways, by:
- Keeping you relevant in the age of self-booking
- Attracting a new audience across the globe
- Retaining visitors by offering them t flights or hotels in addition to your main service
- Generating passive income from affiliate commissions
- Providing clients with prices lower than those offered by GDSes
- Growing your business and making it perceived as a one-stop travel platform
One of the quickest ways to make this happen is with white label solutions. They don’t require effort or money and operate on the commission model, meaning you earn a percentage on each booking made through your website.
For example, in just 30 minutes, you can set up the low-code solution by Travelpayouts, which equips your website with a custom-branded metasearch function featuring flights and hotels from 250K travel companies worldwide. If you don’t have a website yet, it also allows you to launch a brand-new flight and hotel search site from scratch.
Check out this video overview of metasearch functions you can build on your website with White Label Web.
4. Build a loyal audience
People buy from people. Understanding your audience and establishing yourself as a trustworthy expert can go a long way toward building a loyal following that will refer even more customers in the future.
- Monitor your reputation online. If someone starts talking negatively about you, social sentiment tools will inform you, so you can respond quickly and show your credibility.
- Gather as many positive reviews as possible. As only 6% of travelers do not trust testimonials, publishing inspiring customer reviews is crucial. Fortunately, 80% of customers are eager to leave a review if asked to do so.
- Develop a loyalty program. Think of ways you can reward repeat customers: discounts, exclusive deals, price alerts, etc.
5. Develop a personal touch
Even as basic travel planning becomes easier and easier, people still prefer boutique travel agencies, hotels and other independent services to ensure security and convenience for more complex or unfamiliar experiences and remote trips.
Soulless corporations are sooo 2019. Nowadays, people appreciate businesses that don’t feel like chatbots. That’s why it’s important to look for ways to enhance your customer relationships with a human touch. For instance:
- Offer last-minute bookings. If someone decides to take a trip tomorrow, you can swoop in to save them a lot of stress and decision-making.
- React promptly. A fast response to a client request makes a huge impression.
- Pay attention to your writing. Invest in improving your communication skills. The goal is to get things across clearly in a way that makes you sound confident and smart. This will help build a professional image and make customers feel reassured.
Future-proof your travel business
With growing interest in off-beat and remote travel experiences, this might be a great time to invest in your travel business. The tips above will help you stay competitive, grow together with the travel market, and secure your target audience. A great way to start is to integrate a White Label on your website and earn affiliate rewards while helping travelers book their trips.
Now we’ll turn things over to you. What are the best ways to grow a travel business these days? Are you following any of the trends above, or do you have a better solution you want to share?