Why I Told This Client Not to Spend on Ads (Even Though They Wanted To)

A few months ago, I was on a call with a tour operator who was frustrated with their bookings. Traffic was decent, enquiries were inconsistent, and sales felt unpredictable. They had already decided what the solution was before the call even started. “We just need to run ads properly.” It’s a common starting point. Ads feel like action. They feel measurable. They feel like the lever you pull when things aren’t moving fast enough. And to be fair, in the right situation, ads can absolutely work. But this wasn’t the right situation. As we talked through the business, it became clear that the issue wasn’t visibility. People were already finding them. The issue was what happened next. The positioning was vague, the messaging tried to appeal to too many types of customers, and the experience itself, while good, wasn’t being framed in a way that made it feel distinct or memorable. In simple terms, they didn’t have a traffic problem. They had a clarity problem. If we had turned on ads at that point, we would have done exactly what they wanted. We would have driven more people to the website. More clicks. More eyeballs. More activity. But we wouldn’t have solved the underlying issue. We would have sent more people into a system that wasn’t converting properly. And when that happens, two things usually follow. First, the cost per booking rises because you’re paying to attract people who don’t quite understand what makes you different. Second, the business starts to believe that ads “don’t work,” when in reality they were just amplifying a weak foundation. That’s why I told them not to spend on ads. Not because ads are bad, but because ads are a multiplier. They don’t fix problems, they scale whatever is already there. If your positioning is strong, ads can accelerate growth. If your positioning is unclear, ads accelerate confusion. Instead, we focused on tightening the fundamentals. We worked on who the experience was really for, not who they hoped it might appeal to. We simplified the messaging so it spoke directly to that audience. We restructured parts of the website so that within a few seconds, a visitor could understand what made this experience different and whether it was right for them. We looked at the journey from first impression to booking and removed points of friction and doubt. None of this is as exciting as launching a campaign. It doesn’t give you instant numbers to look at. It feels slower, and in some cases, it feels like you’re not “doing marketing” at all. But this is the work that makes everything else effective. Once those pieces are in place, ads become far more predictable. You’re no longer guessing who you’re trying to attract. You’re not relying on volume to compensate for weak messaging. You’re amplifying something that already resonates. There’s a tendency in business to reach for tactics when things feel uncertain. Ads, SEO, social media, email campaigns. All of these have their place. But if the foundations aren’t clear, they become expensive ways to learn the same lesson over and over again. The question isn’t “should I run ads?” The better question is, “if I send more people to this, will it work better, or will I just see the same problems at a larger scale?” If it’s the latter, the smartest move is not to push harder. It’s to step back, fix what’s underneath, and then use ads for what they’re best at. Acceleration, not rescue. Cheers Chris

Feel Stuck in Your Business? Let’s Fix That — Fast! With a Deep Dive Gain clarity and direction in one powerful session. The Business Deep Dive helps you refine your brand, pricing, website, and marketing with expert insight and a clear action plan to grow your business. Find Our More

The Marketing Coach Glasgow, United Kingdom

It’s OK If You Don’t Want to Grow Bigger

 

It’s OK If You Don’t Want to Grow Bigger

There’s a quiet pressure in tourism that doesn’t get talked about much.

The assumption that growth always means bigger.

• More tours.
• More staff.
• More locations.
• More markets.
• More complexity.

And if you’re not moving in that direction, it can start to feel like you’re doing something wrong.

But here’s the truth that many operators only realise after years of building:

Not wanting to grow bigger doesn’t mean you lack ambition. It means you know what you value.

For some people, a bigger business brings energy and excitement. For others, it brings stress, distance from guests, and a version of work they never actually wanted in the first place.

There’s nothing noble about growing for the sake of it. Bigger doesn’t automatically mean better, happier, or more successful.

Many of the most resilient, profitable, and satisfying tourism businesses are deliberately small. They focus on depth rather than scale. They choose consistency over constant expansion. They protect their time, their standards, and their connection to the experience.

And that choice is rarely accidental.

It usually comes from understanding what kind of work you want to be doing day to day. Whether you enjoy being on the tour. Whether you like knowing your guests’ names. Whether you want your business to fit around your life, not consume it.

Growth can still happen in those businesses. It just looks different.

It might mean higher-quality guests rather than more of them. Better margins instead of more volume. Smoother systems rather than more moving parts. More confidence, not more chaos.

That’s still progress. And it’s still valid.

So if you’re feeling out of step with the constant push to expand, here’s the permission you didn’t know you needed:

You’re allowed to design a business that suits you.

One that’s sustainable. One that’s enjoyable. One that reflects how you want to live and work.

Bigger is just one version of success. It’s not the only one.

Cheers

Chris

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/its-ok-you-dont-want-grow-bigger-chris-torres-lz52e/

Don’t attempt to “scale” until you’re regularly selling out

 

This is for the operator who feels behind because they are not “scaling” fast enough. In a tour business, “scaling” is not a status symbol. It is capacity. More departures. More products. More guides. More moving parts to manage. If you are not regularly selling out what you already run, adding more does not make you more successful. It just gives you more empty inventory to carry. So what should you focus on instead? Focus on becoming the easiest “yes” in your city. The operator local partners trust, because you are visible and you are reliable. That “visibility” part is not a single networking event. It is repetition. Visitor centers. Chambers. Hotel teams. Planners. DMCs. You keep showing up until your name is known to them. That is how the snowball starts. Then you back it up with the boring stuff that most operators skip. Reply to the damn emails. Quote when you said you would. Do what you promised. When someone is under the gun and another operator ghosts, you become the obvious call. Get the same tour to sell out so often that you are turning people away. That is the moment the market is pulling you forward. That is when “scaling” stops being a word you say and becomes a problem you have to solve. Inspired by Paul Whitten, founder of Nashville Adventures, and his approach to strategically growing his business. https://www.instagram.com/reels/DVI7kBEEVWh/

🤔 Can you guess our most popular resources of 2025?? Kelsey Tonner, Guest Focus

 Hey, it's Kelsey here…

Every year tour operators in our community consume a lot of our free resources. 

Watching Guest Focus videos, reading articles, attending webinars, etc. 

But what were the most popular this year? 

5 Most-Watched Videos of 2025:

• From Boring to Brilliant: The Art of Storytelling on Tour - Transform your fact-heavy tours into captivating experiences through the power of storytelling
• Tour Design 101: The Foundations of an Unforgettable Experience - Discover how operators have transformed standard offerings into specialized experiences
• How to Price Tours for Profit: Boost Your Profits by 40% - We’re sharing three essential pricing frameworks that will help you see more profits in your business
• AI for Tour Operators in 2025: How to Use AI in Your Tour Business – A complete toolbox of specialized assistants, not just ChatGPT answering questions
• Building Communities: Complete Guide to Facebook & WhatsApp Groups for Multi-Day Tours - How to build community so you can build trust with your ideal target guests

5 Resources Tour Operators Used to Build Better Businesses:

• The Guest Focus Formula™: Our proprietary framework for creating outstanding guest experiences that drive repeat bookings and referrals
• Tour Description Templates: The specific structure that turns browsers into bookers on your sales pages
• Marketing Funnel Framework: The VIP Marketing Method™ mapped across the 5 stages of travel planning
• Pricing Strategy Tools: Cost-plus formulas, dynamic pricing models, and blended commission calculators that protect your margins
• Tour Business AI Lab: Free access to workflows, prompts, and operator-tested AI applications

5 Sales Page Improvements That Increased Conversions:

1. Run the 10-point audit on your current sales page—most operators fail at least 3 critical elements
2. Add trust signals strategically throughout the page, not just at the bottom (cancellation policy, safety badges, credentials)
3. Use "Check Availability" instead of "Book Now" to reduce booking friction
4. Include a clear tour timeline or itinerary format that helps guests visualize the experience
5. Address the unasked questions your guests have before they become objections

5 Strategic Focus Areas for 2026:

1. AI Integration: Moving from experimentation to implementation—let AI handle repetitive tasks so you can focus on growth (watch our AI series here)
2. Sales Page Optimization: Your tour page is either quietly making you money or actively losing you bookings (watch our tour descriptions series here)
3. Data-Driven Pricing: Using reports and analytics to make informed decisions instead of guessing (watch our pricing series here)
4. Off-Season Revenue Planning: Strategic projects during quiet months that multiply bookings next season (watch our off-season series here)
5. Experience Design: Creating memorable, multi-sensory tours that guests recommend without being asked (watch our tour design series here)

The difference between busy operators and profitable ones often comes down to focus. 

Not doing more things, but doing the right things consistently.

So gere's to a new year of strategic growth, not just harder work.

And of course to a 2026 filled with more insights, tools and resources from your friends at Guest Focus. ; )

Happy New Year!

Kelsey T & the Team at Guest Focus

P.S. open to sharing some love? A review or recommendation goes a long way… 

Here are some quick links to make it as easy as possible to say thanks:

Desktop:
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/guestfocus/reviews
Google: https://g.page/r/CfETS_l0luNvEAg/review?rc

On Your Phone/Mobile Device:
FB —> You’ll have to open the FB app, search Guest Focus Page, then click ‘reviews’
Google —> This link will open our business profile on Google Maps, then click ‘reviews’

Kelsey Tonner
Founder, Guest Focus
guestfocus.com



Tour Business Coaching
Create Unforgettable Experiences.
Attract Your Ideal Guests.
Sell More Tours.

Tuesday Tip - Cut Unprofitable Segments Ruthlessly

Tourpreneur Tuesday Tip A USEFUL IDEA TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS Are you spreading yourself thin trying to serve every customer type? Hidden Iceland was running small group tours that accounted for 50% of their departures but only 10% of revenue. By eliminating that segment entirely, they freed up operations and marketing resources to focus on premium and luxury private tours-and grew 5% despite cutting half their trip volume. Try this: Pull your sales data and calculate what percentage of your revenue comes from each product line or customer segment. If you find a segment that requires disproportionate effort for minimal return, model what would happen if you stopped offering it. Sometimes the best growth strategy is strategic subtraction. Inspired by how Hidden Iceland transformed their business by saying no to budget travelers and doubling down on luxury.

Feeling a lag in sales? Great post by Kelsey Tonner > Guest Focus

Great post by Kelsey Tonner of Guest Focus, so am reposting it here :)

 

Learn the power of Google 'Things to do'.

Tourpreneur is excited to partner with Google to provide you with this free course on how to harness the power of Google ‘Things to do’ for your tour & activity business.

The goal of this short course is to introduce you to ‘Things to do’, help you enroll, and harness its power to grow direct bookings for your business.

We’re launching this course in coordination with the announcement of Google’s new Ticket & Activities Editor, a way to list your tours on ‘Things to do’ directly through your Google Business Profile. 

Even if you’re very familiar with ‘Things to do’, this course will help you get up to speed with the latest developments.

Are you using your Google Business Profile to the fullest?

 Yesterday Google held a fantastic event focused on small business owners harnessing the power of Google's tools to grow your travel businesses.

Here are a few takeaways and updates you should think about in relation to your Business Profile on Google (and if you don't have one, claim yours immediately!):

• Do not “set and forget” about your Business Profile. Tend to it regularly—adding posts, updates, new photos, responding to reviews, adding or updating your tours. This matters a lot.
• Use the new features of Business Profile, including "Business Posts" to announce discounts and product updates. These posts show up on your Business Profile and in search results. (50% of customers look for promotions and discounts when searching for a business online.)
• Create an FAQ in the “Questions and Answers” section of your profile to save you time and help your customer.
• You can now add links to your social media accounts. Up to 7 accounts, and they'll display 5 of them.
• Update your photos at least monthly, and make sure they’re authentic—not staged, not overly edited.
• Load your individual tours on your profile using the new Ticket Editor! Do it now, it's so easy. If you're using booking software, chances are they might be connectivity partners with Google Things to do. But if not, simply go into your Business Profile, click on Activities and load your tours, with links to the individual tour pages. Now your Business Profile becomes a one-stop shop for the customer, linking directly to your tours.
• Mobile, mobile mobile: make sure your site is fast and friendly for phone users. Several Googlers brought this up, so it's clearly on their minds.
• Use the analytics from your Business Profile! It's actually quite powerful. Google shares a lot of useful analytics with you, such as where your guests are coming, highest activity times and days, search queries that led them to your profile, and much more.

If you want to learn more about loading your tours as part of their 'Things to do' program, take our free course we've created in partnership with Google.

Getting Faster: Know Your Website, and Know What’s Slowing It Down

 

The numbers don’t lie: Users prefer faster websites and applications.

There are many factors that impact the speed of your website.

Some you have control over; others you do not. This paper examines the various factors that impact web performance,

and the steps businesses can take to assess and improve the performance of their web properties.

https://content.cloudflare.com/NzEzLVhTQy05MTgAAAGKx7CkjnMPGM1-Z5FgXiUYqMcWKRiFboLmxWRUkdLQx2S3poh1bFswSmNp1xzdRbiEwm0y5qw=

SPTO SME Recovery Toolkit - now in Video Form!

 

SPTO SME Recovery Toolkit Videos   Warm Pacific Greetings,   We are excited to announce that the SPTO SME Recovery Toolkit is now available in video format! The Toolkit was developed to support the recovery of small, medium, and micro-sized tourism enterprises in the Pacific. It provides guidance on the entire product development process, from understanding market trends to online sales and marketing. We thank the SPTO member countries, industry and partners who contributed to this initiative and we hope you find these videos informative and helpful.   Best regards, The Division of Sustainable Tourism Pacific Tourism Organisation

These videos are a great way to gain insight into the toolkit and its chapters. We encourage you to watch each video to fully grasp the concepts and principles presented. Let us walk you through each of the videos and their corresponding chapters:

This chapter supports users to understand the evolving market trends. It provides guidance on different types of tour operators and agents before introducing key evolving consumer trends and how to apply these trends to your particular destination and business.

This chapter provides tips on adapting your product to ensure it appeals to the right target market. It presents important considerations that must be made in designing your tourism product. Learn how to refine your ideas for adapting or enhancing your product or creating a new experience.

This chapter provides you with essential information about international standards for health, safety, and security, as well as information on health and safety guidelines for COVID-19 safe operations.

This chapter guides users on pricing principles to ensure that your products are priced competitively while providing a profit. It walks you through the different steps to calculating prices for different types of products and how to allow mark-ups to be added with different businesses you might work with.

This chapter provides guidance in preparing your businesses for this new normal and re-evaluating how your business connects to customers, considering the importance of digitalization.

This chapter provides a clear understanding of the role played by staff, particularly tour guides, in the delivery of quality service and what practices to adopt to build reputation and trust.

In this final chapter, users will learn the different digital marketing options they can explore for their businesses. It introduces the different types of online sales and marketing platforms to promote your business, generate sales, and build relationships with your targeted audience.

Access the SPTO SME Recovery ToolKit here

Access the full SPTO SME ToolKit Videos Playlist here

For more information, please visit https://southpacificislands.travel/ or contact us at sustainable@spto.org