5 Strategies to Survive a Global Crisis...and Thrive Afterwards

In this webinar, you'll learn:

1. How to manage and reduce expenses for your tour, activity or rental company

2. Forecasting cashflow to prepare for the worst case scenarios

3. Current and future revenue generating activities you can implement in your business

4. How to minimise damage and protect your tourism business

5. Where to find your community to seek help and support

www.trekksoft.com/recordings-5-strategies-to-survive-a-global-crisis

March 2020 - Strategies to survive a global crisis.pdf

3 ways how LinkedIn can be a marketing tool for tour operators

Doing business as a tour operator can be pretty tough, the competition can get stiff, and return on investment can be low. A key strategy to staying on top of the business is to make sure you are visible to old and potential customers.

Thanks to modern technology, visibility for your business has been made a lot easier and cheaper. Besides using your website, newsletters, blogs, or bulk mailing to market your tour operation business, another great marketing strategy is social media. While there are a ton of social media platforms to market your business on, if you want to focus on business to business marketing, LinkedIn is your best bet.

https://www.tourismtiger.com/blog/3-ways-linkedin-can-be-a-marketing-tool-for-tour-operators

Although LinkedIn might not have caught on as quickly as other platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, it has evolved well and carved a niche among business professionals and recruiters alike. A good number of LinkedIn users have the decision-making authority on behalf of their organization, which makes business networking for your brand a lot smoother.

Before giving you a few tips on how to use LinkedIn as a marketing tool for your tour operating business, here are a few LinkedIn statistics you should consider:

• There are now over 660 million users worldwide
• More than 30M companies represented on LinkedIn
• Over 40% of users check their account daily
• LinkedIn is available in more than 200 countries
• It is currently available in 24 languages

Now here are the three ways how LinkedIn can be a marketing tool for tour operators:

INCLUDE EMPLOYEE LINKEDIN PROFILE

It is a no-brainer that as a tour operator, you already have your business page profile. So you might be asking, “why do I need personal profiles if it is the business I’m promoting?” Now here is the reason why; a tour and travel business is a highly people-oriented business. And because in the real sense of it, people do business with people, which is why it is vital to include an employee profile alongside your business profile.

Your LinkedIn profile and those of the other key staff in your business are the blocks you need to build up your tour business. People want to know more about who is in charge of the company they are about to patronize, so a well put together profile is going to make a lasting impression on your client.
Make sure your profile is 100% complete, therefore anticipating client’s questions. Add new industry-related skills, achievements, and examples of the top-notch work you do.

USE LINKEDIN AS A PUBLISHING PLATFORM

One thing I love about LinkedIn is the progress it has made with reinventing itself in the past 2-3 years. An example of one such reinvention is the room it has given its users for long-form posts on a content publishing platform, this allows users to write, edit, and share lengthy articles.

As a tour operator, there is just so much visual and written content you would want to post. The LinkedIn publishing platform gives you all the space to publish your long travel reviews, repost blog articles, tour adventures, and even reach different readers more easily. The great thing about this is that, unlike other social media platforms where people rarely read long posts, on LinkedIn we see the opposite.

Because you have a bigger platform to post more articles, you might need the services of writers such as Online Writers Rating to boost the content quality and numbers of material you post. The LinkedIn publishing platform also allows you to add third-party content to your article, so it’s easy to share articles from other sites. Just make sure you credit your source.

JOIN A DISCUSSION GROUP OR CREATE YOUR OWN

There are over two million discussion groups on LinkedIn that have an extensive range of topics for discussion. So it is easy to get a group that covers your business idea. There is a limit to the number of groups you can join (100 groups). So make sure you pick the groups that are relevant and add value to your business. Examples of groups you can join as a tour operator include:

• Social Media Travel
• Travel & Tourism Industry Professionals Worldwide
• Hotel Industry Professionals Worldwide
• Ski Industry Marketing and Sales Travel Professionals
• Tour Operator Professionals

These groups expand your networking pool, allow you to share business ideas, and also give you room to establish yourself as an expert in the industry.

It is also essential to listen to conversations first before engaging in any group discussions. Taking part in group discussion interaction is a great way to increase the views on your profile. You should aim to fall among the top five influencers, because this is a great way to build your brand reputation. These influencers are seen as contributors whose discussion generates extensive feedback from other group members.

Remember, if you can’t seem to find a group that suits your brand ideas and goals, you can always take the lead and create your own, invite old and potential clients and other service providers. Linked in allows you to setup up to 30 groups at a time

Additionally, you can conduct polls to learn about your competitors and customers and also to stay updated on current industry trends. The results from the polls allow you to share business insights with your colleagues and even place you as an expert in your field.

Whether you’re looking for ways to generate business leads, build awareness for your travel brand, or establish strategic partnerships, LinkedIn is the way to go.

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FRANK HAMILTON

Frank Hamilton is a blogger and translator from Manchester. He is a professional writing expert in such topics as blogging, digital marketing and self-education. He also loves traveling and speaks Spanish, French, German and English.

https://www.tourismtiger.com/blog/3-ways-linkedin-can-be-a-marketing-tool-for-tour-operators

A video message from Steve Kaufer, Tripadvisor CEO

The last few weeks have been unprecedented, with the COVID-19 crisis affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of people, as well as having a huge impact on the travel, tourism and hospitality industry.

I have recorded a short video messagefor all Tripadvisor partners that I hope you are able to find a few minutes to watch. I am not normally one to talk in front of a camera (I’m the first to admit it doesn’t come naturally to me) but these are not normal times. I felt it was important for me to reach out to you personally. You can also read the full message below my signature.

https://youtu.be/F9KZJ9fha2I

I’d also like to share some resources and actions we’re taking to support accommodation businesses, specifically. First is our COVID-19 Resource Page where we’re compiling the latest insights and tips for our accommodations community. Also, we’ve launched a new feature that allows you to temporarily mark your property as closed, if needed, and indicate when you’re planning to re-open.

We are determined to support you through this extraordinary time so that when travellers and diners once again are able to visit the world, we are there for them. Across all sectors of tourism, our teams will be in touch to share more details and updates as we have them. Please look out for additional communications from Tripadvisor in the coming days.

Yours,

Steve Kaufer President and CEO Tripadvisor

https://youtu.be/F9KZJ9fha2I

Full message to the industry:

Hello. My name is Steve Kaufer. I am the CEO and co-founder of Tripadvisor. I want to take a moment to talk to you – the 8 million-plus businesses listed on our platform.Across the globe, these are unbelievable times we’re living in as we try to navigate through this pandemic.

Most importantly, we hope you all stay safe.Take seriously the recommendations of your local health authorities and ensure your employees are doing the same.I know this isn’t always easy, especially for an industry that is built on bringing people together, but the more diligent we are now, the sooner we can defeat this virus.I know many of us across the travel and tourism industry are also feeling anxious about our businesses and the overall health of the economy. I can only imagine how this is impacting you, your families, your business, your customers and your employees. I — like you — have seen the empty piazzas in Italy and empty streets in cities around the world and have wondered aloud: How do we get to the other side of this crisis? 

Certainly, today’s crisis is different from anything the travel and tourism industry has seen in our lifetime. While no one knows when this will end, the one thing I am confident in is that — yes, people will travel again.Customers will walk through your doors again.  They will book reservations again. Get on planes, trains and hop in their cars again. Dine out again.

Tourism will rebound.But to get through this as an industry, to get to the other side of this crisis, we must come together. 

So what steps are we taking at Tripadvisor?We have instructed nearly all of our global employees to work from home. For many of us, this has meant adapting to a new way of working, but I am proud to say our employees have risen to the challenge.We are also taking appropriate action to reduce expenses.  For instance, I am personally taking no salary for the remainder of 2020—just one of many steps taken to help Tripadvisor weather this storm.  Despite these changes to the ways we are operating the business, I’m confident Tripadvisor will continue to deliver the level of service you expect from us.  We are determined to do everything we can to support you through this extraordinary and unprecedented time. So I have asked our teams to think creatively about how Tripadvisor can support all of our partners, across every area of the business and every category of travel.

First we’re actively encouraging governments across the globe to support public policies that help protect the travel, tourism and hospitality sectors — including businesses and workers impacted by the downturn. We are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with others in the industry and making a united case for urgent government action.

Second, we know that travel restrictions have had a severe impact on ALL of your businesses. For some, local restrictions have meant that you have had to close your business entirely.

I want you to know that we are taking a fresh look at our suite of paid subscription and media products in order to identify how we can ease the financial strain on the most impacted businesses at this time. We’ll be sharing more details with businesses soon, so please look out for additional and frequent communications from Tripadvisor with more details.Within the wider Tripadvisor media group, our subsidiary brands — including Viator, TheFork and CruiseCritic — are working around the clock to be of assistance to your business.

Third, let’s take a deep dive in one sector in particular. If you own, operate or work at one of the five million restaurants featured on Tripadvisor, please know that we are exploring what we can do to encourage diners to support your business:In places where folks are being advised to stay at home, we want to showcase the take-away or delivery options that are available to them on our platform so that you can continue to serve your customers, both loyal and new.

For those of you unable to provide a delivery service, we are exploring other ways in which we can encourage and enable your loyal customers to support your business during this time — like with gift card purchases.Across all sectors of tourism, our teams will be in touch to share more details and updates as we have them. Please look for additional communications from Tripadvisor. 

Let me finish by saying this: I know it is tough out there. I know many of you are worried. Stay healthy, and focus on the things you can control.  We will get through this.We — like you — are working hard, adapting our approach in response to the continuously changing developments around the globe. And we are putting plans in place to be ready for when the recovery happens. When the time comes, people will dine out and travel again. When they do, Tripadvisor will be there to guide them to your door.Thank you for your time.

Coronavirus Marketing Battle Plan: Marketing Through the Crisis

Travel and tourism is in the midst of a coronavirus crisis, with large-scale events, flights, and countries going into lockdown. Travel bans, self-isolation, and social distancing have all taken effect; regardless of what you think of this pandemic, what matters most is what your customers think, and how they feel.

Tourists have already been put off travelling abroad but, for many, this isn’t out of fear of catching the virus (well, not most, anyway), but because they fear losing money on booked flights, accommodation, tours and activities, etc. They are also worried that travel bans will prevent them from getting back home. What your customers need right now is peace of mind.

I have created this guide to help anyone in the tours, activities, and experience industry. I hope this resource also helps inspire operators to think outside of the box. Open your mind to what you and your business is and to what it can be. Consider creating new products and changing your marketing to react to this challenging time. If this guide helps just one business, the time I’ve spent creating it will be entirely worthwhile.

Don’t let this crisis define your business. Assess, adapt, survive… and you may find that your business comes out the other side stronger than ever before.

Download your free guide here.

FREE copy of Lookers into Bookers

To help all tourism, accommodation and tour and activity businesses during the Coronavirus crisis, my book, Lookers into Bookers, is now free on digital format. Download your copy here. Hope it makes the difference of your business surviving or not. Chris

Chris   Torres  Founder & Director  Tourism Marketing Agency  Turning Lookers into Bookers  +44 141 221 2090  chris@tourismmarketing.agency  tourismmarketing.agency  41 St.Vincent Place, 6th Floor, Room 3, Glasgow, G1 2ER  Purchase Lookers into Bookers

Tourism Marketing Agency 41 St.Vincent Place, 5th Floor, Room 8, Glasgow G1 2ER, Glasgow United Kingdom

Digital Travel Marketing Trends for 2020

The last months of the year are the right time to slowly summarize your business results and create a digital travel marketing strategy for the next year.

If you’ve been thinking about what would be good to apply next year to attract more tourists at a lower price, then it will surely be useful for you to know the key things that will present the crucial difference in market competition in favor of those who apply them.

These are, in our opinion, the six most important trends and key changes that you need to implement in your digital travel marketing strategy to effectively promote and sell your services in 2020.