travel tech insights

Why Shopping Baskets Are a Winning Proposition for Tour Operators

Flexibility is the cornerstone of modern travel. In an era where consumers are given more options and more freedom when it comes to booking travel than ever before, travelers are growing increasingly accustomed to the idea that their itineraries should be personalized to their exact desires.

Of course, such a high degree of freedom and such a tremendous wealth of travel options can become daunting, or even disorienting, especially when it comes to booking tours, attractions, and other activities as part of a trip. However, today’s tour operators are well-equipped to provide value to their customers by helping them make sense of the infinite options available to them.

This is where the shopping basket comes in. In this context, a shopping basket simply refers to the mechanism by which travelers are able to customize their own itineraries, selecting and purchasing transport and accommodations for a tour that would not necessarily have been packaged together otherwise.

Topics: Tour Companies Tour Operators shopping baskets shopping carts

Inside the Locker Room: How Tour Operators Prepare for A New Season

Think about your favorite sports team as they begin to ready themselves for a new season. The team meets to watch and discuss game film; they work on game strategy, conceive new, and revise old plays; they engage in individual and team practices to sharpen or refine their skills; and they work closely with coaches and other levels of team management to ensure optimal levels of fitness and mental readiness for the long season ahead.

For tour operators in today’s global travel industry, the preparation necessary to ready themselves for the next travel season is not unlike the measures teams take to prep for their next campaign. The operational, back-office, and even customer-facing duties and tasks tour operators engage in before the season directly reflects business outcomes by the season’s end. Of course, tour operators aren’t watching game film of an opponent or taking part in intense practice sessions, but strategizing about which products and services to offer, where and how to source them, selecting the right itineraries to promote, and more are critical drivers for tour operators in ensuring an efficient, productive travel campaign.

Topics: travel Tour Operator Tour Companies Tour Operators

Why Tour Operators Should Target Adventure Travelers

It’s no secret that tour operators have been struggling to maintain a foothold in today’s travel industry with the rise and proliferation of travel review websites, social media, and the wealth of general travel information available to customers at the snap of their fingers. Today’s biggest travel consumer market, millennials - though baby boomers to some degree as well - are more savvy and well-informed than consumers in years past. Yet, there’s one consumer base that still remains fertile ground for tour operators: Adventure travelers.

Topics: Food and Adventure Tourism Tour Companies Adventure travelers trends Tour Operators

Tour Operator Trends and Technology

Within the tour industry the trends of early 2016 are mirroring those of 2015: customers are increasingly looking for customized offerings that promise highly personalized travel experiences.  It’s not surprising: who doesn’t want to return from a trip with a sense of having authentically experienced that part of the world?  What travelers wouldn’t want to feel they really know something where they’ve been, and that where they’ve been is unique – more than just another gondola ride in Venice?  The question is – how are savvy tour companies responding to these trends?

Topics: Travel Industry travel technology Tour Operator Tour Operator Software Tour Companies Tour Operators