2024 will probably be the biggest year for travel since the pandemic. Whether it’s “astrotourism” or “rural tourism”, all the marketers are trying to get their buzzword into the trade press. “Wellness” has been included as a trend every year for the past ten. At Palisis, we’ve tried to look at what we think will happen in a way that is useful to you as a tour operator.
Contactless payment solutions have been on the rise for years but were given a shot in the arm at the start of the pandemic. Consumers loved the idea, and now the majority of card payments in Europe, the United States and Australia are contactless. These payments are faster and more secure than regular card payments. And people who pay with contactless spend more than they would with cash.
For tour and activity operators, that means more efficiency, faster queues and a reduced risk of fraud. This brings with it more revenue and higher profits as staff can process in-person bookings faster, and less work for your back office team when it comes to processing claims. When used with specially designed contactless point-of-sale devices and a booking system, such as Palisis and our validators, they deliver a new level of business analysis.
Sustainable tourism practices
2023 was the hottest year on record and the first time the Earth passed the 1.5C limit of global warming agreed by countries around the world in Paris over a single year. While this limit needs to be averaged over several years, 2024 has only carried on the temperature growth. This rapid increase in temperature has brought extreme weather to many places around the world that aren’t prepared for it.
Electric tour buses and boats are a large capital expenditure, especially when a change in infrastructure at depots and docks is required. However, They are both considered to have lower running and maintenance costs, which means they work out cheaper over their lifetime. Transitions such as these are increasingly being mandated by local authorities, and funds are often in place to help with such a large outlay. Electric-powered tours are also better for your guests, who can enjoy their trip in silence.
Sustainability is not just about reducing global heating. It also covers social and economic issues. Experience operators will have little control over the economic environment they work in but they do affect the social environment. Examining areas such as equity in staffing and how you and your guests interact with local communities can bring even more benefits to your company.
Mobile solutions and enhancements
Phones continue to be a larger and larger part of how everyone travels and manages their businesses. Almost everything is now available on mobile in large parts of the world. A phone is an essential tool, from booking and ticketing for tours and attractions to seeing how your operation is performing in real-time.
At the end of 2022, Arival’s Outlook for Operators stated: “Two in five direct online bookings [were on mobile] for tour and activity operators.” More will be happening on phones through online travel agencies and other resellers. Most tour operators are unlikely to require an app to facilitate these bookings. However, having a quick and easy-to-use responsive website will work wonders.
Providing e-tickets and receipts to customers that can be scanned from their phones by a validator will not just reduce waste, but also reduce the number of people losing their tickets and decrease the time spent collecting and checking tickets at the start of a tour. This will provide a better experience for all involved. E-tickets and receipts are coming to Palisis soon.
Palisis also provides an app through which you can check exactly how your operation is doing with a glance at your phone and carry out other functions without needing to be at a computer. As you’re able to check results and make quick adjustments from anywhere, it’s not going to help your phone addiction.
Mobile point-of-sales devices that also act as ticket validators can be used handheld or installed anywhere they are required, such as on a bus or boat. These can provide tour information, and contactless technology and are secure and PCI-compliant. These devices run software that has been specifically designed to work with Palisis. All information is uploaded in real-time as long as there is an internet connection, and GPS tracking means you can spot trends and problems as they are happening.
Data-driven decision-making
The concept of data-driven decision-making has played a major role in the growth in companies that have access to lots of information. This covers aspects such as what products to sell and when, staffing, and who to market to and how, as well as much more.
As more operators begin to use booking systems, such as Palisis, and channel management, such as TourCMS, the tools and information that larger companies use to make such decisions are coming into operators’ hands. More information than ever before is on your computer and mobile, easy analysis of results is just one click away, and the ability to drill down into information for granular detail is almost as simple.
These will help you spot long- and short-term trends across your business. One sales channel could be performing better than the rest and needs more attention. A sales location might not be as good as expected and could be moved. Pick-up routes could be optimised so that drivers and guests are waiting less and spending more time on the trip.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial Intelligence has taken the world by storm over the past year. Suddenly the internet is flooded with pictures, words, and, increasingly, video that was generated by a computer from a prompt. Chatbots are available at any moment to answer your questions and could be taking over from Google.
Chatbots are probably the best example of how they will affect travel at first. People will use these to plan their trips and ask questions about what they can do and need to bring. Palisis is currently working on a chatbot for travel named Harry, which is currently in beta. For operators, this will reduce the time spent answering questions and should increase sales.
Marketing is another area that AI is supposed to upend. However, it might be best to wait until the copy and pictures it produces are indistinguishable from those made by humans. Currently, the words read like a computer wrote them, and pictures are often on the odd side. It also makes mistakes or hallucinations, which need to be checked.
Future-ready solutions
Often, it is difficult to plan years ahead. Something will always seem to get in the way. The hope is that your plan is ready for that wrinkle that happens two years down the line — it’s a future-ready solution.
Switching to electric-powered transportation would be one example. If it’s not happening in your region already, there will soon be a big push from local and national governments to do so. Being ahead of the curve will give you an advantage when it happens and with your marketing.
Perhaps all that work you did learning how to stream from a 360 camera for virtual tours during the pandemic wasn’t for nothing. Apple’s new Vision Pro augmented reality headsets have caused a stir and may bring virtual reality back just as everyone was giving up on it. A new surge in interest in virtual travel could now be the marketing solution you were promised at the time.
Automated cars and buses always seem to be just on the horizon but not quite able to cross it. Someday, they will, and could be combined with AI to run tours without guides and drivers. It might sound fantastical, but it is already being worked on by a company called Autoura. How can you use this?
Contextualisation
Context is following storytelling and narrative as the travel industry’s favourite buzzword. Expect to see it on every boutique hotel and eco-tours website and social media biographies soon. Even airlines and the companies that sell their tickets are using it. This is partly personalisation, but taken another step, and partly ensuring that guest has an authentic experience and a better understanding of the community they are visiting by giving them the context. You could consider it as being thoughtful.
For the first, personalisation, travel companies are increasingly using the data they have on travellers to make sure they are presented with options that will make their lives easier. A hotel chain may treat two travellers differently after a long journey. One may receive their keycard digitally so they can go straight to their room, while the other receives a welcome drink and a friendly chat at the reception because the hotel has information that shows their preferences. Receiving and acting on information this granular will be very difficult for many tour operators.
However, if you already attract repeat business or plan to, this information can be collected and tracked. Tour and experience operators who operate in multiple destinations could implement loyalty programmes and dashboards for their guests to log in to and express their preferences. AI chatbots could also be used to have a conversation with the guest and see what they are expecting.
The second will be much easier for many as this is a large part of what you are already doing on a tour — giving your guests authentic, meaningful experiences that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Remember to consider every aspect of your trip — the location, who has lived and lives there, and what stories, food and traditions are important to them, and why — and your guests will come away with a deeper understanding of where they have been.