Tour and activity operators must explore innovative ways to reach their target customers to stand out from the competition and drive revenue. Online travel agencies (OTAs) have proven themselves to be trusted and reliable partners in pursuit of these goals. But partnering with OTAs for third-party distribution isn’t always a straightforward operation.
Once connected to your OTAs of choice, an operator can take key steps to maximise the benefit of the relationship. Here, we’ll share insight into how to make the most of your OTA partnerships.
Optimise your product copy to sell
Whether you’re selling places on your guided tour, seats on your hop-on hop-off bus, tickets to your attraction, or spaces on your cruise, you must make sure your OTA listing is optimised to sell. The best product descriptions balance emotive and practical language that translates for global audiences. That means crafting engaging yet concise copy, that clearly explains what the experience involves.
If it’s a Dubai Desert morning quad bike safari, describe the rugged terrain and spectacular sunrise scenery. If it’s a food-tasting tour through Paris’ Le Marais neighbourhood, readers must imagine savouring those delicate flavours for themselves. And if it’s a ticket to a city attraction, explain it so your target audience feels it’ll be a highlight of their trip!
Writer’s Tips:
- Look over the details in similar products listed on OTAs, to make sure your product descriptions and booking information stand out from the rest.
- Identify the fields that are unique to top online travel agencies, and which are standard content fields. This is important because it will make it easier for you to update and create new listings in the future.
- Identify the standard content fields that all the top agencies include, and optimise your product listings for them. Examples include the short description, highlights, and itinerary.
- Take a look over past customer reviews, to make sure you’ve included all the information in your product descriptions that a customer needs to know. Customer feedback is the most relevant information you can turn to when optimising your product descriptions.
- Write and deliver content that is easily transferable across multiple OTA product listing templates. That way, it’ll be easier to keep your content accurate and up-to-date if details change.
Write with your customer’s questions in mind
It’s important to write your product copy to match peoples’ online search intent. Try to answer customers’ questions in your writing, crafting your copy carefully to keep it engaging and relevant.
SEMrush or Moz Keyword Explorer are brilliant for keyword research and search engine ranking analysis. These are important tools in writing product copy, and they perform well on Google.
Answer the Public offers useful insight into the ways people are phrasing their online searches. By using similar turns of phrase in your product copy, you’ll meet customers’ search intent more easily.
Choose images that showcase the best of your tour or experience
High-quality visual content is important too. The images you choose to accompany your product description must offer clear insight into what’s involved. Showcase the best of the natural scenery, thrilling moments, or cultural enrichment in your images, and they’ll enhance the overall appeal of your OTA product listing.
If you don’t have the budget for a professional photographer, consider asking your guides, staff, or even customers to capture the action on their smartphone cameras for use on your OTA listing.
Leverage your OTAs’ marketing channels
Close collaboration with your travel agencies of choice is a secret to success, and leveraging the reach of their marketing channels is a great way to work hand-in-hand in boosting revenue.
You could regularly engage with your OTAs’ social media activity, sharing in-the-moment photos, behind-the-scenes footage, or customer testimonials. Instagram in particular lends itself very well to this, as it supports easily consumable images and videos.
Newsletters are a tried-and-tested way for online travel agencies to share news of seasonal tours and experiences, special events, or limited-duration offers. By building a close working relationship with your agency of choice or asking about sponsorship opportunities, you may find your tours or experiences selected for inclusion.
Working successfully with your selected OTAs is a balancing act. On the one hand, you want to reach a wider audience and boost your revenue at minimal cost. On the other hand, they want to maintain the quality and value-for-money of products on their websites and help customers easily find and book relevant activities and experiences.
Competitive pricing is a key area where these various factors converge. By analysing market trends – and assessing seasonal and regional demand – you’ll be in a better position to set competitive prices for the tours or experiences you’re listing. Travellers typically compare costs before placing their booking, and by pricing keenly, you’ll attract attention. So research products similar to your own on the OTA’s website, and adjust your rates accordingly.
Offering exclusive promotions or limited-duration discounts to your OTAs is another good way to maximise the potential of your working relationship. When pitched and timed correctly, such promos and discounts create a sense of urgency which drives bookings.
Encourage customer reviews
Authentic, positive reviews from happy customers mean a great deal in the online world – where building trust quickly is vital. At the end of your tours, encourage satisfied participants to leave their thoughts and feedback on the OTA’s website.
By building up a collection of positive reviews there, you’ll boost your credibility and increase the trust that new customers can place in your product.
Joining travel industry communities such as Tourpreneur or Arrival is a great way to stay up-to-speed on the latest trends and developments. Organisations like these keep close tabs on the OTA updates, which are most likely to have a broad industry impact – all with the aim of supporting growth and increasing revenue.
Some OTAs share tracking tools to help tour operators better understand the performance of the tours and experiences they list. Others share more general reports to help you maximise revenue. By exploring these tools and reports, you’ll gain insight into:
- booking trends
- conversion rates
- customer demographics
Equally, if you’re using a channel manager for OTA partnership, key sales data will likely be captured there. The added insights this data offers will show you what your target market is looking for, and allow you to strategise accordingly.
A successful tour operator / OTA partnership hinges on close collaboration, open communication, flexibility, and a shared commitment to deliver value and quality to the consumer. By following the strategies laid out in this blog, you’ll set yourself on the right path to a productive and fruitful OTA partnership. For more valuable insight into harnessing the power of OTAs in your sales and marketing operations, check our blog on third-party distribution for tour operators.