5 Jun 2016 Why It’s Especially Important that Small Tour Operators Have a Distribution Strategy

As a local company that offers walking tours of your city, you might feel like you are doing just fine reaching out to your normal customer base and interacting with your past customers on social media. While direct bookings are beneficial and an important part of building your small tour operation, you should still consider developing a distribution strategy. In fact, it’s even more important that small business owners create an effective distribution strategy.

Why Do Small Tour Operators Need a Distribution Strategy?

Small tour operators typically have a website designed for a small business. You don’t have the same reach as the larger, corporate tour companies, and your website will not be able to compete with the SEO strategies of the massive OTAs that are selling vacation packages to the masses. It’s probably a great website, with wonderful photos and valuable information, but it will be hard for people to find it without a solid distribution network.

As a small business, you likely do not employ a marketing specialist. Without a marketing professional on your team, you aren’t going to be able to build the marketing campaign you need to reach out to a global audience. This would be a massive investment for any small business, which is why your distribution strategy is so important. Other agents can promote your products and sell them for you.

Your time is valuable, and it needs to be spent on offering high-quality tours and activities to your customers. You can’t spend all of your time behind a desk and in the office.

You don’t have an endless budget — no small business does — and you can’t waste your money on a marketing strategy that might not work. A distribution strategy is not a risky investment. You only pay commissions to agents who sell your products, meaning you only pay when you get an actual conversion.

What are the Benefits of a Distribution Strategy?

• Through your distribution strategy, you will outsource the acquisition of customers. It doesn’t have to be something that you worry about — you can focus on more important tasks.
• You can devote less time to administrative work and invest more time in the tours and activities that you provide. This is the best part, because it allows you to focus more on the aspect of your business that you love the most!

To find out more about creating an effective distribution strategy, download our distribution ebook today.

Topics agent bookings, distribution, small tour operators