One word: distribution. Without an “export-ready” product, there’s no way international distributors will even consider reselling your tour or activity.
So how can tour operators export-readify their businesses? Destination NSW provides some excellent information on what’s involved.
First you have to assess where you are in relation to being export-ready. Are you:
If so, then you’re already there! If not, then keep reading.
It all boils down to your approach when it comes to the following:
Do your research! Think about where most of your customers are from, look at local market updates for information on emerging inbound markets, and extensively research your potential distributors.
If your product does not satisfy the needs of the international market (pricing or product itself), then you will have to make necessary adjustments to make it more appealing.
Decide what booking system you’ll use, how you’ll train your staff to use it, and how you will pay your trade partners.
Booking management with your trade partners can turn into a disorganized nightmare if you don’t put in the right systems from the outset.
Budget for new efforts – like sales calls, trade events & famils, staff training, conferences, and industry association memberships. Decide how international promotions will contribute to your mix of marketing channels.
To be export-ready, you need to have 3 pieces of collateral to hand over to trade partners:
How else do you expect your partners to sell for you? This will be used to train their staff, so make sure it looks professional and is very informative.
Include:
You will want to provide these as hard copies for the meeting and soft copies after the meeting.
They’ll definitely want to see this, because it tells them how much you’re willing to pay them for their services.
Remember to
You’ll need separate rate sheets for each type of agent, with nett rates.
Put a lot of thought into this one, because it tells your distributor how you are prepared to work with them. You need to clearly define both of your roles – who’s responsible for what, and when.
Include your:
We strongly recommend that you seek legal counsel before this is finalised.
If you would like help in automating the admin work that’s involved with your distributors, feel free to contact our sales team. Rezdy’s online booking software can manage your agent bookings for you.
You can also download our free ebook to keep learning about distributing your tourism products: