By Rezdy — 30 Jun 2015

Today’s global travelers are a savvy bunch. A promotional campaign may pique their interest in a tour or activity — but they are going to do their research before they make a booking.

Before they book, they will scour review sites in order to see if the actual experience lives up to the hype. They may even head to popular social networking sites in order to look at conversations around your business.

So as a tour and activity company, you need to strive for 5-star reviews in order to increase your online bookings as well as your offline, direct bookings.

These tips will help you earn those stellar reviews and positive comments from your customers.

1. Establish a Presence on the Best Review Sites

Whether you make an effort to develop a presence on these sites or not, chances are your customers will begin discussing your business on review sites on their own accord.

This is why it’s important to be proactive and make sure that you are aware of what your business looks like on all of the best review sites. The sites that you need to focus on include: TripAdvisor, Viator and Google Local.

These are the most commonly used resources by travelers in any given destination. Your past, present and future customers will use these sites to leave feedback, make inquiries and conduct their research prior to making their reservations.

2. Provide Your Customers with a Unique and Enjoyable Experience

Ultimately, in order to earn the best review possible, you have to provide your customers with an exceptional experience.

Your tours and programs should begin and end on-time. You should offer your customers something that they cannot do anywhere else. This might be delving into the local, hidden gems that other tourists may not discover, or providing extra insight about the culture of your area.

You should make sure your tours are valuable, and well worth the price of admission. At the end of the experience, encourage your customers to leave positive feedback about your tours. Remind them that if they have any issues, they can work with you directly in order to resolve them.

3. Address Any Negative Reviews that You Receive

All businesses receive negative reviews online. However, not all businesses respond appropriately or effectively to negative reviews.

Your potential customers will not only be interested in the glowing reviews about your tours and activities, but they also will be interested in the negative feedback.

When you respond professionally and politely, and you make sure the customer is satisfied in the end, your future customers will take note. They will take this into account when reviewing your company after their own personal experience.

Online marketing plays a pivotal role in the success of your tour and activity business. You need to not only establish your presence on social media and social review sites, but you also need to manage these accounts on a daily — even hourly — basis.

Your ability to interact with your customers both online and offline will help drive sales and increase online bookings.

In order to learn more about the best online marketing strategies for tour and activity providers, check out our online marketing ebook today. If you want to learn how to start getting customer feedback for your tours, read our article on how to request reviews.