Incremental sales for tour operators

Tour providers can create promotions for their tours and activities in order to generate buzz about their business, book additional tours during the off-season or drive a boost in revenue for a particular month. These promotions might offer customers a discount on a particularly popular tour, or they might offer an enhanced experience that includes a free souvenir or an additional activity. When creating a promotion, tour operators should understand the importance of incremental sales.

What are Incremental Sales?

Incremental sales are defined as the number of tours and activities sold through a sales promotion in excess of the estimated number that would have been sold without the promotion. Essentially, these are the sales that are generated as a direct result of the promotion, and that would not have been possible if the promotion was not created. A solid promotion will drive a significant amount of incremental sales for the tour and activity provider, making the discount or extra products worthwhile for the business.

What Agents Can Help Drive Incremental Sales?

As part of the distribution strategy, tour and activity providers should work with agents who can resell their tours and activities in order to reach a larger audience. These are the best agents to work with in order to boost incremental sales for your travel business:

• GDS — A Global Distribution System, or GDS, is a large network that enables a tour and activity provider to sell their product to the end consumer. A GDS is made up of booking agents as well as third party suppliers, and the company that operates the GDS aims to create booking packages that are desirable for the traveler. By partnering with a GDS, a tour and activity provider has access to interested travelers across the globe who may want to book one of their tours and activities.
• OTAs — Online Travel Agents, or OTAs, are an important distribution channel that can help increase incremental sales. When a tour operator creates a promotion, they can inform the OTAs about the latest deal. The OTAs will then market that particular option to interested consumers, allowing incremental sales to increase.
• Daily Deal Sites — Many tour and activity providers today work with daily deal sites in order to market their promotions that are designed to increase incremental sales. Thousands of people subscribe to daily deal sites, and these sites have the power to reach out to many different types of consumers in a quick, efficient way.