It’s a new year, and a fresh start! Many of you will be launching new tour products – whether they’re variations of existing products or totally new offerings.

Here’s a quick guide of the items you must tick off your pre-product launch checklist.

1. Know your ideal customer

What do your customers want? The best offerings fulfill a need your customers are already asking for, instead of creating one. For example, if you run kayaking tours, you may find a lot of your customers requesting kayak lessons. Remember that your ideal customers are already buying something similar from you.

2. Know your competition

Obviously, you need to study your competition to understand what you can offer that they can’t. Identify which ones are your greatest threats. Look at their marketing materials and think about how you can set yourself apart by offering the most value and benefits that customers care about.

Some ideas:

  • Apply discounts based on season, loyalty, group size, payment terms, total spending.
  • Add value to your products by partnering with other operators and bundling them together.
  • Use pricing strategies like disguised and visible pricing.

Read the full post: 3 Strategies That Will Make Your Tours More Competitive.

3. Define your marketing strategy

Looking at your customers and your competition should give you ideas on how you can market your new product. Use your existing customer and agent base – send them an email letting them know it’s something they might be interested in. You can also test out new channels like daily deal sites and partnerships with industry associations.

Download our Online Marketing eBook for Tour Operators to pick up some tips.

4. Run famils

Short for ‘familiarisation’, a famil is a planned visit offering invited members of the media and trade industries an opportunity to experience the tourism products, attractions, and experiences a particular destination markets. The success of this relies on support from the State’s tourism operators.

famil-example

Famils are a great way to promote your product while getting honest feedback from those in the industry about it. Invite your top customers to test it out and ask for early reviews.

5. Roll out your campaign

It’s time to execute the marketing strategy you have decided on.

Remember to…

Write a product sheet

  • Descriptive, detailed language
  • Extensive itinerary
  • What is included and not included
  • What to bring
  • Liability information
  • Terms and conditions

Use available distribution channels

The way you distribute your tour products is the key to your success.

If you would like to find out how you can harness all the distribution channels at your disposal, download our distribution channel ebook for tour and activity operators:





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