Updated November 2021 – Anyone who runs a business or markets a specific product within the tourism industry knows about the tourism marketing mix. The traditional marketing mix was created in 1960 and has been applied to nearly every product created since then. The marketing mix contains the 4 P’s: product, place, price, and promotion. However, 3 extra P’s apply for the experiences industry: People, Processes, and Physical Evidence. As a tour operator, here’s what you need to know about the basic tourism marketing mix and how you can utilize them to analyze your competitive strategies.

The Traditional Marketing Mix

Product

Product is the first step of the marketing process because you need to create a product that consumers want. Without the right products, it won’t be easy to market your business and attract customers to your services.

As a tour and activity provider, you must offer a specific tour or activity that is in demand. It should be a high-quality tour and an authentic experience. By striving to exceed your customers’ expectations, you will surely gain a target market that seeks your product.

Place

Decades ago, tour and activity providers simply sold their products through their storefront and through travel agents. Today and with the advancement of technology, you have to make sure your tours and activities are available both online and offline. This allows for a wider avenue of bookings to come through from a wide variety of platforms. 

These days, most travelers want to book online in order to make their reservations, and it’s essential to have a mobile-friendly website that accepts bookings. By being able to be bookable anywhere your customers are, it eases the overall booking process. Ultimately, this increases your chances of capturing their bookings.

Price

Price your tours and activities according to demand and value is essential. You don’t need to give away your products for free in order to attract customers. You simply need to offer them a valuable experience that they find worthwhile.

By marketing your products correctly and providing evidence that your tours and activities are credible, you can align your services with a price point that customers will agree to pay.

Promotion

You should utilize a variety of advertising techniques and marketing campaigns to promote your business. Whether that be an online promotion or an exclusive offer between your business and an agent, promoting campaigns correctly is key to boosting your sales.

How and where you communicate your campaigns is also an important element to your promotion’s success. Utilizing channels such as your website, social media, storefronts, and agents (including OTAs) will help widen your business’ exposure.

By strategizing and communicating your campaigns correctly, it increases your chances of being discovered and will boost your sales.

The tourism marketing mix: 3 extra P’s

Tour and activity providers should note that there is an extension to the marketing mix that should be applied to their own unique services. The service marketing mix, or in our case, the tourism marketing mix consists of 3 more P’s, and was developed in 1981., It applies to every business that sells services and, experiences as a product.

When it comes to marketing your tour and activity business, here are a few “take-aways”  about the extended tourism marketing mix and how it will help your business.

People

Invest in the right employees who demonstrate the qualities of a good tour guide. Your staff and guides are the faces of your company. They will represent your business and are one of the main determining factors of your customer’s satisfaction. By hiring enthusiastic and entertaining guides, it can help draw more customers to your business and will enhance the overall customer experience.

Tourism marketing mix

Processes

Your processes are key to a great customer experience. Clear processes provide convenience for both your staff and your customers. It ensures your business’s operation and procedures run smoothly. 

By having an online booking software like Rezdy, managing your processes will become an automatic process. A software like Rezdy allows customers to book based on real-time availability and will automatically adjust your manifests. This will ensure that everyone involved will be aware of upcoming bookings and can prepare resources accordingly.

The proper processes will make sure your tours run on schedule and avoid any hiccups such as overbooking and long waiting times. This will help give your customers the experience they’ve been promised and will encourage them to re-book and promote your business.

Physical Evidence

Give your customers physical evidence of what they paid for when they booked their tours. Make sure vehicles, gears and other materials are clean and presentable. Your staff should also be trained and properly presented, and if you have a storefront, make sure it’s well-maintained.

Physical evidence is effectively part of your tour branding strategy, so by providing physical evidence that your business is up to standards, will encourage customers to leave a positive review for others to see.

One way to execute the 7 P’s of the tourism marketing mix is by investing in an online booking software built specifically for your business. A software like Rezdy will help improve your processes by giving you a detailed insight into your business. This will allow you to set your best prices, promote in the correct place and engage with the right people. Curious to see if Rezdy is right for you? Sign-up for a FREE 21-day trial or request a demo today.

If you enjoyed this article then make sure to follow the Rezdy blog. There are a lot of marketing tools and tour operator tips designed with businesses like yours in mind.

Start free trial

Enjoy 21 days to take a look around and see if we are a good fit for your business.

Get started today

No obligations, no catches, no limits, nada

activity tour business
section break