This is a guest post from online marketing expert Milan Stojković. With a focus on the tourism sector, Milan’s business MS Travel Marketing is dedicated to helping bring tour operators more customers. In this post, he shares some insider tips you can apply to your business today - and watch your online bookings skyrocket! Take it away, Milan!Are you looking for more ways to get direct bookings through your website? It seems like there are a million ways to do this: Facebook ads, banners, link building. And yet, nothing changes. No matter how many people you attract to your website, those conversion rates remain stale. How can you change this? First, you need to understand the concept of warming up your website traffic. This is the cornerstone of online marketing, and vital if you want to see those bookings soar.Let’s run through the three types of website visits you can get: cold, warm and hot traffic: Cold Traffic - These are the guys who somehow stumbled upon your website. They’re not actually planning to buy your tours or even travel to your destination.Warm Traffic - These people are definitely interested in your destination and what you have to offer. But, they’re gonna need more info and a little more convincing before they choose you over the competition. Hot Traffic - These visitors know everything about your tours and are ready to hit that book now button. So what do you want? You guessed it. You want your traffic hot. Like, fresh out the oven hot. These customers know what they want and are just looking for your book now button to get the deal done. But what about warm traffic? How do you convince visitors to book from you now that they’ve decided on their destination? And the cold traffic? How can you spark their interest and create that desire to learn more about your tours? The first step is simple: Don’t assume that the majority of your website audience is hot traffic. You could fall into a trap if you expect most of your visitors to be extremely interested in buying your tours. The assumption that all your traffic is hot may cause confusion when you see your conversion rate is still low. It might even lead you to start making unnecessary changes to your website.I get it: you heard from some online marketing specialist that if you change the color of your booking button you can increase conversion rates by 300%, and you want a piece of that action! The problem is that in reality, you might have less than 2% hot traffic visitors on your website. By trying to optimize the website just for them, you’re forgetting about the other 98% of visitors.The booking button color is not the problem. I promise. What you need to do is to warm up the audience. When hot traffic visitors hit 20%, then we can start thinking about the booking process.

Warming up the traffic

So how can you warm up your traffic and convert 1000 cold visitors into something a little… hotter?Here are a few simple ways:

1. Get Featured.

One way to heat up your hits is to be featured in a respectable magazine or news portal. Pay them to write a story about your tours and include a link to your website. Why not go one step further and ask them to include your Facebook pixel as well.Examples of post titles could be:“A quick reminder that [destination] is the stuff dreams are made of - let this tour operator show you why”“Why this tour company’s [destination] honeymoon experience is something every couple should consider”“This tour operator has everyone talking with their innovative way to experience [destination]”It’s vital you get your article posted on a dependable website that people are going to believe. It may be pricey, but it’s worth it. Now comes the important part:Instead of buying Facebook ads and clicks that lead to your website, pay to promote the article from this magazine.“What?!” I hear you cry. “So we're paying to send the traffic to another website, not our own? Isn’t that illogical?” The answer is no. This can be extremely effective. It will warm our customers up. When an article from a reliable news source pops up on their Facebook feed, they won’t perceive it as an ad... It's news! An interesting read with useful information. Customers will feel more comfortable clicking. They’ll also believe this article way more than they would believe you telling them your tours are awesome. "If these guys are saying it, it must be true."Now, people who come to your website will be much more familiar with your services and definitely more willing to buy. Take one of our clients - New City Hotel and Restaurant - as an example. We wanted to market the hotel as the ideal venue for conferences and other business events. But as a new hotel, it was hard to get the word out about its quality and service. We decided to publish articles in a few respectable online magazines with links to the hotel website and Facebook pixel. Then we paid to promote those articles on Facebook. After a couple months, events started rolling in to the hotel. We seized the momentum and published more articles. Fast forward one year and every conference hall is booked at least 5 months in advance.By changing the route your visitors take to get to your website - otherwise known as your ‘funnel’, you’re engaging their interest on a deeper level.But hold on a second. The work doesn’t end here. Since your products do not fall under the customers’ essential needs, they probably won’t buy immediately. This is where your remarketing campaigns come in. After a visitor leaves your website, you can use targeted ads to reach them as they browse elsewhere on the internet. Set these up to remind visitors about your awesome tour a day or two later.So before your funnel looked like this:Facebook Ad ---> Website offerAnd now it looks like this:Facebook Ad ---> Magazine post ---> Website offer ---> (remarketing) ---> Website offerYep, you’ve extended the funnel a fair bit, and it’s gonna cost money. But now your website visitors are much more interested in your services. Plus, they have more confidence in your offerings because a respected magazine wrote about you.By changing your visitor’s journey, you’re sparking their interest before they’ve even clicked on your website.

2. It’s in the vid.

Another effective way to get your traffic heating up is a Facebook video. Why not create a short inspirational video, in square format with catchy titles? Upload this video to your page or use our previous tactic and pay a magazine to post it on their page. The video will warm up your audience because it gives them an initial spark, a way to imagine your tour as their next adventure. This is exactly what we did with another of our clients - Walk91 Tours.They had a Facebook campaign that led people to their website. Conversions were good, but not great. We convinced them to shoot a video for social networks and told them how it should look. Then we promoted that video to a wide audience who could potentially be interested in their tours.

We created a custom audience of people who watched at least 75% of the video and served them with other campaigns that promoted Walk91’s tours.So this time the funnel looked like this:Facebook Ad ---> Website offerAnd now it looks like this:Facebook Ad ---> Facebook Video ---> Facebook Ad ---> Website offerThe results were much better.The Facebook video method may not be as efficient as a magazine post, but it is simpler to implement because you own all the channels.And there you have it. Simple and effective ways to get those conversions rolling in. Don’t forget, implementing these steps could require some technical skills such as:

• Setting up the Facebook pixel and understanding how it works.
• How to create a custom audience and remarketing campaigns.
• How to set up a funnel.
• Proper conversion tracking.

But don’t panic! You can learn all this and much more with my new online course Etourism Master Training. Good luck and happy traffic-warming!Milan StojkovićFounder, MS Travel Marketing

This is the first in a series of posts from Erik Hormann, owner of successful San Francisco tour operator Vantigo. Here, he shares some of his best tips on how to tactfully utter those words that no operator wants to say: “You’re fired!”You did it! You created an amazing tour company, and you grew fast. You built a solid team around you and spent time making them great.But... then came the slow seasons, the economic downturn, the unpredictable weather. Now, you’re facing the prospect of letting some of your staff go. Sound familiar?I started my company five years ago, and in that time I’ve seen my fair share of tour guides come and go. As the man in charge, firing staff is a tough but necessary part of the job. The perfect guide shows up to work 30 minutes early, covers for other employees, gets five-star reviews and donates all his tips to Save the Whales. But we’re not talking about that guide. We’re talking about the guide you spent two months training. The guide who started out great, but then started showing up later and later for their tours - and sometimes not at all. The guide who, on more than one occasion, came into work smelling like the bar from the night before. Unexpected changes like these are a reality for any tour operator. Sometimes the guide doesn’t perform as expected, or slow season hits and you need to shrink your team.Whatever the reasons for firing your guide, here are some of my best tips for making the process as smooth as possible:

1. Run the numbers

Sometimes the financial realities speak for themselves. Can you really afford to keep a guide that isn’t booked out all the time? Slow seasons and slow profits often require reductions in staff. If this is the case, it could also be a chance to “clean house” and get rid of anybody not pulling their weight. After all, it’s hard to argue with the numbers. If the machine isn’t making money, your guides can’t rage against it.

2. Stay calm and take your time

I once had a guide who was due to co-lead a tour with me. The only problem: they didn’t show up until 30 minutes after it ended. At the time I wanted to explode - but instead, I told the guide to go home and take the rest of the weekend off. By the time Monday came around, I was calm and collected. I met up with the employee, gave them their last paycheck, and we parted ways with no hard feelings. Protecting your reputation as a boss as well as a tour operator is vital if you want to hire and retain the best guides.

3. Use the hard facts

Does this guide have a ton of bad reviews? Are there a bunch of emails from unhappy clients with their name mentioned? How much in refunds or canceled tours have they cost you? I like to make my staff imagine themselves in the shoes of the father-of-four who only had one day to explore the city with his family. How would they feel if their experience wasn’t top-notch?

4. Put yourself in their shoes

How loyal has your guide been? Did they see you through some hard times? If an employee was really there for you or even helped you grow your company, letting them go can be super tough. If this is the case, let them know how much you valued them and thank them for their help. Breakups are never easy, but sometimes they’re necessary. If you handle the situation well, your guide will understand.

5. Leave the door open (or open another door for them)

As a boss, one of my personal goals is to have every person that leaves my company be headed towards another great opportunity. Like I said, sometimes it’s nothing your guide did, and you want them to succeed. I found myself in this situation recently: one of my team members was burnt out in his role but didn’t have the network to find a new path. Using my connections, I reached out to several industry contacts to see if they had any positions available. Fast forward two years, and that team member is thriving with a nearby brewery —and even comes back to guide a tour with us from time to time.

5. If all else fails, keep it simple

I truly believe in meeting face-to-face when letting staff go. But occasionally, employees won’t want to face reality in person. If you’ve tried your best to get in touch with no response, send them a text thanking them for their service and mail them their last paycheck. After all - you have a business you need to focus on.

Here’s a simple fact: More Positive Reviews = More SalesTo gain an understanding of what makes guests write reviews, we analyzed over 4,000 reviews from Peek.com. We looked for the most commonly used words in both positive and negative reviews.Words like “experience”, “knowledgeable”, and “nice” are among the top 25 commonly used words in positive reviews. On the other hand, words like “disappointed”, “time”, and “guide” are among the top 25 commonly used words in negative reviews. What the data above means is that a customer is more inclined to write a positive review if their experience matched their expectations, and less inclined if their experience fell short of expectations. Alternatively, a customer’s overall impression is influenced by - and this is key - how they felt while interacting with members of your staff. Here are some tips to get more online reviews:

1. Create realistic expectations for your activities.

Get your guests excited about their upcoming experience with you, but be realistic about what they should expect.When describing your tours, we recommend writing with the senses. What will people see, hear, feel, taste and touch? Are there any highlights worth mentioning? Recreating the experience will make it easier for customers to imagine themselves on your tour, and will also give them a sense of what to expect.

2. Train your staff in excellent customer service practices.

This is especially important if you rely on tour guides. Take advantage of free online resources, like Be a Better Guide, which offers short tutorials on best practices for tour guides.

3. Leave a lasting impression on your customers.

Make a good impression by introducing customers by name to key staff members or by giving a tour of the premises. At the end of your tour, you can also gift customers with a token of your appreciation. This can be a thank-you card, gift bag or any other tangible souvenir.

4. Optimize Smart Reviews in Peek Pro.

We can’t talk about getting more online reviews without mentioning Peek’s Smart Reviews. This feature can automatically send email follow-ups to customers based on the reviews they gave to Peek. For example, customers who gave high ratings can be sent an email directing them to share their experience on other public review sites. Alternatively, guests who gave lower ratings can be sent a follow-up email to help remedy their potentially negative experience.Peek’s review system can also generate reports to analyze performance based on specific dimensions, so you can see what’s working and what needs improvement moving forward.

This post was written by Josh Oakes. Josh grew his local tour company to millions of dollars in annual revenue and sold it for $1m+ in June 2017. He has now founded the The Sunshine Tribe, where he helps tour and activity operators across the globe build amazing businesses and create awesome lives.In 2007 my wife and I started a Day Tour company in Melbourne, Australia. We had no experience in tourism, no experience in business, no networks, no support, and no cash.After two years of 60-hour weeks, we were taking home $20,000 a year and had nearly thrown in the towel more times than I could count. Fast forward 7 years and we had grown that business to more than $2 million in revenue annually, before selling in 2017 for 7 figures.This was achieved without working ourselves into an early grave. With a great lifestyle where we worked remotely, travelled regularly, enjoyed all the things that we love about life, and empowered others to run our business as it grew.We were able to only work on the parts of our business that we loved.Now we help tour and activity operators, travel professionals and small tourism businesses across the globe build amazing businesses AND create awesome lives, through our new venture: www.thesunshinetribe.com.As a Tour Operator, we never worked with Viator, Expedia, or any other of the big Online Travel Agents. We built our business to more than $2million in revenue annually without generating a single dollar in revenue from these guys.I’m not trashing them, and I’m aware that they are hugely important for many tour operators, it’s just that I’m a bit old school.I’m a big believer in building a great business by building awesome relationships with partners that really get to know you, your business, your people and your products intimately.And vice versa.You can’t build that kind of a relationship with a large OTA. It’s almost impossible for them to get to know you. They know little, if anything, about your company, or your team, your tour guides, or your vehicles. They haven’t experienced your tours and they don’t know really what their customers are saying about you.Anyway... the purchase of Viator by Trip Advisor got me thinking:In the ‘travel world’ this has obviously been a big topic of discussion and most tour and activity operators are pretty miffed about it (understandably so). Tour operators are feeling the effects.The general consensus is that it will have a negative impact on their business. They are now forced to change their pricing structure to include a commission. Some have even described handing over a 20-30% commission to TA as potentially being the ‘death’ of their business.Now, for a business like ours that never generated a single dollar in revenue from Viator in over a decade, I get it that many people may have a different perspective to mine (it’s impossible for me to understand everybody’s individual business model).However, could the purchase of Viator by Trip Advisor be a great opportunity for many tour and activity operators?I say yes.Sometimes every small business needs a ‘jolt’ and this could be it.

Every small business needs a "jolt", and Trip Advisor buying Viator could be yours.

You may be working your tail off - but it’s still very easy to become complacent and neglect many areas of your business. Maybe this is the ‘jolt’ that forces you to take a step back, think outside the box, and put a magnifying glass on every part of your business.Think deeply about how you could improve your business and about the directions you could take it.Are the sales that you generate via Trip Advisor an important source of revenue for you, and you are now worried that these sales will start to cost you 20-30% in commission? Here are a few questions that you could ask yourself to see if you can flip this around. Maybe it is a great opportunity to make yours a better business long term.

Can you re-examine the pricing and the inclusions in your tours?

Whether you are at the high-end or at the low-end of tours, I’ve always believed that if you are ‘the best’ and/or ‘the only’ at what you offer, then price becomes a whole lot less important.Is it so bad to be more expensive than others? Maybe, rather than ‘raising your prices’, it could be seen as a great opportunity to tweak and improve what you offer.Yes, some international and domestic tourism markets are price sensitive - but many more are focused on value and finding out from you how you justify your prices - how you’re different and what they are getting for their money. Rather than a price increase, perhaps an improved and more unique product at a slightly different price point is the answer.

Can you explore new revenue streams?

Can you put an end to what is possibly an unhealthy reliance on one OTA and spread your eggs across a number of baskets? Explore different revenue streams? Identify specific international markets and target them? Find new partners? Create different divisions to your business? Create a range of upsells and make more off each tour?

Can you increase capacity?

Can you scale up? Can you put the systems in place to ensure you can deliver your tours in greater numbers and ensure you maintain quality and consistency? Can you improve your recruiting and training process? Your operations processes? Can you source a bigger and better supply of quality touring vehicles for those peak times?

Can you dig into your numbers and reduce expenses?

There’s so much to do as a small tour operator. Sometimes the one thing that’s most important to your bottom line is the thing that gets neglected because you’re too busy ‘running your business’.

Sometimes the one thing that’s most important to your bottom line is the thing that gets neglected because you’re too busy ‘running your business’.

Get forensic on your fixed costs and cost of sale. Put a microscope to everything in your financials line by line. Examine every expense that runs through your business. Examine your suppliers. Are you getting the best deals? Are they the right supplier? Examine everything. Utilities, SEO, tech support, motor vehicle expenses, business banking fees, insurance, phones...everything. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.We did this in 2016 and we were able to reduce expenses across our business by 13%. It made a massive difference to our bottom line.

Summing up

I’m sure that there are plenty of frustrations out there, but perhaps this could be a blessing in disguise for you and the catalyst for great things for your business.If you enjoyed this article and found it really helpful, please take a moment to download our 'Idea' to '7 Figure' Blueprint HERE.It's a look 'behind the curtain' at the step by step process we took to turn a vague idea into a multi 7 figure tour business.Enjoy!Josh OakesFounder of The Sunshine Tribe

No-shows can have a negative impact on your tour or activity business.This is especially true if you need a minimum number of guests to coordinate an experience.It’s true some no-shows are unavoidable, but there are measures you can take to prevent them from becoming a regular occurrence.Here are 4 tips to help reduce no-show rates for your tour or activity business:

1. Charge a rescheduling or no-show fee.

One option is to consider charging a $10 fee to customers who want to change their booking less than 2 days in advance, or who do not show up.If you decide to go this route, make sure your Terms and Conditions clearly state any fees or charges you impose for no-shows. Ensure that your guests agree to follow these Terms and Conditions when they complete their booking.With Peek Pro, you can ensure your guests agree to your Terms and Conditions with custom questions.

2. Be easy to contact.

We looked at 50 of our Partners’ websites, and found that 12 didn’t have their contact information listed!It’s important for many reasons that your customers, and potential customers, are able to contact you. However, especially in the case that a guest has a change of plans, it’s important they know how to contact you to cancel their tour.

12 out of 50 operators didn't have their contact information listed on their website.

Ensure that your contact information is listed both on your website, and when you register your business with Google. This way, your customers can easily get in touch with you for last minute questions, or cancellations.

3. Send your guests text reminders.

If your staff has the capacity, you can send your guests friendly text reminders of their upcoming experience. Craft a simple message that communicates your excitement to see the guest soon. Just don’t forget to state in your Terms and Conditions policy that guests can expect to receive text alerts from you!Peek Pro’s mobile app lets you contact guests directly via the app, simply by searching for the guest’s name.

4. Set up email reminders.

Keep your guests enthusiastic about their experience with you by staying in contact with them. This will also give them the opportunity to contact you about any changes to the time or date of their booking.With Peek, you can schedule emails and customize them to your business’s needs. Scheduling these emails allows you to remain on your guest’s mind without having to take time out of your (busy) day!

This post was co-written by Jessica Hunt and Kali Wasenko. Jessica Hunt is the Attorney Advisor for the DC Office of Disability Rights, and is a licensed attorney in DC, KY, and VA. Kali is an External Engagement Specialist at the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and a disability rights ally.You could say I’m an adrenaline junkie. For my 31st birthday, I decided to jump out of a perfectly good airplane. That fact alone may not make me much different from a lot of the adventure seekers you see in your business every day. Here’s what makes me different: I’m a person with a physical disability. In the US, there are 57 million people with disabilities-a potential well of untapped customers! These are people who thrive on adventure, seek cool vacation spots, and are willing to pay for unique experiences. I’m here to tell you how to get us in the door and provide an experience that keeps us coming back for more.

What Should You Know?

Customers with Disabilities Are Good for Business

You may already know that your business has a legal obligation to provide services to customers with disabilities. What you may not know is that those customers with disabilities spend an average of 13 billion per year on travel and unique experiences. And just like any other group of people: if you provide excellent service to one, we will tell our friends. Take me for example. Since my first jump, three of my friends with physical disabilities have also fallen out of planes on purpose…and loved it. Their decisions were influenced by my positive experience with a local business in my area. And, of course, also influenced by the fact that I survived to write this post!

Accessibility Doesn’t Need to Cost an Arm and A Leg

When you think to yourself about what makes a space accessible, I am willing to bet that most of you picture ramps on buildings and grab bars in bathrooms (read: things that cost your business money). But... Accessibility doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg!In fact, some of the easiest modifications you can put in place to accommodate customers with disabilities come at absolutely no cost to you. Like these:

1. Train your staff to use respectful language.

Using the right language toward people with disabilities can go a long way in making us feel welcome at your meeting or event. Putting the person before the disability is what is called “Person-first language”. This is the most common form of respectful language toward people with disabilities. Many states even recognize it by law. Not sure what to say, or how to address a person who walks through your door? The National Inclusion Project has prepared a handy cheat sheet for just such a tongue-tied moment. You can find it here.

2. Eye Contact is Key.

Even if you’re saying the right words, eye contact is key. You should speak directly to with person with a disability, not just with their family, friends, or travel companions. This shows that you acknowledge their personhood, and want them to enjoy everything you have to offer.

3. Evaluate your space.

Accessibility is more than just a ramp and a smiling face. It’s also a willingness to accommodate more than just a wheelchair. You should consider whether your space is equipped to welcome guests with service animals. Or whether your videos have captions.

4. Get Training for free.

Consider ways your business can provide accommodation to your guests for free. Training staff to assist customers with mobility disabilities or guide people who are blind or low vision costs nothing but a little time and flexibility. And…There are resources to help!The US has ten regional Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Technical Assistance Centers who are at your service to provide free in-person and online training on accommodating your customers. They are available to answer your questions by phone in real time too. Find your nearest Center here.

5. Look at what Other Businesses are doing.

Consider business models like yours, and look at how they have made their experiences accessible. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? It can also be the most profitable.

6. Use volunteers.

Don’t be afraid to use volunteers. There may be a qualified American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter near you looking to get some hours toward a new certification. Offer them a chance to partner with you when you have a request from a Deaf patron.Free interpreting services for you + free certification hours for the interpreter + effective communication for the Deaf customer = a winning experience for all involved.

What if you can’t meet your customer’s needs?

If your space, meeting or event does not address a particular customer’s needs, don’t turn them away. Let the customer tell you how they would like to proceed. It is their experience, after all. You are just bringing them to it.

No Two People Are the Same

As the largest minority, people with disabilities are everywhere… and we all experience life differently. When we travel we bring friends, and sometimes, those friends are also people with disabilities. I often travel with my boyfriend, who is Deaf. When it comes to access, we have completely different needs, but that does not mean we should not be able to experience things together. It is important that your staff knows how to handle a group with multiple chair users. Or people who are Deaf and/or Blind, and with people with intellectual disabilities. Just because you’ve seen one of us, does not mean you’ve seen all of us. As long as you start from a place of respect, we will know that you care about our experience with your business.

When You’re Not Sure What to Do, Just Ask

If this is your first time interacting with a customer with a disability, relax. Assumptions help no one.If you’re not sure how to accommodate a person with a disability, just ask that person what they need. Even with all the technical assistance resources you can access, the knowledge that comes from your customers’ personal experience is often the best resource you can consult. If my skydiving instructor Mario hadn’t asked me what would be the most comfortable way for me to exit the plane, he wouldn’t have known what I need to keep me safe. And I might have missed out on incredible views like this one:

Look at that sunset! I was upside down at the time...but I saw it...eventually.Image Description: A glowing setting sun behind clouds and a distant horizon. The silhouette of two, connected skydivers falling upside down are on the left side of the image. Their parachute has just deployed.But because we had that conversation, my birthday sunset skydive was a success... And I lived to tell about it. Don’t just take my word for it. Watch the Disability Sensitivity Training Video prepared by the DC Office of Disability Rights for a few more pointers from people with disabilities themselves. Still need more info? Contact your local disability rights office. They can talk through scenarios with you and help you ensure that you are providing customers with an experience that is both accessible and fun.

Improving Accessibility of Your Business

Now that you know improving accessibility can lead to new and more satisfied customers, are you prepared to take the next steps? There are many ways you make changes today. To get the ball rolling ask yourself the questions we wrote below. These questions will help you think about different types of access needs. Once you’ve mastered these topics, ask your new customers and friends with disabilities what else you can do to be a responsible business.

• Do I advertise to advocate groups?
• Are my staff members knowledgeable of the rights of guests with service animals?
• Can customers with physical disabilities get to my business/the meeting location?
• How can my product be modified to reach new customers with disabilities?
• Do I know how to get qualified ASL interpreters?
• Do I have a budget set aside to provide qualified ASL interpreters with proper notice (3-5 business days) or other requests for reasonable accommodations?
• Are my staff members trained to provide excellent customer service to guests with different types of disabilities?
• Do I have a plan to support customers with disabilities in an emergency?

Additional Resources

None of these are paid endorsements; they are just links that I think you might find helpful.ADA Center LocatorADA Leadership Network General ResourcesBusiness Case for Effectively Serving Customers with DisabilitiesCustomers with Disabilities Mean Business: The Spending Power of the Disability CommunityDisability Sensitivity Training VideoDisabled Sports USAGet Certified as an Inclusive Fitness TrainerNational Disability Rights Network Contact ChartNo Barriers SummitSmithsonian Institute Accessible Exhibition GuideTips for Creating Accessible Electronic Materials