Yesterday's camper was happy if they got two minutes of hot running water and a campfire pit. Today's camper wants that—and 24/7 access to Instagram.According to a 2015 survey by Kampground revealed that 83% of campers take their cell phones along on camping trips. What's more: 70% of survey participants reported going online with their device at some point during their stay. So, if you want to keep pulling in campers, this is the one trend you'll want to keep up with.Ready to get started setting up WiFi at your campground? The first thing you'll need to do is make sure you already have high-speed internet access. Then, follow these four helpful steps.

Step 1: Create a Map of Your Campground

To lay the groundwork for WiFi, you'll need to have a map of your campground. If you don't have an accurately scaled map already, you can just take a Google Maps screenshot of your campground. Print it out, and mark the following:

• Highlight every structure, from cabins to bungalows to yurts.
• Mark out potential obstacles. WiFi signal coverage can be slowed by concrete, trees, steel, and heavy building construction.
• Circle “zones" by priority. This will determine where you set everything up. Your office and highest priced cabins may be top priority. The entrance driveway may be the lowest.

This map will help you make educated decisions on your device and signal strength, so make sure it's as clear as possible.

Step 2: Pay Attention to Internet and Power Locations

As we stated before, you can't set up WiFi without a pre-existing internet connection. Mark the location of your current internet equipment. That's where you'll be installing your wireless router. Then, mark all power outlets on your campsite. If you're limited on power outlets, you'll have to do a little more electrical planning in your setup.

Step 3: Decide Where You Want Your Wireless Access Points

A wireless access point (WAP) connects campers to your current ethernet internet connection, allowing them to move freely within the covered areas of the campsite while using their phone, laptop, or tablet. There are two components in a basic WiFi setup:

• Wireless router: an internet router that also functions as a “Wireless Access Point" (WAP). Essentially, this is just the gateway that allows you to access the internet on your device without physical wires.
• WiFi range extender: These little guys plug into a typical wall outlet and can multiply your wireless router's signal and extend coverage.

Ideally, you would install a router in the center of your campsite, where you'll have the best opportunity to expand coverage. Then, use multiple WiFi range extenders to fill in the gaps.

Step 4: Pick Up the Best Wireless Router

Even routers installed in the perfect location won't be quite as effective if they're lacking quality.There's an overwhelming number of wireless routers and WiFi extenders on the market. Your final decision boils down to several big factors, from speed to guest account options.Here's why it pays to look for these features before you buy.

Single- or Dual-Band

A “single band" wireless router means your router will operate over a 2.4GHz radio band. This is the same band that microwaves, mobile phones, and Bluetooth devices and locations operate on—meaning your connection could get a little crowded. We recommend you opt for a dual band model if possible for less interference.

Guest Accessible & Secure

For security reasons (nobody likes to get hacked!), make sure your device includes the option to have a password-protected guest login for your wireless in addition to the admin login. Use an easy-to-remember password for your guests, and change it fairly regularly to avoid attracting potential “WiFi rogues," or those who don't have permission to access the network.

Speedy Channels

We won't dive too far into the numbers, but your router speed is drastically affected by its ability to send and receive information (shown by “802.11 protocols"). If you spot a WiFi router that has 802.11ac technology, you'll likely be happy with the outcome.

If you spot a WiFi router that has 802.11ac technology, you'll likely be happy with the outcome.

Weatherproof

If you can't find a weatherproof router, make sure you either house the router indoors or install it in a weatherproof box. Not all routers are born campers!

Easy to Install

Planning on installing your WiFi router and extenders yourself? You probably don't have all the time in the world to set up a complicated WiFi system. Choose a WiFi router that's easy to install and offers great customer service. Linksys and Netgear are two well-respected names in the industry.Once you've chosen the WiFi router for your campsite, set it up. Then, try out different devices throughout the campsite. If you have a lot of weak or dead spots, then you can install compatible WiFi extenders. Generally, setup is easiest when the WiFi router and the extenders are by the same manufacturer.

Consult Experts With the Right Questions

If you're not a technical expert—or just don't have time to research the right equipment on your own—call in the experts. You don't have to hire a pricey consultant who demands a hotel stay, either. Just head to your nearest Best Buy or other electronics store with your campground map, or request a visit from your current internet provider to determine what you need.Here are some questions to be prepared to answer (for many of these, the map will come in handy), and some basic terms to know.

• Do you have basic internet already? Where is it located?
• Where are electrical sources located?
• What's the size of your campsite?
• How far do you want to extend coverage?

Reference these helpful WiFi terms and definitions so you can have a productive conversation with a consultant or internet provider. For more, see the WiFi Glossary on Talk Tech to Me.

• Wireless Access Point (WAP or AP): the bridge that connects wireless users to a wired internet connection
• Channel: the path for wireless transmissions, determines a wireless router's speed
• Closed Network: requires a password for users to access the network
• Open Network: does not require a password for users to access the network
• Passphrase: a password for a network connection
• Service Set Identifier (SSID): refers to the name of the WiFi network
• WPA (WiFi Protected Access): the secure encryption for a network; protects against hackers, not as strong as WPA2
• WPA2 (WiFi Protected Access v2): currently the strongest encryption for a network

The Bottom Line

A WiFi connection provides so much more than just the ability to post hiking photos on Instagram. It also means campers can check email, access maps, and discover new hidden treasures close to your campground. Now that many cell phone providers are enabling WiFi calling and texting, we've reached a new frontier. A smartphone is now the Swiss Army Knife of electronics. So just follow these simple steps, and your campers will enjoy a richer 21st-century camping experience.

It's more than likely that you followed your passion when you got into the tour and activities industry. But whether you're in the business of bike tours or the brewery business, your company is just that: a business. While every day is another chance to cash in on more fun and adventure, you're in business to make money. And with tour operators making up $7 billion of the $1.3 trillion travel and tourism industry, there's plenty of money to be had. But like any growing industry (there are now 2,400 tour operators in the industry), competition is getting tougher. To set yourself up to make the most money possible, follow these eight strategies to boost your success and your bottom line.

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1. Don't Compete on Price.

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Instead of trying to be the lowest priced tour or activity operator in the market, focus on being the most unique. Do you have exclusive access to a certain area? Focus on one thing and maximize your quality. While you should always keep an eye on your competition and understand price ranges for your market, the best way to stand apart is by being different.

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2. Generate New Leads Through Content.

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Companies with blogs gathered 68% more leads than those without, according to research by HubSpot. But you can't leave your blog stagnant. The study found that blogs start to impact lead growth once they have more than 20 articles posted. Blog posts should be optimized for keywords and include a clear call to action, such as a button that leads the reader to your booking page. Posts that contain those two elements increase conversion rates by 87%, according to HubSpot.

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3. Attract Customers By Using Social Media.

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B2C businesses using Twitter generate two times more leads than those without a Twitter account, according to HubSpot. Twitter users with several hundred followers had approximately twice as many leads as Twitter users with followers in the double digits. In other words, social media is a great way to attract new customers and engage existing ones—so it should be a priority in your overall marketing efforts.When posting on social media, make sure you follow the 80/20 rule, posting promotional information just 20% of the time, and offering valuable information, such as tips and industry news, 80% of the time. This approach will make you look like an expert in your field.

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4. Form Strategic Partnerships.

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One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is trying to do everything alone, according to Forbes. You will sell more tours and activities when you partner with other companies and suppliers. For example, add more value by combining offerings with a restaurant or spa. Or create alliances with other businesses and cross-promote your services. Make sure you work out the details in advance on how to price your events. For example, you can each discount your offerings by 10% to 15%, and sell the activity at a flat rate.

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You will sell more tours and activities when you partner with other companies and suppliers

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5. Invest in Employee Training and Engagement.

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Service with a smile isn't just a cliché; it impacts the bottom line. A study done by researchers at Bowling Green University and Penn State University found that customers who were served by smiling employees felt more satisfied by the overall experience and more likely to return. Make sure you properly train employees, even providing scripts to improve their performance. Empower employees to make their own decisions and create an employee culture of fun so the atmosphere spills over into the customer experience. A study by research firm McLean & Company found that organizations with highly engaged employees had an average three-year revenue growth of 20.1%, versus the average 8.9% revenue growth rate.

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6. Segment Your Marketing Based On The Time of Year.

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Use the season to decide which customer base to target. If you live in an area that has higher bookings during the summer, use this time of year to beef up tourism marketing to out-of-state visitors. Give your information to the concierge at local hotels, distribute information through tourism offices and reach out to influential travel bloggers.During the off-season, go after locals who are already in the area. Residents can be an often-overlooked source or revenue for travel and tour companies, but this market can be lucrative and recurring. Send a press release offering discounts on group events to your local news stations, advertise in community newspapers, and reach out to local organizations, such as scouts, church groups, and schools.

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7. Plan Ahead for Slow Periods.

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Based on prior year sales, identify low-demand periods and plan for them. For example, provide discounts on certain days of the week that are traditionally slow. Or fill spots by creating special group bookings that you plan for these off times. You can also use the slow season to work on your marketing. Send emails to customers who visited you asking for a review of your business; 52% of consumers trust online reviews just as much as personal recommendations, according to HubSpot. Or, send an enticing marketing campaign during the winter inviting customers to book their summer travel plans now—92% of vacations are booked at least a month in advance, according to BusinessWire.

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8. Focus on Existing Customers.

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Small businesses are realizing the impact of existing customers versus new customer acquisition. According to a study by research firm Manta, 61% of small business owners report that more than half of their annual revenue comes from repeat customers. Existing customers spend 67% more than new, according to Inc.com, so increase your emphasis on the customers you have. Collect client details such as email addresses, birthdays, and anniversary dates during booking—and constantly improve the quality of your offerings. Then reach out to customers through strategic email and social media marketing campaigns.In the increasingly competitive tours and activities market, it pays to focus on the best ways to increase your bottom line. So start hyper-focusing on these tips, whether it's fine-tuning your social media strategy or segmenting by type of year, and you'll see revenues balloon.

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Read about Dylan's Tours and how they grew their tour business into one of the largest operators in San Francisco.

Whether you're working with a large or tight budget, it pays to spend your marketing dollars wisely. That's why it's so important to make sure you invest in marketing and advertising strategies that generate the highest return on investment (ROI).These days, small businesses are spending approximately $6,800 on online advertising each year, and small and medium-sized businesses spend $17,000 per year on web marketing services, according to a report from Borrell Associates. Those dollars need to be poured into strategies that will connect your company to the most receptive audience and, in turn, help you drive more bookings.So to make sure you're spending your money smartly, here are some marketing strategies that have proven to have the highest ROI.

Paid Search Advertising

Online advertising is one of the fastest growing platforms in the marketing and advertising industry. Digital advertising encompasses everything from banner ads to pay-per-click advertising. It may benefit you, however, to focus on targeted ads versus traditional banner ads since 54 percent of users don't even click banner ads because they don't trust them, according to Bannersnack.As a tour and activity operator, you'll get a better ROI when you run ads on the Google Display Network (Adwords) where your ads appear on search engine results pages. Search advertising is more effective, according to the experts at HubSpot, because you can target your ads to appear on the search engine results pages of a particular audience. For example, somebody searching for “kayaking in [yourcity]" may see your ad on the sidebar or in the sponsored section of the search engine results pages. These ads feature a headline, two lines of copy, and a link or contact information. Since you can select your audience and customize each ad, you have more control over the entire process—and will generate more clicks that actually turn into bookings as a result.You can determine your return on investment using the Adwords dashboard. Ways to measure success of an ad include monitoring click-through-rate and conversion rates—the number of clicks that led to an actual booking. The dollar amounts will vary significantly by advertiser since each advertiser will use different keywords and target different audiences. But you can easily determine which ads are performing well because Google provides this data in real-time.

Facebook Advertising

Unlike other forms of online advertising, the minimum ad spend on Facebook is just $1 per day. The experts at Moz point out that Facebook ads are also the lowest cost per 1,000 impressions, averaging around 25 cents per 1,000 impressions. This means you can reach thousands of prospective customers with a targeted Facebook campaign even if you're working with a small budget. The question is, how effective will your Facebook ads be?One of the unique features of Facebook ads is that you can not only customize the entire ad with images and text, but you can also target different types of audiences. Your ad will show up in the right-hand sidebar on a user's news feed and you can include a link to your website, or even your booking page. Facebook allows you to select your audience based on a variety of factors, including age range, interests, and even Facebook pages they like. You could target your ads to 30- to 40-year-olds who live in your city and enjoy reading Travel + Leisuremagazine, for example. All Nipon Airways did exactly that with their Facebook advertising campaign, selecting keywords to target users interested in traveling and Japanese culture. Their ads had a 25-percent click through rate—1 in 4 users who saw the ad actually clicked on the ad, which means they were driven to the ANA website.

Direct Mail Advertising

Traditional advertising methods, such as sending postcards or letters in the mail, are a valuable way to reach out to your target customers. According to research from the Rochester Institute of Technology, direct mail-driven sales per $1 of advertising dollars equated to a $15.48 return in sales, whereas radio ads had a return of $8.09 and magazine ads had a return of $10.06.Whether you decide to send out miniature brochures featuring all your offerings, postcards with promotional offers, or a friendly letter in the mail, you'll generate interest in your company that may lead to reservations. Create materials that feature high-quality photos of your tours and activities and detailed descriptions of various packages and experiences. (We shared some tips on how to write powerful tour and activity descriptions for your website here.)No matter what type of print materials you send, make sure to include contact information and a link to your website so that the recipient has different options for getting in touch with you and making that reservation. Including a business card or a personal, handwritten note to say "welcome" can help to personalize the materials you send via snail mail, which will make you stand apart from the competition.

Sending postcards or letters in the mail will generate interest in your company and has a higher ROI than other advertising methods

E-Mail Marketing

The same research data from the Rochester Institute of Technology reveals that every $1 spent on email marketing generates $36.70 in sales. This is a significant return on investment for any small business owner.A recent Silverpop study reveals email open rates for the lodging and travel industry are almost 57 percent. For tour and activity operators, there is more than a 50-percent chance that the email will get opened and read by a customer—which, in turn, could lead to a click back to your website, redemption of a special offer, a phone call, or a confirmed reservation.We shared some valuable tips on how to grow your email list here so that you can start sending customized emails to your subscribers regularly. Making sure you capture emails from all customers at any point of contact and taking the time to send out monthly or biweekly newsletters can help you keep these customers engaged. You can use an online booking software program, such as Peek Pro, to capture emails and organize your lists for newsletter sends.From paid search advertising to email marketing, tour and activity operators can maximize their marketing and advertising dollars by investing in the most impactful strategies. Use these tips to create your marketing campaign for the upcoming season or year to help drive more business — even during the slower months.

In the tour industry, there are few roles more important than that of tour guide. Guides--with their vast knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm--inject life into tours. And good guides can transcend the cultural barriers that many long distance visitors face, bringing entire groups together and leaving them with exhilarating experiences and a new understanding.So, when it comes to finding the right guides for your business, just where do you look for a pool of certified, experienced guides with outstanding personalities to lead your tours? Here a few leads.

1. Tour Guide Community Websites

Though tour guide community websites—such as Tours By Locals, Siroube, and Who's My Guide—are typically used to pair individual guides with travelers seeking guided tours, the sites will also allow tour operators to join and contact local guides to pitch job opportunities. There are few places that make it easier to view licensed, qualified guides in your area and message them all at once.

2. Tour Guide Associations

There are several large tour guide associations you can join that will allow you to post job listings on their sites and newsletters to connect with local guides. These organizations exist on all levels, including international, national, and local. For instance, there is the World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations and the National Federation of Tourist Guide Associations. Local guilds include the SF Tour Guide Guild, Guild of Professional Tour Guides of Washington, DC, and The Professional Tour Guides Association of Houston. To find an organization in your community, simply Google "tour guide guild [your city]."

3. Visitor's Bureau or Travel and Convention Bureau

Your city's local travel bureau will most likely offer a free partnership or paid membership where local businesses can join, attend events, connect with other members of the community, and gain access to job bulletin boards where you can post job listings. They may also be able to provide leads to qualified tour guides or companies already working with them.

4. Social media.

Post your job listing on your Twitter page using hashtags such as #tourguide, #tourismjobs, #tourguidejob, and #licensedguide. For instance, we used the hashtags #tourguide and #jobs and found several job postings. You should also be using these hashtags to find and follow tour-guide related Twitter pages with whom you can interact. For example, we found Guide Trip@guide_trip (a company that connects tour operators and guides) using the #tourguide hashtag.You can also type "tour guides [your city]" into Facebook. This will produce a list of local guides, who you can then message about job opportunities. You can also message and/or join tour-guide related groups or pages that already have a following of tour guides. For instance, typing "Tour Guide Jobs" will lead you to find Get Tour Guide Jobs, a tour guide job posting site, where you can post job listing directly on the page.

Post your job posting on Twitter and Facebook to reach more potential tour guides

5. Use LinkedIn.

Create a company page, then create a job posting that links to your company's careers page or a job application. Once that's done, conduct an advanced search for "People with tour guide titles" or "Groups about tour guides,"and send invites to connect with people and groups of interest.

6. Coolworks.

Coolworks is a tour guide job network that acts as a virtual staffing company for tour guides and trip leaders. Tour operators can sign-up, create a profile, and after a brief verification process, create a job application and start connecting with applicants.This is a short list of ideas that will help you find a pool of qualified guides. To get the best results from your search, post your job listings using all of the above. And although you only have a need for a limited number of guides, create a database to keep records on all qualified applicants and let it be your go-to source for future hires. It will save you a lot of time and money on job listings and hiring a staffing company.If you've hired the staff, and now need a reservation platform to manage bookings and availability, check out Peek Pro.

It's growing increasingly important for websites to be mobile-friendly. Research from Google found that 72% of mobile users say mobile-friendly sites are important to them, with another 50% saying that even if they like a business, they'll use them less often if the website isn't mobile-friendly. And this is especially crucial in the travel industry, in which there was a 50% increase in mobile use across business and leisure travelers, with 30% relying purely on their mobiles to make last minute bookings, according to BuzzCity>. On top of all that, Google now factors in mobile-friendliness to determine where sites appear in search results.Now that you know why a mobile-friendly site is important, let's explore how to get it that way.

1. Assess your current site to identify any needed changes.

First and foremost, you need to determine how well your site already accommodates mobile users. Google offers a simple online tool that will analyze a web page and report any mobile-related design issues. Your site may already meet the basic criteria required by Google, or may just need a few relatively simple changes. (If changes are needed, the tool will walk you through the technical guide that tells you how to correct the problem issues.)In addition, you can also use Google PageSpeed Insights to identify issues that may be slowing down your page loading times—which is one of the most common “fatal flaws" of web pages that don't work well for mobile users.

2. Choose a responsive design.

The best (and most popular) approach to making a site mobile-friendly is to choose a responsive design. A responsive design is one that automatically adjusts to accommodate whatever device the visitor is using. There are many responsive themes and templates available now for Wordpress, HTML5/CSS3, and other frameworks—including a number of free options.How much time and effort will be required to convert an “unfriendly" site to a more mobile-accommodating one will depend on a number of factors, including the specific design elements of your existing site. The older your current site is, the greater the odds that it was created using elements or platforms, such as Flash, that are now outdated or don't interact well with mobile devices.

The best approach to making a site mobile-friendly is to choose a responsive design

3. Keep things simple.

One of the most common ways that businesses cause problems for mobile users is by loading up a site with lots of fancy bells and whistles. This can create unnecessary clutter that crowds the page and makes navigation difficult. Equally problematic: It can also drastically impact page-loading speeds. A site that is slow to load is very frustrating to mobile users (and users in general) and is one of the top reasons they will abandon your site before even checking it out. In fact, Kissmetrics found that 40% of shoppers will abandon a site that takes more than three seconds to load. The data also found that a one-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. Providing a simple, scaled-down site will help optimize load speeds and make things easy and efficient for mobile users.Bonus tip: Pay attention to the content formats on your site. Video, in particular, can be tricky. Some types of video won't play properly (or won't function at all) on mobile devices. Double-check that any video content on your site is playable on mobile devices. Older, Flash-based videos are a common issue and generally won't be viewable on mobile devices. Videos published on major sites such as YouTube and Vimeo typically have a mobile-friendly embed code for sharing.

4. Put the central focus on the call to action.

Consumers today tend to have short attention spans and want to accomplish tasks quickly. This is particularly true for mobile users. Put the most important information—like contact details and how to book—front and center. Also, if there's a primary action you want visitors to take, such as booking a reservation, that must be prominently highlighted in a central location where it is easily visible. Using online booking software, such as Peek Pro makes this goal easy to achieve by adding a prominent button to your site, where visitors won't be able to miss it.Making your site mobile-friendly may take a little bit of time and work. But just consider how much of your potential business likely comes via mobile channels these days, and you'll see it's in your best interest to do everything possible to provide a smooth, efficient experience for users of mobile devices.

Personalization and customization—two buzzwords in the travel industry and among the top travel trends.Today's travelers are not only seeking out unique experiences but also want their options delivered to them in a certain way. Whether this involves receiving updates about the latest tour packages via email or keeping up-to-date with your company on social media, customer behavior is shifting with a demand for a more personalized approach. Cookie-cutter communications, such as a standard email newsletter that is sent to everybody that signs up, or maintaining a website with basic list of tours and activities, are no longer enough to attract and retain customers.Today's successful travel companies need to take extra steps to engage and reach these customers in new and creative ways. Here's a closer look at how your tour and activity company can drive business with personalization and customization.

Customizing Email Distribution

According to the “At the Big Data Crossroads" study by Amadeus, four out of 10 travelers are willing to share data in the interest of personalization. The information they're willing to share could be anything from their categories of interest, how much they spend (on average) on vacation, and how often they plan to visit a certain destination in the upcoming year.You can customize your email correspondence to cater to these travelers by segmenting your lists to target different groups. For example, a subscriber who shares they are planning a trip within the next six months and enjoys outdoor adventures might receive a series of emails every few weeks showcasing your outdoor adventure packages. For a subscriber who shares that they plan family getaways regularly and seek out deals and special offers, send a customized email every few weeks or every month with an offer targeted to the whole family.If you have a subscriber base of less than 500 people, you could have a staff member send these emails manually and set up categories for your list—family travelers, planning to book within 6 months, single travelers, etc—so that you are sending a certain type of email to a certain type of subscriber. For larger lists, consider using a third-party email management program, such as OmnistarMailer or Benchmark, that allows you to segment lists automatically using certain criteria.At the very minimum, you can and should divide your list into prospects and existing customers so that you are sending different types of emails to each group. Prospects would receive general marketing emails promoting your tours and activities, and perhaps an introductory offer on a certain tour or activity. Existing customers might receive emails that provide information about upcoming events in the area, customer appreciation events and invitations, and return visitor discounts.Use an online booking software program, such as Peek Pro, with a built-in email customization tool. This tool allows you to set up templates for different types of customers so that you can segment your list directly from the customer database. As each customer signs up or provides personal information as they go through the checkout process, their contact information and details are stored in the database. Business owners and certain staff members can retrieve this data to learn more about your customer base and create targeted lists for email newsletters and email marketing sends.

Strengthening Social Media Relationships

This infographic about the impact of social media within the hospitality industry reveals that 48 percent of those who used social media to research travel plans stuck with their original plans and that 55 percent have liked a Facebook page specific to a vacation. These statistics tell us that almost half of all travelers are very active on social media—especially during the planning stages. This opens up several opportunities for tour and activity operators that want to stay at the forefront of these trip planners' minds during the critical trip planning process.If a prospective customer has never visited your site before, they may be able to find you in another way: social media. Consider how many prospective customers are searching for interesting photos on Instagram with the hashtag #travel, #yourcity, or something you offer (e.g. #kayak, #hiking, etc). Or, Facebook users who see a post of a friend sharing a photo of themselves on a tour you offer with your Facebook page tagged in the post.Anybody who sees these posts may be clicking back to your Instagram feed or Facebook page to get learn more about what you have to offer. Some may even start following you on social media just to receive more updates, which may translate to a booking if the follower's interest level is high enough. Interacting with these prospects—even though they have not become a customer yet—can make them more comfortable with your company and personalizes the entire customer service experience from the very beginning.Focusing on strengthening social media relationships, whether you are active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or multiple social networks, could help you stay in touch with prospective customers right at the time they are planning to book a trip. You could run social media contests to show up in your fans' and followers news feed with exciting news and to generate buzz about your company and offerings. You could also respond positively to customers who tag you in a post or share something on social media related to your location or venue. You could maintain a regular Facebook posting schedule so that your audience can learn more about you and even share something of interest with their entire social network. (We shared some best Facebook marketing practices here.)

Focusing on strengthening social media relationships could help you build relationships with prospective customers

Finding different ways to engage with these customers publicly helps you maintain a positive image in the public eye and may even generate some bookings when a traveler is in the mindset of making a reservation.

Boosting Revenue with Ancillary Sales

Any sales made outside of direct reservation bookings are ancillary revenue for tour and activity operators. Add-ons, such as souvenirs, equipment and gear purchases, or gift cards, are a few examples of ancillary sales. You can boost revenue per customer by giving your customers more options to make their booking unique—offering add-ons, such as a gift card to an area restaurant, souvenir purchases, or equipment to purchase instead of renting for the tour, can give the customer a chance to customize their visit at their leisure.Charles River Canoe & Kayak, a company that offers kayak rentals and paddling classes, does exactly that with custom outing services. The company offers customized group tours where the customer can choose from a set of guided trips or head out on their own, order catering, or hire an expert instructor to teach for a portion of the trip.Capital Cruises offers a unique experience with its bat-watching tours with the option to enhance the experience with live music, children's entertainment, or murder mystery and entertainers for groups. These add-on options give customers more opportunities to enjoy the general public tour in a new way.Use an online booking program, such as Peek Pro, to configure add-ons on your checkout page. The software program is set up with easy drop-down menus for you to select different add-ons for certain tours and activities. Just make your selections and these add-ons will appear on the customer's checkout page.

Providing Curated Experiences

The experts at Tnooz point out how curated experiences and the chance to "live like a local" are some of the emerging trends in travel. Travel companies that can provide customers with a completely customized itinerary, the chance to learn something new, or expand the visitor's horizons in some way may be able to appeal to this growing market.Bespoke concierge companies, like NINE, which cater to the luxury travel market, are thriving with a business plan based on this concept. Busy customers who simply don't have the time or knowledge to create an itinerary leave the task in the hands of NINE concierge service staff members to provide insider information about the area and ticket details for various experiences based on the customer's personal preferences.Even though your tour and activity operator isn't serving as a travel agent or concierge, they can serve as an adviser by recommending complementary tours and activities, providing recommendations on where to eat before and after the experience, and tips on how to prepare for the experience. The idea is to connect with each and every guest in a way that makes them feel as though the entire visit was orchestrated and organized for them.From taking the time to strengthen social media relationships to providing a curated experience, tour and activity operators have several options for personalizing and customizing the customer service experience. Use these tips to develop your revenue generation and marketing strategy for the upcoming season.