If you’re in the market for highly effective tour operator software, you’ve come to the right place.
A lot goes into being a tour operator beyond organizing and hosting trips. Running a tour business requires a copious amount of admin, thorough communication, and time-consuming business tasks.
This is why you need to use the right tour operator software.
Whether you’re upgrading from a legacy system, transitioning from outdated manual processes, or making the first purchase as a new business, it’s critical to carefully consider what a suitable platform should offer.
To help you understand your options, we’ve created an all-you-need-to-know guide and a list of questions to ask when choosing tour operator software for your business.
Tour operator software is a software solution tour operators use to manage and optimize aspects of their business. Generally, the platform covers a fairly broad set of solutions, including taking client bookings and managing time-consuming back-office tasks.
Here are a few of the main functions the software usually performs:
WeTravel is a renowned booking and payments platform for tour operators. It provides travel companies with a perfect booking journey through seamless payment processing and booking management.
Finding the time and resources to operate effectively can be challenging for a small to medium-sized business. But, many factors can affect how efficient you are in day-to-day operations without you even realizing it.
More importantly, clients expect a top-notch customer and online experience, which small tour operator software can assist with. If you don’t provide a flawless experience, you risk losing interest in your competitors.
Some common pain points your business might be experiencing without realizing how they can impact your success include:
This is where using the right tour operator software can help, as it can automate and streamline processes for you.
Before looking into suitable software solutions, start by identifying any inefficiencies in the way your tour business operates.
What tasks are consuming most of your time?
What tasks do you wish you could cut out of your team’s daily schedule?
Are there any areas that consistently cause your business problems?
Also, consider the customer journey and determine the areas that could use an improvement. For example, can customers make easy bookings on your website? If not, it may be time to update your tour booking software.
Your answers to these questions should give you a baseline to work from when choosing a platform for your business.
Purchasing new software isn’t always a walk in the park, especially considering all the available options. Here are some critical questions to ask yourself when choosing tour operator software for your business.
Most software providers offer a free demo to let you see the platform in action.
A demo is helpful for understanding how well the platform works and whether it will be a good fit for your business. You can ask the provider questions and get a feel for the functionality before committing.
This is a handy feature if the platform bills annually or you have a lot of data to carry across just to get started.
It’s essential to have a thorough understanding of all of the features and possibilities of the software before you jump in. Different tour reservation software solutions may have very different attributes, so it's vital that you choose a solution that best meets the needs of your business.
Yes, having loads of features can be helpful, but this can be unnecessary if your business doesn’t need them. Instead, try to find a platform that covers the solutions your business needs without the extras and frills. This makes using the software easier, and it prevents you from paying unnecessary costs.
Again, having a demo is helpful here, as it can reveal the software's specific functionality and use cases.
When it comes to the features offered, ensure that the software delivers services beyond the handling of general day-to-day tasks. This may include data-driven technology that will analyze booking trends and insights that can assist you with your business strategy.
Committing to a new tour operator software solution can be a major step. Before signing up for monthly billing, investigate whether your preferred solution has a free version. Most tour operator software providers, like WeTravel, offer a free version with limited features.
Sure, you won’t be able to gain the full use of the platform, but it lets you gauge exactly how the platform will work in a real-life environment. You can use it without any risk to see if it's a good fit. If it works, then you can commit to the paid version.
Another benefit of getting a demo or trying a freemium before committing is comprehending whether the system is user-friendly.
Is it easy to navigate? How does it work with your other tools? How will it fit into the way your business currently operates? Will it be a straightforward process to train other members of your team?
Having access to excellent customer service from your supplier should be a non-negotiable.
Before committing to the software, do some research into the level of customer service that you can expect. Do you get priority support from a dedicated team? Are they available 24/7, and what are the communication methods?
One of the best ways to understand whether the software is worth the cost is to see what other customers have said about it online. Reviews provide real-life experiences and identify where the strengths and downfalls of the software lie.
The more honest the reviews are, the better.
Reviews also give you a good idea of the level of customer service to expect. Did the service provider adequately respond to feedback? If so, what was their timeline?
Look at sites like Trustpilot, G2, and Facebook to find customer reviews.
Similar to reviews, client testimonials reveal real-world use-cases of the software and what customers have thought about it. The downside to testimonials is that the software provider controls what testimonials they publish, so they generally tend to be more positive.
Even so, testimonials can be useful for understanding the platform's capabilities and real-world applications. It’s even better if detailed case studies are available about the software.
Or, if the testimonials are written by well-known brands, influencers, or figureheads, this may carry some weight in terms of the legitimacy of positive outcomes.
Transitioning to a new software system can be a major change for any business. You want things to be as smooth as possible, which is why having a solid onboarding support system is vital.
Some tour operator software providers offer an onboarding team to help you get set up and started with the new system. This can make transitioning far easier, helping your business stay productive during the migration process.
You’ll need a number of different tools to run your tour business. Ideally, these tools should all integrate to provide a more seamless experience.
Ensure that the tour operator booking software is compatible and allows for integrations that will work with your existing systems.
This includes your accounting tools, CRM, productivity apps, Zapier, and other platforms your business uses.
Is the software priced on a tiered or monthly basis, or does it require one sizeable annual payment? Different solutions are priced differently, and the one you choose needs to make sense for your business.
Even the best tour operator management software on the market may have a downfall. It's essential to understand what areas it won’t cover and how important these functions are.
What will running your business with the new system look like? Will you need to subscribe to additional tools to compensate for the platform shortfalls?
Finally, you’ll need to consider what the future of your business looks like. Investing in software is a big deal, so it's crucial only to take on new systems that will bring you long-term value.
When considering your five or ten-year plan, ask yourself how you plan to scale up? What will your operations look like? It’s important to choose a software solution to fit into this vision.
Ideally, your tour operator software should be able to grow with your business. Many providers include different solutions to match the size and demands of different companies. As your business demands increase, you should be able to upgrade your software plan or abilities accordingly.
Here are some common features and abilities to look for when choosing new software.
One of the fundamentals of running a tour business is being able to take bookings. These days, all tour operators should have an easy solution to accepting bookings and payments online.
By using a software solution that streamlines this process, you can expect to take on more bookings and save time managing them.
Special itinerary creation tools exist to help you put together itineraries. An efficient software solution will automate processes while creating beautiful and accurate itineraries.
A big part of running a tour business is attracting new customers. Various marketing solutions exist to help you pull this off.
As a tour operator, you may want to use email marketing tools, a website and landing page builder, lead generation tools, social media management tools, content creation tools, and more.
Consider your overall marketing strategy to attract and nurture customers. Then decide which marketing tools are required to make this happen.
A great CRM can be a complete game-changer for any tourism business. CRM software is used to store all of your customer information. This lets you improve the way you manage and communicate with customers - which in turn, will improve their experience. By having happier customers, you will be able to generate more positive brand awareness and possibly gain more referrals. This can help you sell more tours.
One of the best things about using software to run your tourism business is that it provides valuable insights into your core operations. Whatever type of solution you choose should provide actionable data, reports, and analytics to help you understand your business and help you make more informed decisions.
Any back-office tasks that involve spreadsheets, data entry, and managing finances can often be automated. This can make a big difference in how you run your business.
Tour operators can streamline supplier management and relations by using a central supplier management platform. This is where you can store and manage supplier details and payment and booking information.
Having one platform to store this information makes it faster and easier to manage your quote and booking response times.
Once you have found the right tour operator software, it's vital that you consider what the transition to this new system will look like.
Your team will be used to your existing software systems and may struggle to adjust to the new processes.
It's important to invest in ongoing training and support for your staff. Make sure that you highlight the value of the platform to your team so that they understand why adjusting to the new system is the right move for the company.
The way you introduce a new platform is often as important as the system you choose. If you rush things or dive in blindly, your tour operator software could make your life more difficult.
There is no doubt that businesses in the travel industry have to quickly adopt new technologies to meet their clients where they are at in the market.
If you’re a tour operator looking to provide an excellent 360 service to your customers, implementing an efficient software solution is the way to go.
Choosing your tools wisely allows you to do more with minimal effort from your team. Aside from that, it helps you stand out from your competition.
We hope that the questions and insights in this guide help you find the perfect solution for your business.
WeTravel is built for group, international, and wellness businesses of any size. If you’d like a demo of our platform, get in touch today.