As a travel business, the quickest method to scale is offering your tours to global markets – which means adapting everything from how you price your tours to the language used in marketing materials to the currency conversions you offer for the countries you’re targeting.
For this article, we clarify at the top that we’re not discussing alternative payment methods (APMs) as a form of regional payment method, although that is another option travel businesses can embed at checkout to better convert bookings, see here. Instead, we’re exploring the option of offering global travelers the ability to pay in their local currency, regardless of how a trip is priced on the website.
For example, let’s assume a travel business markets its tours in USD, but wants to attract more bookings from a European traveler. Of course, the travel business can offer traditional payment methods like Credit Card, which converts the currency after payment – and often charges high fees to both the traveler and the business. However, alternative financial technology options embedded into checkout are gaining traction with travelers, if businesses don’t latch to these payment trends they risk losing sales.
Data from WeTravel’s 2024 Annual Travel Trends Report suggests that 26% of travel businesses anticipate that local payment methods will be their most-used form of payment in 2024 - if they can find solutions that align with their travelers’ local preferences, that is.
What Is Multi-Currency Checkout?
As we wrote above, Multi-Currency Checkout is an integrated currency converter that takes a business’s marketed purchase price (USD, used above) and converts it at booking into the traveler’s currency (EURO, as the above example).
Not only does the currency converter offer up-front cost transparency for the traveler, but it also opens options for the traveler to pay with their preferred payment method instead of using a Credit Card as a de facto “currency converter” – with hidden fees.
Offering local payment methods in marriage with currency conversion at checkout will allow businesses to capitalize on converting bookings beyond their region and into global markets. Travelers (and consumers, at large!) prefer local payment options–geographically restricted payment options like PAD or iDEAL that are specific to a region–because they often cater to the region-specific needs that differ from universally accepted payment methods.
What are local payment methods?
Local Payment Methods are financial-technology driven payment options that are specific to a region or country. When we write Local Payment Method you may recognize:
- Digital Wallets: A mobile application that allows travelers to store and manage payment information – reducing the need for a physical wallet to hold Credit Cards and cash.
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- Bank Transfers: As it implies, a bank transfer is a funds transfer from the traveler’s bank to the business’s (or merchant’s) bank account.
Across different regions, specific types of bank transfers are most commonly used.
What are the most popular, regional types of bank transfer?
ACH: A popular payment network available only in the US
iDEAL: Bank transfer network in Netherlands
SEPA Direct Debit: A payment system popular across Europe
BACS: An electronic transfer service used to make payments in the UK
PAD: An online payment option for businesses and individuals in Canada
SPEI: An electronic payment system popular in Mexico
What are the benefits of embedded currency conversion at checkout?
Competitive advantage
Whether you’re looking to gain bookings from a new market or you want to grow your bookings from a market, offering currency conversion at checkout will elevate your business against competitors that may rely on out-date or traditional payment methods.
Trust Factor
When building into new markets, you want the local traveler to trust your business. Offering local payment options and currency conversion will increase a traveler’s trust in your business. This approach enhances cost transparency by displaying the precise amount of the trip in the customer's local currency, mitigating the risk of travelers encountering unexpected fees when reviewing their bank statements.
Checkout experience
If you get a traveler to the payment point, you don’t want to lose the booking because a preferred payment method or a local currency is unavailable (the abandoned cart problem). Incorporating multiple currencies significantly enhances the travel experience for your clients. It provides a sense of comfort and ease as travelers pay using familiar currencies.
Further reach
The more updated and integrated payment methods, including local currencies, you can offer, the more likely to reach a wider, global traveler pool. You can also target specific regions and locations through the payment options you embed at checkout. businesses not only improve booking conversions but also attract new travelers who may not have previously been able to successfully complete the checkout process.
What does your travel business need to do before introducing a Multi-Currency Checkout?
Before introducing a multi-currency checkout system, your travel business should conduct thorough market research to understand your target travelers' payment preferences.
Once you've identified the preferred currencies in your target markets, you can proceed to integrate these various currencies into your payment systems. This can be accomplished by selecting tour booking and payment software that accommodates multiple currency options.
Start offering Multi-Currency Checkout and other Local Payment Methods with WeTravel
From local payment methods like iDEAL and ACH to currencies in Multi-Currency Checkout in USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, CHF, SEK, DKK, NOK, PLN, AUD, NZD, HKD, and MXN, WeTravel’s integrated payment tools will support your travel business with capturing global bookings – and increasing revenue. Learn more here.
