10 Free Marketing Tools For Tour Operators
Small business owners in the travel industry have their plates full managing all aspects of their...
As the title of this article suggests, every travel agency should be using specific tools for running their companies.
Why? To create an environment of total accuracy and efficiency in their operations.
There are endless tasks involved in running a travel business. Before you start signing up for any travel agency platform, it's important that you understand your exact business requirements. This will help you establish which tools will impact your business the most.
With everything being done online these days, it's vital that your business uses the right travel agency software to improve its operational practices.
In this guide, we’ll outline the five most important types of travel agent tools that you should use.
The Importance Of Travel Agency Tools
Beyond providing an incredible and unforgettable travel experience to your customers, there is a fair amount of back-office tasks related to running a business.
With the help of a reliable and trusted platform, this will significantly simplify your life as a travel business owner.
At the same time, travel agency tools are also designed to enhance your customer's experiences. The right software streamlines the customer journey and makes it easier for them to engage with your business and make bookings without unnecessary steps or any hassle.
The right travel agent tools can also save you money. Instead of spending hours of manual work on back office operations, the software will automate these processes for you. This gives you more time to spend with your customers and grow your business.
5 Essential Travel Agency Tools
Looking to streamline the processes in your travel company? Read on to discover the five distinct software tools you need.
1. CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are essential travel agency tools for improving the customer experience. A CRM acts as a database where you can store all of your client information. This includes their contact details, travel preferences, booking history, and more.
Using a CRM gives you easy, meaningful insights into your customer's interests and habits. This helps travel agents and tour operators provide more personalized, meaningful customer experiences - which improves the overall customer experience and loyalty.
CRM travel agency tools generally include lead capture solutions. This is used to capture a prospect's email address (or other contact information) and add them to your CRM database.
You can set up automation when doing this so that you have different lists of leads and customers. For example, you could create a list of different customers depending on what tours they have booked in the past, or based on what areas they are located in.
A great CRM should provide detailed reports and insights into your customers. Ideally, you want this system to integrate with your other marketing solutions. This way, you can set up customized and personalized marketing campaigns a lot easier.
A CRM is certainly one of the most important travel agent tools for growing your business, as it can help you enhance the customer experience in a big way. Some popular CRM options for travel agents include:
2. Booking And Payment Solution
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No travel agency can operate effectively without a reliable and trusted booking and payment solution. This is essential if you want to sell travel experiences and expand your reach.
A booking and payment platform does so much more than just accept payments and schedule your customers. It plays a vital role in your customer's journey, and ultimately, it's what leads a prospect to become a customer and even a returning client.
If your booking and payment solution provides a bad experience, many people might leave your site to book with a competitor.
It’s important that these travel agent tools provide a seamless online experience. Customers should be able to book easily and instantly on your site, without any unnecessary steps.
Customers should also be able to access all of the important information they need when making a booking. It's crucial that your booking system also provides multiple payment options to suit all customers.
The booking and payment solution your travel agency uses should be easy to set up, without complex coding knowledge required.
The system should include a booking page builder, where you can create custom pages for your different tours and travel experiences. Ideally, the platform should also allow for simple booking widgets to be included on your website.
Don’t forget to choose a booking solution that integrates with your other travel management tools.
WeTravel is the ideal solution, providing a travel-specific booking and payment tool. The platform includes an extensive free option, it's incredibly easy to use, and it offers a wide array of booking and payment features to streamline your business.
Learn more about how WeTravel works.
3. Marketing Suite
Running effective marketing campaigns is paramount to your tour company. Having the right travel agent tools for marketing is essential here.
When it comes to choosing a marketing suite for your travel agency, there are many different tools and options you can choose from.
The right one for your business should depend on your specific travel agent marketing strategy and the marketing channels that you use. Generally, this will include tools for:
- Social media marketing and scheduling
- Email marketing and automation tools
- Tools for creating popups and online forms
- Marketing analytics tools
- Tools for improving SEO
- Website and landing page builders
- Graphic design tools
- Marketing funnel and project management tools
And more. Clearly, there are many different options when choosing travel agency tools for marketing. The good news is that many of these tools are free. You can get a full marketing suite that includes a variety of tools in a single platform, instead of having to subscribe to different platforms.
Just make sure that your marketing tools integrate with each other and with your other tools (like your CRM and booking solution). This is important for creating more streamlined and effective marketing campaigns.
If you’re not sure where to start with finding the right travel agency tools here, most travel agents can develop an effective marketing strategy encompassing email marketing, social media marketing, SEO, and marketing analytics. Of course, you will also need a highly engaging and user-friendly website.
Here are some great marketing suite options for travel agents:
4. Calendar Tool
Beyond accepting bookings, your travel agency will also need a calendar-based tool to schedule its appointments. This could include scheduling calls or consultations or organizing demos. Whatever the case, using an online calendar tool makes this process a lot more organized.
With a tool like this, you simply publish a calendar on your website - or anywhere else that you need to share the calendar. Whoever needs to schedule an appointment with you chooses their time and date, and the appointment is automatically set up.
This makes it a lot easier to manage your own schedule. It also simplifies the appointment scheduling process for anyone needing to book an appointment. A calendar tool like this removes the need for back-and-forth email conversations when setting up appointments. This enhances the customer experience, saves you a lot of time, and ultimately makes it easier to run your business.
Calendly is an easy and free appointment scheduling tool that is perfect for any travel agency to use for customers and internally.
5. Accounting Software
It goes without saying that your finance and accounting system is one of the most vital aspects of running a travel or any business for that matter. Using a dependable accounting software platform will make the process seamless.
This tool will help you keep track of all your expenses and easily manage your finances. This software is also a complete lifesaver when it comes time to file/submit your tax returns.
Accounting software for your travel agency should be simple to use. The goal is to provide regular business owners, who aren’t trained accountants, with everything they need to accurately manage their books.
The best travel agent tools for accounting should include detailed financial reports and easy-to-use templates for financial management. Ideally, the software you use should integrate with your booking and payment solution.
For example, WeTravel includes automation via Zapier with platforms like QuickBooks and Xero.
Some of the best accounting tools for travel agencies include:
Conclusion
Equipping your business with the travel agent tools listed above is a surefire way to create immense efficiencies and streamline the operations of your tour company.
You will save hoards of time, and ultimately be able to focus on the customer experience. It will also give you the capacity to achieve the goals you set out for your travel agency.
If you haven’t applied these tools yet, now is the time to integrate them into your business. And the best part is that there are many great free options available to start with.
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