After the peak season is over, travel companies have a couple of weeks to get ready for the holiday season, the second most anticipated period of the year in the industry.
This time between seasons is crucial for business owners and managers to analyze their hits and misses during summer, and start thinking about the promotion ideas that will boost their sales at the end of the year.
In this article, we will discuss strategies tour operators can use to drive more bookings to their business during one of the most important dates of the holiday season, the Black Friday!
Since its first edition in 1950, Black Friday has grown into a well-established holiday much anticipated by buyers and sellers.
And if you think the shopping frenzy only applies to retail, you are wrong. Nowadays, businesses from different industries wait for Black Friday to boost their sales, including the ones in tourism.
The reason is simple, more and more travelers are waiting for Black Friday to book their trips. That’s mostly because of the great discounts on travel packages and travel-related products they get during this date.
A survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of Fakespot found that two-thirds of consumers reportedly impulse-buy more during the weekend of Black Friday and Cyber Monday than they do at any other point in the year.
No wonder data for 2017 collected by Affilired shows that during this period travel sales of their clients increased by up to 30%.
The popularity of Black Friday poses different opportunities for tour operators, such as:
Fill empty seats: Winter is a low season for many companies in the travel sector, which makes it challenging for them to fill departures. However, Balck Friday offers can help tour operators get extra guests hence making off-season a profitable period.
Get a revenue boost: Even though offering discounts, the volume of sales on Black Friday can pay off and in the end, generate an important cash flow. Tour operators can even offer discounts on add-ons and special packages in order to make extra income.
Score first-time customers: Many travelers wait for Black Friday to book their trips because of the better deals. This is your chance to get bookings from guests that otherwise you would miss if not advertising on Black Friday.
Out of all your website visitors, some may not have booked with you yet because they are waiting for Black Friday offers.
And be sure, these customers are closely monitoring all prices in order to grab the best deal.
If you have nothing planned to attract last-minute shoppers don’t worry, there is still time to start with your holiday campaign.
Check out these promotion ideas to boost your bookings on Black Friday.
Gift certificates are an excellent option for tour operators who want to boost their sales during Black Friday.
Their flexibility is great for travelers who want to book a tour but have not set a date for their trip, or customers who want to gift an experience to someone special.
Some tips for your gift certificate strategy are:
Just remember that Black Friday customers are looking for the best deals, which means they expect to pay a better price on the gift certificates compared to your regular tour prices.
This is probably the most obvious type of promotion to be offered during Black Friday, yet it’s very effective and spot-on to boost sales.
After all, discounts are at the heart of this holiday.
Pro tip: Use an online booking system to manage your discount coupons. It will save you a lot of headaches as everything is automated by the system.
Orioly for example has a discount coupon feature that you can use to generate a code (e.g. BLACKFRIDAY20), set the discount in percentage or total amount (e.g. $20 or 20%), define the period when the coupon can be used (e.g. for the next month), and to which activities it applies to.
After setting up your coupon, all your guests need to do is add the code during the checkout process.
Some tour operators can’t afford to offer big discounts because their price point is already at the limit for profit.
If that’s your case, don’t panic, you can still surf the wave of Black Friday. All you need to do is to be a little bit more creative with your special offers.
An idea is to include a free add-on to your traditional tour options to spice them up for Black Friday customers.
For example, include a free bottle of champagne in a New Year tour, or give away a bottle of wine if you have wine tours.
You can also offer an extra perk to your guests, for example, a hotel pick-up to the tour place.
This is a great way to promote your brand during the holiday season, after all, who doesn’t love a contest?
The idea behind a giveaway or a contest is to increase the reach of your brand through social media.
People sharing/following your page is free advertisement for your company, plus an opportunity for potential customers to get to know your Black Friday deals.
The prize of the giveaway could be a gift certificate, a free tour, a souvenir, or anything else that your guests might be interested in.
You can also work together with your partners to offer an even more attractive prize and reach a wider audience by promoting the contest on two different social media accounts.
For example, if you have a hotel partner the prize could be 3 nights plus a free wine experience tour.
Every year more and more travelers are searching for Black Friday deals to secure discounts on travel packages and experiences.
This represents an opportunity for tour operators to fill empty seats during the off-season, boost revenue, and attract first-time customers seeking the best deals.
Some promotion ideas to make the most of Black Friday are:
Ready to kick off your Black Friday campaign? Before make sure you are also ready to receive online bookings from your website and that you have a booking solution that supports your discount strategies.
Our pay once and use forever online booking software for tour operators has all the features you need to run a successful Black Friday campaign and boost your profits during this holiday season.
Get to know Orioly and unleash the power of direct bookings from your website.
ORIOLY
on October 19, 2023
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