EVOLUTION OF THE TOUR OPERATOR

improved the overall customer experience. They also now allow retail partners to see real-time availability. Today, tour operators have the choice of a few hundred SaaS systems to help them manage their tour operations.

Communication has become more efficient and instantaneous, thanks to digital platforms. Tour operators can now provide real-time updates via emails, messenger apps, and social media, ensuring that customers, suppliers, and partners are always in the loop. If operators want to make sure they are addressing their customer’s needs in the best way, they need to be able to communicate via all these different methods in as close to real-time as possible. AI chatbots, implemented correctly, are a godsend for small operators as they will enable them to give a 24/7 presence to communicate with potential guests, which, if they are out guiding, is impossible.

AI can be used to personalize customer experiences, from offering recommendations based on past bookings to answering customer queries via chatbots. The strategic value of AI is not the productivity gain but the way it will enable tour operators to interact with customers at scale using the unique data that each individual tour operator possesses.

Peter Syme has enjoyed a storied career helping tour operators become more profitable. He is passionate about consulting and advising tour companies on sustainability, technology and helping them better connect with customers. He is a current partner at Tourpreneur.

An outstanding digital presence is no longer optional, it is a requirement to stay in the tour operator industry. Websites are not just informational; they are designed for engagement, complete with online booking capabilities, detailed tour information, customer reviews, and vibrant visuals. Online marketing, too, has become a key strategy, with operators leveraging SEO, social media, and email marketing to reach potential customers and stay engaged with past customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are widespread and very affordable or even free. These systems should be the jewel in your back-end business operations. Customers are expensive to acquire, and in an industry that sufferers greatly from irregular purchases, it is essential to manage the best possible communication across the whole customer journey from dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing and sharing. Technology will continue to play an even more pivotal role than it does today. The tour operating industry is going to be shaped by society-level changes in how guests use technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will streamline operations further. Today the ability to use it to increase productivity is huge. However, that is just stage one and one all tour operators should adopt quickly. It will make you more productive and save substantial costs and allow you to produce content and information at a scale that limited resources were preventing you from doing before.

Global travel numbers are expected to double by 2050, just 27 short years away, so generating demand for travel is not a challenge the industry faces. It is how we manage that massive demand in a way that serves the planet, the destinations and the people that live in those destinations. As more people become aware of the benefits and costs of tourism and its environmental impact, tough industry-changing decisions will be made. We are already seeing the start of this across many cities with new policies restricting tourism numbers. Tour operators will need to adopt more sustainable practices and be able to prove them.

The tour industry has come a long way from 2003 to 2023. However, many tour operators still lag in this digital-first world, which is understandable as very few entered the industry to be focused on technology. The challenges that once plagued operators may have technology solutions, but the world does not stand still. As an industry, we are still behind our customers in their use of technology. To thrive, we must do what we can to catch up.

As we look ahead, adopting even more innovative practices to enhance customer experiences and ensure sustainable operations is a must. The journey of the past two decades is a testament to the industry’s resilience and adaptability. Most, if not all, of the changes in the last few decades, have been around communication, booking, marketing etc. The next 20 years will see much more of that at hyper speed, but critically, the experience product that we all provide is actually going to change in ways that are equally exciting but challenging.

Today is the best possible time to be a tour operator of day or multi-day tours, and for many, both. However, digital awareness and ability are now a must-have if tour operators are going to deliver on the opportunity they have been presented with. EXP