Common tourism business mistakes to avoid while starting, managing & growing
In this video, we highlight the common mistakes in the tourism business that can be avoided if you get to learn about them and keep away from them. Our tourism business experts have come up with 5 top mistakes that tour operators and other tourism businesses are facing and leading retardation n their growth. They include;-
1. Focusing on money than quality service.
It is true that becoming money greedy or mad can cause any business to collapse instead of its growth so is the tourism business. Always ensure that your clients are happy with the services they asked for before even you think of raising that invoice. This is one of the great mistakes by tourism entrepreneurs including tour operators that sell trips expensive and in turn, the quality of safari they extend to their guests is absolutely poor. Part of the success of any tourism business, quality of service to your customers should be given the highest priority over money.
2. Focusing on selling everything to everyone.
This has been one of the greatest mistakes in the tourism business, selling everything to everyone is so costly than running a small niche market. Think of the right target market for your products and services. For example, you can start a hospitality facility only for luxury travelers and be able to fulfill the needs and demands of that market segment than targeting everyone. Try to serve a small market that you understand their interests and preferences, i.e. taking guests for gorilla adventures or community experiences, and customize your products to meet their expectations.
3. Failure to keep trust & transparency.
Trust and being honest at all times while running or operating any tourism business must remain crucial to you. How you relate with different suppliers, trade partners, and International agents and customers must be with a strong pillar of trust and transparency. Keeping agreements assigned and delivering to the terms of reference. When you become untrustful and not transparent, it will be so hard for even your industry colleagues to relate with you on business matters.
4. Failure to obtain the right product knowledge.
Always strive so hard to know everything about your business. The tourism business has customers that are well informed, they do research before any booking or purchase of any tourism products including hotel rooms and safari when they wish to travel. Tourism product knowledge is so important for any successful entrepreneur. It is impossible for you to make conversions without the right product knowledge.
5. Ignoring the power of online marketing.
Over 90% of customers for tourism business are online and it is good to promote your website strongly and ensure it gets that high visibility in the search engine. Use different social media platforms to generate traffic to your website and always post regularly. Ensure frequently update your customers about different services and products, and general information about your hotel, lodge, campsite, destination, activities, attractions, tour company, and car rental services t mention but a few.
