Maximizing Tourism Business by Working with Tour Agents
Working with tour agents is one way to grow your company’s success. International tour agents are a key market source for your travel agency selling inbound travel to the outside world, especially to visitors located within these source market areas.
For small and medium-sized safari businesses, maximizing your working relationship with tour agents must be a priority strategy to complement your online strategy. Several principles can guide you on how to maximize your working relationship. Let’s take a look at these:-
1. Honesty & Trust
Exhibiting the highest levels of trust and honesty is so vital in forging a working relationship with international trade partners in the tourism industry. One way of manifesting honesty is, to tell the truth at all times about the destination you are selling or promoting.
2. Product Knowledge.
Agents can only work with you with high levels of product knowledge. It is so important to know each detail of the products that you are promoting. From the experiences, hotels/lodges around the area, accessibility from one point to the other, and how things work out. It makes it so easy to sell even in asleep
3. Timely and accurate response.
You need to ask yourself, how long it takes you to respond to your agent’s email, and how accurate are you with the information shared. First and fast response is very important, the world is up to now and this is how quickly you can close a sale. Be flexible when it comes to quick responses, this can be by email, direct telephone call, or using a Whatsapp message. You can differentiate yourself from a competitive landscape through prompt responses to your international agents.
4. Become flexible & better offers.
Being flexible at all times will make you a champion to your trade partners. Be able to change where change applies or is required. Provide the best net rates and make them stand out from other travel advisors. Today, most agents are looking at who offers what and at what net price.
By establishing some of the above key strategies, your working relationship with international tour agents will be strengthened. Of course: you will always manifest success and growth in your tour operations.
