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These days, most tour and activity operators have some degree of an online presence. It’s hard not to have one. But despite 700 million people making a booking online by 2023, many operators continue to lean on more traditional methods of acquiring precious guest reservations and customer data to help them run their business.
If you’re a tour or activity operator reluctant to get online or underutilizing the online booking tools currently available to you, we’ll bring you up to speed on what reservation technology can do for your business, while showcasing the many amazing benefits of online tour bookings.
What is Reservation Technology?
Reservation technology is often interchangeable with the term “online booking software” reservation technology ” and consists of tools and software that improve your customers’ online experience when interacting with your website, and enhances their ability to book tours and excursions with you.
While word-of-mouth referrals remain an essential method for acquiring new customers, an online booking system connects you to tour goers otherwise unreachable via more traditional methods of outreach.
With over 148 million travel bookings made annually, and 82% of those occurring via a mobile device or website, reservation technology is widespread and will continue to expand for the foreseeable future.
What are the benefits of using Reservation Technology?
Perhaps you’re newly exploring your online booking options or want to engage further with reservation technology to make your life easier. Regardless of what stage you’re at in your online booking journey as a tour or activity operator, online bookings help you grow your customer database, revealing critical information that ultimately affects the way you run your business and market to customers.
From demographics to purchase history, these tidbits of data assist in catering to the wants and needs of your target customer, while giving your audience an easy and efficient way to book their tours and activities with you.
While online booking software is a fantastic tool to implement as part of your tour company, not all reservation technology is created equal. Doing your research on the online booking system that best suits your excursion company, will help you to get the most out of your software and help you to efficiently and effectively run your business.
Let’s look at the benefits of using reservation technology!
Reservation software gives you more time to operate your business
For those reluctant to set up online bookings, your fear might stem from the misconception that reservation technology will end up being more work with little return on your investment. What if we told you it’s less work than you think and gives you valuable time back to run your business?
For all the hours in the day you spend taking bookings over the phone, online booking software automates this process in a flash while giving your customers the freedom and choice to initiate their own tour reservations.
Reservation software lets you offer bookings 24/7
The beauty of reservation technology is that you can remain open for business all the time. Granting your customers further freedom means enabling them to book what they want, when they want, where they want.
In addition to the 24/7 availability of reservation technology, it’s not uncommon to find a host of other features that accompany it – things like:
- Fast and secure online payment: expand your payment options while keeping your customer data secure.
- Automated waiver signing: keep your tour goers safe and protect your business from liability
- Add-on insurance options: tack on available insurance packages to keep your customers that much safer
How does reservation technology make tour and activity operators’ jobs easier?
In addition to returning valuable time to help operate your tour company, reservation technology reveals valuable information to help make your business work for you, and prevent you from working for your business!
Features like customized reporting, data analysis and centralized client dashboards that display customer information in one convenient location, are just a few of the ways reservation technology makes the lives and jobs of tour operators and excursion managers that much easier.
What are operators missing out on if they’re not using reservation technology?
It can be easy to stick with what you know, remaining comfortable in your tour or excursion business by using more traditional methods of securing and booking guest reservations. So let’s lift the curtain on crucial features you are likely missing out on by not incorporating reservation technology as part of your line up.
Centralized availability tracking prevents overbookings and misunderstandings
As a tour operator, it’s likely you’ve experienced the dreaded ‘misplaced booking’ or even worse – a double booking! Excursion companies miss out on handy availability tracking tools when they choose to forgo reservation technology as part of their company’s arsenal. Online booking software that offers centralized availability tracking is essential to any tour operator that consistently deals with direct bookings. If you offer your activities through multiple sales channels like OTAs, resellers, concierges, or others, this is even more vital.
Centralized availability tracking helps to maximize sudden free spots in your tour calendar and deters no-show guests. It also reduces repetitive correspondence with tour goers.
Reservation software inspires customer loyalty
Your customer journey doesn’t end the minute your guests click the ‘reserve’ button on your website – it continues throughout the duration of their tour experience with you and long after they’ve departed!
Approximately 72% of new customers won’t make a booking without some level of research, including sifting through your business’ existing reviews. This makes customer loyalty and those precious guest reviews more valuable than ever!
Old school paper record keeping of customer data means important information that could otherwise be used for sending thank yous or review reminders to your guests could easily be lost or damaged. The process of earning customer loyalty via your reservation technology can be easily automated, especially when customer information and booking information is viewable via one centralized dashboard.
How can Rezgo help?
Why choose Rezgo’s reservation technology for your tour, activity or events business? Rezgo automates large parts of the booking management process for you, transparently takes secure payments, sends out confirmations, waivers and tickets, and reviews incoming customer requests.
With Rezgo, you choose a reservation software that keeps your customers (and your tour company) front of mind – try Rezgo today!
Written By | Lindsay Stroud
