Picture the scene...
A traveller has decided to buy a tour from you.
Fantastic! You know they’ve probably spent lots of time researching to get to this point, and they’re finally confident in their decision.
But now it’s time to actually book. The process isn’t fun and freeing like it should be. It’s complicated and lengthy, and doubts are creeping in.
Now they’ve dropped off the site, and when you look into it further, there’s a trend of people failing to book after putting tours in their basket.
Could this be the case for your customers? If so, it’s time to simplify your travel and tour booking processes so that travellers actually get to the end of them.
Here are three practical steps you can take to do so.
Look at the very beginning of your booking process. As soon as travellers click ‘Book’, what do they see? What do they need to do? How long does it take before they see ‘Pay now’?
If this process is too long, or requires too much effort, there’s a chance that travellers will, at worst, leave your site and at best, have a poor experience that stops them from booking with you again. Ultimately, you want to collect the least information possible before customers pay – just enough to convert them, but not too much to frustrate and deter them.
We often see booking processes that ask customers to share information about the following, even before they’re ready to pay:
Travellers might not have all of this information at this stage. This is especially true for group tours. What are the chances that the lead booker has already collected everyone’s email addresses and passport numbers?
Consider examples like this as you optimise your booking processes, but look at your own data too. This will give you clues into your company’s booking barriers and how you can remove them.
Pricing your tours and experiences competitively is key, but are you also considering how travellers want to pay? You don’t want someone to go through the whole booking process, just to realise they’re not happy with the final step.
Here are four factors to consider for frictionless payments:
Research from ABTA shows that booking holidays early to secure the best price drives more than a third of travellers. Are you giving people the chance to split their payments across instalments with a smaller upfront fee?
Travel purchases can be expensive, especially if you’re booking for a group. Can travellers split their purchases across more than one card if their credit limit prevents them from paying the full amount outright?
According to Outpayce, 66% of travellers would prefer to book with a company that allows them to pay in their own currency. Do you offer multi-currency bookings for those with this preference?
Do you allow customers to pay online via a credible payment gateway, rather than over the phone? Can they quickly find out how their credit card information is protected, or the terms and conditions regarding refunds?
Once someone has booked with you, you shouldn’t neglect their pre-travel experience. A positive one might mean they book again in the future.
One way to continue engaging with travellers is to create a self-serve portal that allows them to access, edit, and manage their own bookings.
Take this example from adventure tour operators Mountain Tracks, who give travellers a quick and easy way to find all the information they need. Travellers don’t have to call to make payments or change their details, although the option’s there for any extra support.
Plus, for the travellers that want to book another tour, there’s no need to share their information again. They can log into their portal, update anything that’s changed, and speed up the entire process.
With a customer portal, you make it easier for travellers to do the following (after they’ve booked!):
Don’t forget to set it up so that you can push reminders to travellers, such as letting them know when their final balance is due. This is slicker for them and your teams.
We know that travel and tour companies are spinning lots of plates – from day-to-day challenges to blue sky thinking about where you want to take your company. But finding ways to increase your bookings is foundational to both the everyday and the future.
We explore this more in our latest report, Travel in 2024: Trends and tips for sustainable success. Here, you’ll find predictions for the year ahead, alongside our three pieces of advice for keeping bookings coming in the long term.
