Travel Websites - How to Increase Your Traffic & Sales
Guaranteed by Tim Warren
Web sites are a major part of the tourism marketing success strategy used by
international tourism promoters in the new millennium: tourism boards,
Associations, lodging, tour operators, etc.
Big Fat Warning
If your travel web site does not have these four primary elements clearly and
quickly represented, you are missing opportunities, losing sales and may not
survive in the tourism indsutry.
1. Creates a desire to use your tourism services, visit your destination or
participate in your unique tourism option
2. Clearly informs prospects of travel and service benefits, options, sites,
nature/environment, activities 3. Answer questions and concerns a typical
visitor may have
4. Motivates prospects to contact you quickly (not your competitor) for more
information, travel options and dates, answer questions and address concerns
If your site achieves all these goals, then the prospects that have visited
your site will be more excited, motivated, qualified, informed and much closer
to giving you a booking or visiting your country.
What percentage of your total website visitors are converting into solid
prospects and sale?
Probably not as much as you would like.
This article is not about web design and layout theory, but why the written
word and consumer psychology is a prime factor in influencing arrivals and
sales from your travel website.
Create a desire to Visit your destination or travel with your company
Prospective travelers may or may not choose to visit your destination based on
what they read on your web site - usually just your home page.
Read the article Tourist Safety and Security on Adventure Business Consultants,
then you'll know how crucial it is to first communicate to prospective
travelers that your destination and/or tour is a safe, secure and fun place to
visit. With so many global destination choices online and so much international
turmoil, you MUST communicate clearly it is a safe and fun destination quickly.
The best place to first communicate safety, security and fun is on your home
page, not buried deep in your site. When someone first comes to your web site,
you literally have five to twenty seconds to grab their interest and compel
them to want to know more about your destination, tours, etc. If you don't grab
them on your home page, they are gone. Those prospective tourists are back to
surfing the web, seeking out a more interesting, compelling tourism web site
and vacation destination.
If you look at your log report, (the statistical report that your internet
service provider should make accessible to you) that monitors your web visitors
activity, i.e. pages visited, length of time on your site, key words used to
find your site, etc., you may notice that the majority of visitors may stay
less then a minute. On a poorly written and designed web site, maybe less then
fifteen seconds. So grabbing their attention and motivating them to want to
know more is the first obstacle and opportunity. Testimonials and photos of
happy tourist are perfect for communicating safety and experience quickly. Use
them liberally.
Tourism Web Site Must Clearly inform
One of the prime reasons people travel is to experience "something different"
from their ordinary life and location. Active and ecotourists want to learn
about new cultures, see different houses, hear and speak a different language,
reflect on ancient religions and buildings, marvel at unbroken vistas, or try a
new activity. This is exactly what most ecotourism operator and destinations
are selling and what you must communicate to your web visitors.
Too many web sites that give web visitors unknown destinations instead of
activities or types of regions. Most people surfing your web site are not going
to know, for example, what they'll find in Hosgol, Khenti, or the Gobi - which
are major regions of Mongolia I discovered during two consulting projects I did
there for their tourism Association and ministry. You be better off to define
what type of regions they are and what they have to offer. Use descriptive
words that everyone will understand. For example:
Hosgol -Mountains * Lakes * Fishing * Horseback Riding * Hiking Khenti -
Steppes * Rivers * Fishing * Horseback & Mt. Biking * Religious Sites
Gobi - Desert * Camel Riding * Trekking * Archeology
You must use descriptive text and compelling words that paint a desirable
mental picture.
Summarize your trips in bullets and short headlines and sub- headlines
Use descriptive verbs and compelling words in the body of the text to give
substance and details to the headlines and sub-heads.
Effective Tourism Marketing Web Sites -Answer Questions and Concerns
When a prospective tourist is considering a destination, in addition to types
of regions and activities, they have additional questions and concerns that
must be addressed to earn their visit or booking. The same holds true with Out
Bound Booking Agents, but even more so.
Some of these travelers questions and concerns include:
Safety precautions and procedures * How you are going to protect their safety?
* Length of vacation * Costs * Difficulty of trip * Travel options to Ulaan
Bataar * Lodging - hotel, camping or Ger * Food- vegetarian or special
restrictions * Water - Is it safe? * Medical emergency/1st aide Subscriptions *
Qualifications of staff * Experience level of company * Exchange rates &
procedures * Times of year to visit * Group discounts * Children - minimum
age/experience * Insurance needs/options * Cancellation policy/minimums for
departure * In-country transportation & equipment * Visa requirements *
Inoculations/disease precautions * language One of the best ways to deal with
all the typical questions you'll get from prospective clients is a Frequently
Asked Questions and Answers page - FAQ's. You should also create a pre-written
response E-mail that responds to these questions and more. Testimonials and
pictures that address these questions are great too.
Successful Tourism Marketing - Motivates prospects to Buy
Remember that: Marketing is the actions and steps to getting prospective and
qualified visitors/clients to call or e-mail you. Selling is the transference
of enthusiasm from you to the prospect.
Sales is getting those prospective visitors/clients to feel comfortable and
excited enough about your destination/or trip, to give your money and book a
trip.
Your tourism web site quickly communicates that region and your tours:
Are fun, safe and secure on the home and subsequent pages
Effectively answer questions and concerns
Uses a blend of testimonials and images of happy visitors (especially
celebrities and/or recognized media)
When prospects call or e-mail, they will far more motivated and excited. If you
are excited in your spoken and written words too, then making a sale is ten
times easier. If you or a staff member can effectively speak the foreign
language of your prospect, can be excited about what you are selling and can
ask for the booking, it would be better to schedule a phone call with serious
prospects at your expense whenever possible. This will radically increase your
odds of converting that web site visitor into a paying client.
Travel Web site Samples and Subscriptions
See the following web sites for good use of testimonials, compelling headlines,
layout, photos and descriptive text that clearly informs prospects of travel
options, sites, nature, activities, etc. How a site looks is important, but it
is the words and how they are expressed, that is most important.
www.BajaTravelVacations.com
www.AdventureBizSuccess.com
www.Alaskadogsledding.com
www.Anotherland.com
www.california-river-rafting.com
www.tightlinesfishing.com
How-to Create Tourism Web Sites that Sell - Guaranteed
Here is one of the best Subscriptions to help you define and communicate your most
important information to prospective visitors and guests. This will motivate
them to call, e-mail and give you a booking:
Tourism Marketing Success
This special print or E-book will take you step by step through the process and
helps you create effective and profitable Tourism marketing communications for
brochures web sites, tradeshow booths, advertising, videos and more.
Tourism Web Site Check List for Success
Web sites are a major part of the marketing success strategy used by
international tourism promoters.
Prospective travelers may or may not choose to visit your region or use your
tour, based on what they read on your web site - usually just your home page.
Your web site quickly communicates that your destinations and tours are fun,
safe and secure.
Your web site effectively answers questions and concerns.
The best place to first communicate safety, security and fun is on your home
page, not buried deep in your site.
You must use descriptive text and compelling words that paint a desirable
mental picture.
Summarize your trips in bullets and short headlines and sub-headlines
Use descriptive verbs and compelling words in the body of the text to give
substance and details to the headlines and sub-heads.
One of the best ways to deal with all the typical questions you'll get from
prospective clients is a Frequently Asked Questions and Answers page - FAQ's.
Don't forget that your web site must show up in the top 1 -20 positions of
directories and search engines from a relevant key word search. Without this,
no matter how well written and laid out your web site is, you will loose out on
the majority of prospective clients. See www.AdventureBizSuccess.com for
articles on search engine success and more E-marketing strategies for tourism
professionals.
About the Author
Tim Warren is the founder of Travel Business Strategies, author of
"Tourism Marketing Success", speaker, trainer and publisher of the
hospitality/tourism industry's first Podcast, Travel Business Success. Since
1994, Tim has lead a team of result-oriented business, marketing, E-Marketing
and management professionals that helps travel destinations, tour operators,
lodging and tourism professionals increase sales, arrivals and profits.
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