1. Make mobile devices the ultimate travel companion. More than a fifth of all bookings are completed on a mobile device, with 65 per cent of same-day hotel reservations made from smartphones. Have someone with minimal knowledge of your service take a look at your online presence. What are their impressions? What was easy to find and do and what required more effort? This is your chance to show off. Have fun!
2. Personalize to make every travel experience unique. Consider your audience or audiences. Do you know enough about them to be able to offer custom options? If not, what steps can you take to get the necessary data? This is a fantastic opportunity to make maximum impact with minimum change. Is there something you could add to or make more prominent in your offerings that could attract a group you’d like to do more business with? Take this as an opportunity to tweak your services and become more responsive.
3. Connect with residents. Building strong working relationships with locals will reap rewards in a number of ways. Not only will you be able to offer curated, bespoke experiences through residents’ knowledge and expertise, but they could also prove a loyal customer base as well as providing products and services unique to your venue. Make sure to recognize their contributions: consider putting on an event in the off season exclusively for those living nearby. Encourage travellers to connect with locals for a taste of real life at your destination.
4. Support your local community. Social innovation is a big part of our work at Springwise and we see many examples of this type of innovation in the travel and tourism space. As a tourism business, the better your relationships with the local community the more you will be able to engage and create positive change. Think about how you could use your team’s expertise to support local charities and social enterprises. Are you employing local people? Can you provide related or even unrelated services to these local communities?
5. Don’t forget Mother Nature. Last, but definitely not least, is the need to do all that you do in the most sustainable way possible. This is a tall order, but it is essential. No one has all the solutions and making a start is better than doing nothing. Many travellers judge destinations on their environmental credentials. Might an eco package be a welcome addition to what you currently offer? How could you leverage your community network for a smaller carbon footprint? This may be one of the toughest tasks but it could prove to be the most rewarding in the long term.