Tips and Tricks to establish partnerships with Tour Wholesalers and Intermediaries
As you grow your business and find ways to optimize your revenue, you will be intrigued to work with Tour Wholesalers and Operators. But it can be challenging to understand the pros and cons of working with them to ensure the relationship affects your business positively.
Here is everything you need to know about working with Tour Wholesalers and how to make the most of this amazing opportunity:
What is the difference between a Tour Operator and a Tour Wholesaler?
The terms are often used interchangeably but have different meanings. A Tour Wholesaler creates packages by combining multiple activities, most likely, transportation and other services, and sells them via a sales channel. A Tour Operator is an organization or a firm that combines components from different travel suppliers and sells directly to the public.
Why are tour operators and wholesalers important?
Tour Operators and Wholesalers can help you sell bookings in bulk which can help you grow and increase your profit. A sizeable segment of travellers are searching for all inclusive travel packages with the ease of booking. By building a relationship with tour wholesalers and operators, you can add an additional revenue stream to your business. It can also be a valuable distribution channel to scale your business and ensure that travellers have access to your activities and services.
What are the 3 main types of tour operators?
The three main categories of tour operators are Domestic Tour Operators, Inbound Tour Operators, and Outbound Tour Operators.
- Domestic Tour Operators create inclusive tour packages specifically for domestic travellers. To simplify things, they are tour operators who provide travel packages within the traveler’s native country. They typically combine multiple tourism components to create packages e.g. a transport service and a set of activities to sell to travellers within the country boundaries. Domestic tour operators form relationships with other travel service and activity providers to create unique experiences for travellers in order to attain a larger share of the Domestic Tourism market.
- Inbound Tour Operators or Incoming Tour Operators handle all activities and arrangements for the tourists in the host country. The packages are created specifically for Groups and Individuals who are non-residents of the country traveling to the host country for leisure or business. An inbound tour operator typically works with local travel agents and businesses to curate a tour package or packages that covers their own country.
- An Outbound Tour Operator or Outgoing Tour Operator handles all travel arrangements and activities for International destinations. To simplify it further, the packages are created to take travellers to other International Destinations from their home country. They are tour operators who market their tours for international destinations, either for business or leisure travel. Typically, an outbound travel operator will work or partner with businesses, destination marketing organizations and online travel agencies in the destination country to design a tour package for their customers. Most Outbound tour operators specialize in particular destinations based on tourism trends, their distribution partners and their expertise in the destination country.
Tips for working with Wholesalers and Tour Operators:
Here are all the secret ingredients you need to form successful travel partnerships with Tour Wholesalers and Operators:
Research to Find the Right Fit
Every Travel Wholesaler and Operator is different. They have their unique distribution systems and they cater to different markets. You want to make sure that there is a connection between their offerings and yours, especially in terms of the market they are targeting and the tourism services they offer.
Start off by conducting research and compiling a kit consisting of their product fact sheets, pricing information, distribution channels, terms and conditions and any unique information that you might require to set you off on the right foot. This information is instrumental in creating a long-term mutually beneficial partnership with Tour Wholesalers and Operators.
Sell Unique Activities and Experiences
One of the most important pieces of the puzzle is to make your activities attractive for the Wholesalers and Operators. It is most likely that you will be working with multiple tour operators and wholesalers, and you want to make sure they find your offerings attractive and unique to add to their itineraries.
Having authentic and unique experiences will not only increase the demand for your activities and bookings but will also appeal to Travel Operators to promote it better, more so than your competitors. According to recent research, the demand for unique experiences is on the rise and travellers all around the world are willing to pay a premium price for unique experiences. Adding an extra element to your offering to make it stand out might go a long way for your business to generate more revenue by putting you in a position to negotiate higher prices with the tour wholesalers and operators.
Prepare to Manage Bookings in Advance and in Real-Time
Managing Bookings while working with Tour Wholesalers and Operators can be a huge challenge. First and foremost, an Online Booking Software is essential to attract Tour Operators to work with you. It will simplify the booking process and will help your partners automatically earn their commissions. It will take away the mundane tasks of constantly emailing and calling to manage bookings and will replace it with a system that updates in real-time and makes everything effortless.
Working with wholesalers and operators can put you in unique situations which will go beyond simple bookings and commissions. One of these cases is to create bookings in advance and then manage real-time bookings as they happen with time. There are many factors that might come into play, which is why you should invest in an online booking engine that can help you customize your Online Booking System and make it a seamless experience for yourself and other stakeholders.
For instance, a software like Zaui with 20 years of experience can help you connect with the best partners all around the world, allowing them to book instantly with zero human interaction. You will ultimately save time and make more money.
Build Personalized Partnerships and Track Performance
What works in one country might not work in the other, the same is the case with Wholesalers and Operators since they can be located in different parts of the world and operate in different types of travel communities. Building personalized partnerships will help optimize your bookings and create custom marketing strategies to make better-informed decisions.
It is equally important to keep track of how each partnership is performing for your business. Tracking the performance will determine the next steps for your Marketing Plan and Communication. Additionally, it will provide insight into each market and ultimately boost bookings.
One of the ways to achieve your goals and maximize your performance is to choose an Online Booking Software that can help you connect with the best distribution agents all around the world and track their performance.
Zaui Online Booking Software offers a Channel Manager platform and Reporting Dashboard that can help you connect with distribution partners and optimize growth. Request a Free Personalized Demo from our support team to help maximize your Bookings and Revenue!
You can also have a look at our website to hear our customer success stories or check our Buyer’s Guide as you search for the best online platform to work with Travel Wholesalers and Operators.