How to Structure Your Tour or Activity to Increase Online Bookings

Part of your objective as a tour operator is to make sure that your potential customers understand exactly what you offer and can get all the information they need from your website. Writing the perfect tour description will help your customers understand exactly what they’re reserving and will also help increase online bookings.  In order to achieve this objective, you need to be able to clearly communicate your offering in a consistent and structured way.

Many operators say that their products are simply too complex or complicated to describe on the web, but that’s no excuse to leave a customer in the dark. You can write better tour and activity listings by paying attention to what your customer needs. When a customer visits your website, they need to know three simple things.

Three Questions Your Tour Booking Website Must Answer

What tours and activities do you offer?

This is the simplest question to answer, but it might take some time to communicate it well. You know which products you offer, so you just needs to describe them. Writing tour descriptions is an art, but there are tools to make the writing process easier.

How much do your tours and activities cost?

Cost is where many tour operators flounder. If you’re not used to selling your tours online, you might think your inventory is too complicated to price. After all, your prices change based on time of year, early-bird bookings, group sizes, customer demographics, bundles, and more.

Fortunately for you, modern booking software allows you to dynamically set your prices based on all those factors and more. No more pulling out a calendar every time you take a booking–your reservation software should seamlessly handle that for you.

How can I book your tours and activities?

If your booking website doesn’t make it very clear how to book your tour and activities, something has gone terribly wrong. It’s time to adopt a better online booking system. Your customers should be able to make the jump from browsing to buying with a few impulsive steps.

Now that your customers have the basic information you need, it’s time to get into more detail. A detailed tour or activity listing can help set you apart from your competition and encourage your customers to book. While you’re at it, don’t forget to take some amazing photos to get them excited.

Describe Your Tours and Activities In Detail

No matter what tour booking software you use, there’s some basic information you’ll want to share with your customers. These are the fields you’ll find in Rezgo, but you should be able to answer these questions for your customers wherever your tour description lives. They might not all be applicable to your business, but consider whether your customers will be looking for the answers, regardless.

Name of your tour or activity: 

This should be inspiring and yet descriptive.  For example “Half Day Culture Tour of Oxford” is much relevant then “Tour of Oxford”.

Tour Location(s):

Make a note of all the locations that are visited during this tour or activity. This should including the address or geo-tag for each location.

Tour Overview:

 This is the full description of the tour including highlights, locales, and the sights.  This description should be written in a way that’s relevant to your audience. You should also consider your average customer’s reading level. The average American consumer reads at a 7th- or 8th-grade level, so go easy on the complexity.

Event Itinerary:

This is the break down on the tour or activity, usually organized chronologically.  If you offer multi-day tours, for example, your itinerary should be broken down into days with highlights or significant events noted for each day.

Things to Bring On Your Tour:

Describe what a customer needs to bring on their tour or activity. Should they have sensible shoes or sunscreen? Do they need government-issued ID? By answering this question thoroughly, you set your guests up for an amazing tour, and ensure yourself an amazing review to match.

Tour Pick Up/Drop Off Locations: 

This are the locations where travelers will be picked up and dropped off after the tour or activity. If you don’t offer pick-up or drop-off services, you don’t need to mention these.

Tour Inclusions and Exclusions

 These help your guests know what to expect. Inclusions are all the things that are included in the tour and activity, whether that’s meals, transportation, or anything else. Exclusions are even more important for managing customer expectations. These are all the things that the customer might think are included but are specifically NOT included in the tour.

Tour-Specific Cancellation Policy: 

If you may have a standard cancellation policy for your business, then this policy would be specific to the tour itself.  Generally this is an optional item and is only really required if the cancellation policy for the tour or activity varies from your standard policy.

Tour Photos:

These are photos that represents the tour. The first should be something distinctive that gives the customer a sense of what the tour is all about. For example, if the tour is in a horse and carriage, you might have a photo of the horse and carriage as opposed to a scene of the city or location.

The more photos you have of your tour or activity the better.  Remember that your potential customers are looking for an experience, so the photos you provide will give the opportunity to imagine themselves experiencing your service.

Why You Need A Great Tour Listing

When you have a good booking system, you shouldn’t need to spend a lot of time worrying about your availability, resources, pricing or other details. Your booking system should manage all that for you, so you can focus on the parts of your business you love.

Instead, take the time to really invest in your inventory. Your customers might spend just a few moments making a snap decision on whether or not to book your tours or your competitors’. Don’t waste those moments. Fill them with activity descriptions that sell, and tour photos that inspire.

Even better, take advantage of the low season to update your tour listings. At the end of the day, your tour description are what set you apart. Keep them up to date with current trends, make them wow your customers, and ensure they’re part of an online booking solution that does everything you–and your customers–need to thrive.

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