Education for Experience Operators
Helping you grow since 2009
Tools + Education |
The knowledge you need & software you deserve
265 Articles & counting
Since 2009, Rezgo has published hundreds of unique and original educational articles for tour and experience operators.
Industry Best practices
You are not alone. We’ve shared best practices from other experience operators around the World, so you can improve your business.
Something new every week
We publish new articles every week so keep your eyes open for fresh content. Subscribe to get updates so you don’t miss anything!
It can be easy to rest on your laurels after starting a tour operator business. You've identified a market, researched…
Introducing Rezgo Scan, a new tool designed to save you and your customers time. Rezgo Scan is a mobile app…
In turbulent times, customers can be anxious about planning ahead. When it comes to giving them peace of mind when…
Who's going to run your Instagram tours? Are you going to work with an Instagram influencer who can pick up…
Some days it can feel like every tour is already an Instagram tour, with half your guests taking in the…
Out-of-home (OOH) advertisements can seem a bit old fashioned. You might wonder why anyone would pay for a billboard that…
It doesn't matter where you're from—people everywhere love to travel. Every destination can be wonderfully exotic or dreadfully familiar depending…
There's room for growth in every tour business—and this week, you have the opportunity to learn how to take yours…
When online bookings are a big part of your business, it's easy to get caught up in the idea that…
Working with influencers, especially those on Instagram, can be an effective way to advertise your tours and activities--but it can…
"Influencer marketing" has been one of the biggest buzzwords in travel in recent years, but as buzzwords go, it's easy…
Depending on your perspective, reviews may be a great way to spread the word about your tour and activity business,…
States that have legalized cannabis are in the double digits, all of Canada recently climbed aboard, and investors are obsessed…
Cannabis culture is booming in North America, and there's no shortage of business owners and entrepreneurs who want to cash…
When a new wave of poaching hit the Serengeti, tour operators knew they had to react. The annual wildebeest migration…
No matter how well you plan your tours and activities, there will always be factors out of your control --…
Considering offering customer support through a messaging app like Messenger or WhatsApp? Wondering where to start? Unlike the decision to…
Is your tour company ready to take the next step to success on your path to becoming a 7-figure business?
In 2016, The Guardian published a statistic that alarmed customer-centric companies everywhere: while 75 percent of UK adults owned smartphones,…
Tired of dealing with no-shows? Rezgo makes it easy to take one of the biggest steps in keeping your customers'…
For as long as we've had photography, some travelers have made the pictures they take home a priority. Drones now…
When investing in footage for tourism marketing, you want shots that wow. Today, some of the most beautiful footage in…
Is your tour and activities company struggling with chargebacks? If so, you're not alone. Everyone who does business online deals…
Online bookings are increasingly the main way customers connect with tour and activity providers, but booking online does require trust. Here's…
Booking can be a real exercise in trust for new customers. They're handing over hard-earned money for a promise that…
Most days, social media is a great place to connect with customers past, present and future. When something goes wrong,…
Crafting a good cancellation policy can be a bit of a tightrope. Too strict, and you might scare customers off…
Most social media flareups can be resolved one-on-one with a little clarification or some simple resolution. But sometimes in a…
Has the time come to choose your tour and activities company's first custom domain? Are the options overwhelming, or is…
Want to brush up on your scam awareness? Here are some common scams that affect tour providers around the world.…
The travel industry is under siege. The enemy has a thousand faces: down-on-their-luck princes who just want to share their…
To customers, digital payments are an afterthought. You make a booking, fill out your credit card details, and just like…
Is cryptocurrency FOMO getting hard to bear? Are you sure you're missing out on millions in bookings because you don't…
When you're starting out, a free domain can be a blessing. Being able to direct customers to your new online…
For decades, businesses have relied on a few global standards for payments: credit cards, cash, checks and, occasionally, bank transfers…
Whether your tour and activities company is new to online bookings or well-established, it's a good idea to keep up…
Leadership has a way of sneaking up on a person. One day you're setting out in the world, excited about…
Can you think of the last time you gave someone your full, undivided attention? For most of us, it's a…
You know that your tour and activities company needs a website to keep up with the competition, but do you…
There are so many services that promise to give you a website for free (or the closest thing to it).…
With booking software like Rezgo, it's easy to keep track of the metrics that matter most to your business, like…
In this industry, nearly everyone can agree on one basic truth: every tour and activities company should have a website.…
Want to get your tour and activities company on the map? Local search is a complicated ecosystem, but one service…
Historically, search engine optimization has been all about getting more attention to your website. But when you're thinking SEO, think…
Overtourism is a growing problem in many destinations, with locals and tourists going to war for the rights to space and…
Having too many tourists seems like a good problem to have. But ask people in Venice, Santorini, Dubrovnik, and an…
Have you given more than a moment's thought to your website's privacy policy? Are you certain you have one? For…
If you don't already have your guests sign a liability waiver before heading out on your tours and activities, you…
Keeping people safe is part of the job as a tour and activities provider, but accidents happen. Not just in…
You've narrowed down your hero's journey, sorted out your five Ws, and come up with an outstanding, moving company story.…
After a historic low in 2014, Americans are starting to take vacations again. In a time of increasing global uncertainty,…
If the experiences you offer aren't the thrilling, extreme sorts of adventures, you probably don't spend much time thinking about…
Does your company have a story? Of course it does. So do you know how to tell it? Creating your…
Is your busy season just around the corner? For many tour and activity companies, this is a big time of…
After almost 30 years of commercial availability, virtual reality is having its moment in the sun. Consumer-level VR devices have…
Sustainability is a journey with many steps along the way. To make your tour company truly sustainable, change needs to…
For many of us, finding the perfect productivity balance is a constant struggle. In high season, it's hard to find…
When you transition to online bookings, the offline world of tour distribution starts to look a little dull in comparison.…
Catering to luxury travelers requires a keen awareness of their wants and needs - and increasingly, what they want is…
Looking to increase bookings from highly affluent customers? Wondering what they want from their vacations? Our infographic has habits and…
If you ever read consumer travel advice, you've probably seen the advice to book last-minute come up again and again.…
You already know online bookings can make last-minute guests a breeze to handle, but that's not the only way online…
Hiring can be a nerve-wracking experience. First, you need to find people that want to work for your tour company.…
You have the perfect job posting, you've reached out to all the right places, and you have a list of…
In email marketing, segmentation is key. Segmentation is the art of dividing your contact lists into groups, and the only…
When you plan to build better email campaigns, do you plan for segments based on guest data? If not, you're…
For many of us, sustainability is no longer just a good idea - it's a matter of self-preservation. Tourism is…
Let's be honest. Embedding sustainability in all your business practices is challenging. All the companies we mention in our guide…
What do you strive for in your day-to-day life? Honesty? Authenticity? Success? Security? Or something else? You might not know…
Common sense tells us that motivation is easy. If someone does something good, give them a reward. A financial incentive,…
Running a business comes with huge rewards. Financially, quite possibly, and emotionally as well. There's joy in creating something successful…
If there's one secret to getting more from your social media results, it's this: images drive engagement. In fact, they…
To create the very best visuals for social media marketing, you need images. Don't just pull those images off other…
Your website is an important part of your business, especially when you use an online booking platform for your tours…
Confused by Google Analytics terminology, or need a refresher? Here are the top web analytics terms you need to know.…
If you want to work with concierges, you can save time and make your company more attractive for recommendations by…
Tour operators and Airbnb hosts are a great pairing. For tour operators, it's a chance to get your products in…
T-shirts, hats, keychains, and water bottles are great, traditional products to sell, but if you're already committing to selling physical…
Growing your revenue is every business owner's goal, but as a tour or activity provider, you may be struggling to…
Want to create a virtual reality experience for your tour or activity company? The first step is deciding just how…
It's almost universal: Customers love photos and videos that ignite their imaginations and give them a sense of what they'll…
Having a great web presence is an important step in effectively marketing your tour or activities business, but it isn't…
Once you have an amazing booking website, you're almost ready to start taking bookings online. There's one more thing you'll…
Are you looking to reach a larger audience? Do you want to publish more dynamic content? Do you want to…
Get even more out of your Instagram posts by using these 4 Instagram tools for marketing! 1. Scheduling Later makes…
Branding can be time-consuming and costly, so isn't something a lot of small and medium-sized tour and activity business are…
1. Use Personas If you really want to understand how to sell to your target audience, you’ll want to determine…
What Are Abandonment Rates? When potential customers visit your website, you hope they'll make a purchase. Even when they get…
Online reviews are a blessing, even if they sometimes seem like a curse. They're no longer considered an optional part…
Following up with your customers is a great idea, whether you use Rezgo's automated email notifications or a more individual…
Running an online ad campaign can feel like a full-time -- and for a lot of people, it is. But…
Even the most cool-headed person can be shaken by a truly bad review. The consequences for arguing with reviewers or…
When guests go home after a tour or event, is that the end of your relationship with them? If so,…
Starting up an online ad campaign for the season? You might be surprised to find that the ads that worked…
Tourism trends come and go, but there's one that's been quietly building for decades or centuries, depending on where you…
Chatbots are generating a lot of excitement in the travel industry, but are they right for your tour and activities…
There’s no denying that social media changed customer service, giving customers and brands unprecedented access to each other. But even…
Gift cards are wonderful promotional tools. They generate business, encourage customer loyalty, and occasionally even pad your income when they…
Is your high season starting soon? Travelers think of shoulder seasons as nothing more than relaxing times to travel --…
Potential customers need to think your website is professional and trustworthy at first glance. If it's not, they won’t give…
When you're doing your own PR, mistakes will happen. That doesn't always mean you're headed for a crisis, but it…
Working with a public relations firm is a great way to get your company the attention and recognition it deserves.…
When customers book online, the description you provide may be all they know about your tour or activity. Are your…
You don’t have time to dedicate to a full-time Snapchat content strategy, so why use it for your tour company…
You already know that social media marketing is important, but what does that mean for your tour and activities company?…
Gift cards, certificates, and vouchers are great way to drive new and recurring revenues for your business. Did you know,…
Data breaches are a nightmare for any company, large or small. We hear about major data leaks regularly in the…
Once you’ve planned a great Valentine’s Day experience, you’ll need to get the word out as quickly as possible. Think…
February is here, and your customers’ fancy may be turning to thoughts of love. A romantic excursion could be just…
We’ve saved 3 secret tips just for you to help your tour or activity business boost your conversions. 1.The Decoy…
9 Strategic Steps To Increase Conversions Understand Your Conversion Funnel Conversion Funnel: The journey a customer takes from an Internet…
We’re loaded with so many tips on how to be a better guide that we had to include 11 more…
As a tour guide, you are a part of the hospitality and customer service industry and we know it isn’t…
Being a tour guide is challenging. It takes time and dedication to become really good at what you do. To…
Check out our social media cheat sheet for a breakdown of all the pros and cons of different social media…
Sure, everyone is using social media - But how can you use it to market your tour or activity business?…
Baby Boomers are travelling - a lot. So here are some Baby Boomer travel trends that your tour or activity…
Give your tour or activity business even more of a boost any time of the year by taking advantage of…
Running a tour or activity business during the off-tourist season comes with its own set of challenges. Along with a…
Since spreading the word about your food tour business is a crucial part of getting bookings, here are some tips…
What Is A Food Tour? Culinary tourism is becoming an increasingly popular trend among travelers since the foodie movement. A…
Check out these 5 tips for attracting travellers to your blog. 1. Produce High Quality Content This means producing content…
Many business owners are afraid to dive into the seemingly time-consuming process of starting a blog. Many are concerned with…
Growing your tour or activity business takes time and effort. I've outlined a total of ten marketing tips that you…
Looking to grow your small tour or activity business by using TripAdvisor? Improve TripAdvisor reviews for your tour or activity business…
Millennials are stereotyped as being lazy, whiny, technology-dependent, politically idealistic and riddled with commitment issues. But before you judge them…
If you are a Zerve provider, you were probably as shocked as anyone to receive an email from the company on…
One of the most effective ways to increase relevant traffic to your website is to work with online partners such as…
NB: This is the first in a series of articles provided by Haiwan, the leading tours and activities marketplace for…
As a tour or activity business, you live or die by your customer service. You are, after all, a service…
Are you making the most of your TripAdvisor profile? It's easy to dismiss TripAdvisor as just another listing site, but…
Does your tour or activity business need a newsletter? That depends greatly on what the newsletter is about and who…
N.B. This is a guest post by Andrea Appin, the lead marketer at TourismTiger, a web design company dedicated to building…
We are really excited to announce that Rezgo has just launched a direct connect with Expedia which allows businesses who…
We are excited to announce that Ento, a leading cloud based employee and payroll management software, has integrated with Rezgo…
There has been a lot of hype and misinformation about distribution in the tour and activity space lately. But the…
Since 2007 we have been diligently working to make the tours and activities market better for everyone. For many years we…
Ever noticed how airline ticket prices change depending on when a ticket is booked? It's because dynamic pricing has been…
If you use WordPress to power your tour operator website then you already know how flexible the platform can be.…
Two different research studies have shown that tourism businesses lack technology and that this is hindering success both online and…
I often get asked how online activity marketplaces actually work, how providers get paid, and what the sales process is…
In the most recent PhoCusWright tour and activity study, which Rezgo sponsored, it was discovered that one of the most…
In 2011 PhoCusWright published ground breaking research about the tours and activities segment, primarily focused on the U.S. market. In…
According to Google research 60% of leisure travellers are turning to the web to do their research for upcoming trips.…
Part of your objective as a tour operator is to make sure that your potential customers understand exactly what you…
Work on what you love and leave the boring stuff to Rezgo If you are a tour or activity operator…
We know that payment processing is one of the biggest hurdles for any small business, especially a tour operator or…
When we launched Rezgo in 2007, the web was a very different place. We had made the decision then to…
One of the most powerful features of Rezgo is undoubtedly the Rules. With the rules engine, you can manage availability,…
2017 UPDATE: Rezgo now enables live tour booking distribution with Expedia, TripAdvisor and Viator. You can offer your distribution partners…
There are a lot of reasons why I really like WordPress. As a former developer (I don't write code much…
Analytics are an important tool for helping you determine who your website visitors are and why they are coming to…
One of the most common questions I hear from tour operators is "I have created my site, now how do…
So you've done everything right. You have a website, an email address with your domain (not just a gmail account),…
Generating revenues with your tour or activity business is one thing, but making a profit is something different. You're probably…
As a small tour operator or activity provider you have your work cut out for you. Like many small business…
One of the biggest challenges for small tourism operators is ensuring that they get paid in a timely manner. For…
One of the benefits of working with hundreds of operators from around the World is the opportunity to learn what…
Your online booking engine has to be secure. If you are currently requesting credit card information on a page that…
I am often asked whether Rezgo would be the best tour operator software for a particular tour operator's business. The…
There are many business verification and validation services that offer certified seal/mark programs that help to establish your online credibility. …
As a business that accepts credit cards you stand the risk of having a charge back filed against your merchant…
Online booking system security should be taken very seriously. PCI Compliance stands for “Payment Card Industry” Compliance which are a…
Unlike what you may think, applying for a tourism merchant account is not an overwhelming one. Getting yourself ready to…
There is no doubt that credit cards are a major part of e-commerce. The question is whether or not you…
Accepting online bookings doesn't have to be a complicated or overwhelming process. The Rezgo tour operator software is designed to make…
Having an online booking engine for your tour and activity is only one piece of the puzzle. In order to…
If you are like 99% of the tour or activity operators I've worked with then you probably print brochures or…
In early 2010, I wrote a series of articles for the Savvy Operator outlining a social media strategy for tour…
If you do it right, you can use daily deals to fill seats in the off-season or low season and…
Are you wondering why your customers just aren't booking on your website and you're not sure what to do about…
As a tour and activity business, you are a perfect target customer for the likes of Groupon, Living Social, or…
Even though referral codes have been a supported feature in Rezgo for almost two years, we are still surprised at…
Rezgo Sponsored Industry Research Estimates Tour & Activities at $27 Billion For as long as there have been tourists there…
We are really happy to announce that we have set-up partnership agreements with three leading payment gateway and merchant processing…
The underlying goal of any social media strategy is to build corporate social media habits for your organization. In the…
The plan you create based on the Listen, Engage, Articulate, and Demonstrate social media strategy should be reviewed on a…
Your success metrics will be different for each step in your L.E.A.D. social media strategy. To summarize, you can expect…
As you may be aware, I am now a big fan of Prezi, the web based zooming presentation tool. I…
Being successful with your social media strategy means having a social media calendar that allows you to participate and actively engage…
Let’s face it, when it comes to getting attention, you’re better off going to one A-List party then going to…
There are many tools available for demonstrating your involvement in social media and your comfort with customer engagement. Many of…
This final phase of the tourism social media strategy is about demonstrating your comfort and use of social media. The purpose…
The articulation phase of the L.E.A.D. social media strategy has a direct impact on two parts of the marketing funnel.…
There are a variety of tools available for you to use to execute your articulation objectives. Most of the most…
The Articulation phase of the L.E.A.D. social media for tour operators strategy is also a transition phase. It is transitional…
The Engagement phase is the second phase of the four step L.E.A.D. social media strategy and is the first step…
No special tools are required for the engagement phase, however, I do recommend optional profiles for the purposes of properly…
In the previous article, titled “Listening for your brand online“, I mentioned a few monitoring tools that you can use…
The Listening phase is the first and, I would argue, the most important step in the L.E.A.D. ™ social media…
If you are like most business people online, you are probably bombarded with sales pitches by SEO and social media…
Coupons and promotions have been around for a long time and are commonly used to drive business by providing price…
Every in-destination tourism company (whether it is an attraction, tour operator, or activity provider) prints brochures and rack cards for…
PPC or pay per click can be a very effective way of driving traffic to your website especially if your…
This guest post is written by Graham Robertson who currently works as an operations Team Leader for a global online…
By now you have probably realized that there are a number of software products available in the market that are…
Did you know that the term tour operator has several very different meanings? If you refer to yourself as a…
Your customers are already doing their research and booking online. In fact, over 70% of travelers do their researching online…
There are a lot of web designers, some good, many bad, and a bunch in between. So how do you,…
Websites have come a long way in the last fifteen years. In the beginning (yes there was a beginning for…
So now that you’ve got the basic video requirements down, you’ve got a place to host your sites, and you…
There are a number of video hosting and sharing sites on the Internet. Which one, though, is the best for…
I am not a videographer, professional camera person, or a film-maker. Chances are, neither are you. But, that doesn’t mean…
Video technology has changed dramatically over the last few years. Why on recently for example, I pulled out my Sony…