travel tech insights

Think about the concept of spring cleaning. That one day every spring when you go through your house, organize your possessions, give every room a good cleaning, and clear out any clutter that has accumulated during the past year, Without this yearly ritual, it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where you can’t find certain possessions, where important documents like bills go missing, and your house falls into complete disarray.

The same is true for agencies when it comes to continuously cleaning and mapping their content databases to ensure updated, accurate information about the products and services available from suppliers and for customers. Much like how spring cleaning makes for a better overall living situation in your home where things are neat and organized, continuously mapped databases means travel agency operators won’t miss out on the latest and greatest offers from suppliers, book inaccurate allocated hotels or accommodations, or be bogged down by slow search response times in their booking engine, travel ERP suite, or other technologies.

Think about your favorite sports team as they begin to ready themselves for a new season. The team meets to watch and discuss game film; they work on game strategy, conceive new, and revise old plays; they engage in individual and team practices to sharpen or refine their skills; and they work closely with coaches and other levels of team management to ensure optimal levels of fitness and mental readiness for the long season ahead.

For tour operators in today’s global travel industry, the preparation necessary to ready themselves for the next travel season is not unlike the measures teams take to prep for their next campaign. The operational, back-office, and even customer-facing duties and tasks tour operators engage in before the season directly reflects business outcomes by the season’s end. Of course, tour operators aren’t watching game film of an opponent or taking part in intense practice sessions, but strategizing about which products and services to offer, where and how to source them, selecting the right itineraries to promote, and more are critical drivers for tour operators in ensuring an efficient, productive travel campaign.

Tour operators are an intriguing part of the travel industry. They’re elusively difficult to capture in a single definition because they form a diverse constellation of products and services, all of which reflect different cultures and geographies. 

In today’s market, travel and tourism have become less expensive and more accessible for greater percentages of the population than ever before. The internet - through the proliferation of online travel agencies, discount travel websites, travel review websites, and social media - has created a space where those with strict financial constraints can still experience the world without breaking the bank. Often referred to as the budget traveler, this sect of the travel and tourism market is still a sizable portion of the traveling public, and one the travel industry would be foolish to write off even as global travel grows more and more attainable and commonplace.

But who is the budget traveler? What does this breed of tourist look like?

If travel companies would be ill-advised to ignore budget travelers, then it only make sense the industry understand the needs, wants, and desires of this customer pool to best position products and services of greatest appeal and importance.

The term ‘experiential travel’ is somewhat perplexing. For some, it might conjure up notions of obscure, harrowing activities in far-flung regions of the world where the idea of smartphone connectivity and wi-fi are entirely alien concepts.

While the true definition of experimental travel - selecting destinations, tours, and activities on a whim that are most commonly off the beaten path - does contain some elements of daring, today’s experimental traveler (much like today’s adventure traveler and somewhat akin to the millennial traveler) seeks unique, culturally relevant, and personalized travel experiences that are often booked on short notice - sometimes only a few hours beforehand. It’s an emerging, growing sector in today’s travel industry, and it’s one tour operators are capitalizing on and leveraging to remain viable and competitive.

The rise in experimental travel is something of a recent phenomenon.