An often overlooked part of a website build is offering an element of downloadable content. Having resources on your website ready to be downloaded can really add value to your tourism website and the tours and services you offer. That’s why we’ve taken a look at what it is, what types there are, and how best you can make them work for you, with some examples included.
What Are Downloadable Resources?
Put simply, downloadable resources are digital items that can be downloaded from your website to your guest’s device at a click of a button.
What Types Are There?
There are many different types of downloadable content, many of which can be used as lead magnets(opens in a new tab), so here’s a look at the types of content that you are most likely to find on a tourism website:
-
- Items Checklist: a popular way of offering a downloadable element for guests is to give them a checklist for a specific tour or service they have booked with you. For example, this could be the gear you need for a hiking trip or the clothes recommended for an expedition through different climates and/or terrains. Having a checklist helps to ease the anxiety a guest might have when booking a tour or service with you.
- Tour Guide/Brochure: this could be a guide to the area that you offer tours in to help customers familiarise themselves. It could also be something that accompanies them on the tours you offer as a handy reference and memento from their trip with you.
- PDF White Paper: a white paper is a report or guide about a specific topic and the problems that surround it that helps to educate people on the topic. In tourism, this is typically offered as a download if you have something such as a sustainability or regenerative travel(opens in a new tab) project that you wish to inform your guests about and you want them to adhere to it.
- Maps: offering maps as a downloadable resource is especially useful if you have a business that requires guests to navigate specific areas that are either not on popular map apps such as Google or Bing or perhaps are not represented justly. Moreover, once the map has been downloaded onto your customer’s device, they won’t need the internet to refer to it again.
- Infographic: here is a great way of displaying information in a fun and informative way for your website visitors to engage with. Having this as a piece of well-designed downloadable content can work as a marketing, educational, or publicity tool.
- Forms: this could be useful for a variety of items. If your tour business offers activities that have an element of danger then you may wish to offer a risk acknowledgment form for download as a waiver to safeguard your business against potential claims. You could also offer downloadable items relating to the administration or human resource side of your business for your employees or potential employees.
How Can I Make It Work For Me
When choosing the types of downloadable content, you’ll need to weigh up how the downloadable resources will be activated. Using the open resource option is when you wish to make your content/resources available to all, this can serve as a motivation to simply visit your website.
The other way to entice guests to download resources from your site is to offer it as a reward for purchasing one of your tours or services, or perhaps more simply just signing up for a newsletter. This helps to motivate visitors to book a tour with you if they know they are getting some added value with their booking while newsletters help you build your marketing profile and keep potential customers up-to-date and interested in your tour business.
Do You Have An Example or Two?
Of course! We’ve been building websites for years with downloadable elements included, hopefully these examples will generate a few ideas for your company:
Far Flung Outdoor Center in the United States offers activities, lodging, and rentals in Big Bend National Park, they also offer many great downloadable resources too. They have a page dedicated to lists and forms that help customers navigate through the park safely and get organised before they go. They even have a form for prospective employees. Another American-based site, Sammy’s Aloha Watersports in Hawaii, offer downloadable educational guides in the overview of their tours that encourage you to study to best prepare for the sport of kiteboarding.
Another great example of excellent downloadable resources can be found on Roam Wild Adventures website. This tourism adventure operator offers safari tours and multi-day Kilimanjaro climbs. The latter offering comes with a beautiful PDF tour guide that can be downloaded in the itinerary section(opens in a new tab) of one of their tour pages. The downloadable PDF guides show a detailed breakdown of everything you can expect on their multi-day treks up the famous mountain from what you’ll see and do each day to the altitude levels at the different stages.
Our final example comes from Coast and Co(opens in a new tab) who offer luxury safaris in Australia. To reflect their high-end tour offerings, they have gorgeous brochures that can be downloaded. These brochures are packed full of beautiful photography and information about the tours they offer.
If you want some more examples of how downloadable resources can function on a website, then look no further than our very own website here at Tourism Tiger. Both our 95 Places To List Your Tours(opens in a new tab) and 101 Tour Ideas are popular downloads from our website.
Ultimately, analysing which piece of downloadable resource is the one best suited to your tourism operation and its offerings is the best place to begin followed by questioning whether the value of that content warrants it to be offered only as a reward or as downloadable for everyone. Good luck!
Find this article useful? Enter your details below to receive your FREE copy of 95 Epic Places To List Your Tours and receive regular updates from Tourism Tiger and leading industry experts.
By submitting this form, you agree to Tourism Tiger contacting you via email.