These quick tips are designed to help you get through these hard times. If you have any tips that you want to share, send them to marketing@tourismtiger.com(opens in a new tab)
These are tough times for all of us, as we are all being affected in one way or another. That being said, the goal is to pivot and focus on diminishing the potential damage through resourcefulness. Subsequently, our friend’s over at Regiondo (Europe’s leading booking software for travel and leisure) put together a few tips on how to minimize the effects of COVID-19 on our businesses. The same goes for us here at Tourism Tiger, where we are constantly searching for new creative solutions to share with you during these difficult times and to support each other in the tourism industry.
Switch up the Sales Tactic
This is definitely not the time for a conventional hard sale, but you have lots of options to continue generating incoming revenue and maintaining previous sales. We’ve talked before about strategies for rebookings and new bookings as we look ahead(opens in a new tab), but another great suggestion in addition to promoting sales of gift vouchers is to use value vouchers. Value vouchers are an alternative to a conventional refund, and a common trend among many industries right now. It’s essentially a voucher that has a monetary value that the customer can use at a future time. In order to be enticing, you may need to increase the value. So for example, if the tour was worth $130 you would offer them a voucher worth $150 for future use. By offering a future credit, you are not technically losing the sale, just postponing it.
Utilize Existing Employees
Being resourceful in times like these is not just about changing your business strategy, it’s also about shaking things up within your team. If you’re able to keep your employees, why not tackle some tasks you’ve been putting off by assigning them to existing team members. Look into additional skills your employees have (or consider some retraining) and see how you can use those to your advantage in terms of tackling administrative work, content creation, web design, or social media promotion. This way you’ll be ready for when traditional business starts to pick up again!
Negotiate Your Payments and Review Financing Options
When it comes to landlords or dealing with suppliers, try to renegotiate a payment plan to cut down on your immediate expenses. Nobody wants to lose clients, so use this to your advantage! And if things really get tight, governments are increasingly offering loans, grants, and subsidies for business, so we recommend you check out what options are available to you locally.
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