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)
In the past few years, the rapid growth and success of the tourism industry have left little room for reflection. Up until the COVID-19 outbreak, we saw the global tourism industry contributing to increasingly higher figures for many countries’ GDPs(opens in a new tab) and playing a more important role in the world’s economy. Numerous articles(opens in a new tab) have reassured us of the resilience of our industry with references to the comebacks made after previous crises like the SARS epidemic and the Gulf War. What makes us persistently resilient is our ability to reassess our processes and strategies and adapt accordingly. It’s undeniable that these crises have overwhelming effects on the economy, but looking at the silver lining, it’s given us the opportunity to pause and review the state of the industry. The question to ask ourselves moving forward is what do we need to change now in order to continue to evolve and grow? Here are a few things that COVID-19 has highlighted that we need to improve.
Review Your Business More Often
It’s been inspiring to see so many businesses finding innovative ideas to stay afloat, but we shouldn’t be doing this just in times of global crisis. Post-pandemic, keep encouraging your team to review your tours, hold innovation meetings, and always be on the lookout for ways to keep your business at the top of its game.
Update Your Contact Process
Businesses with outdated customer contact systems have really been caught off guard during the pandemic. With high numbers of customers wanting to reschedule and cancel trips, you need to be prepared for the future and lighten your load by creating contact forms on your website or incorporating free live chat software like tawk.to(opens in a new tab) or Chat Button(opens in a new tab). Offering accessible communication is beneficial for both problem-solving during the current situation as well as in the future.
Local Connections Count
In our globalised world, we often overlook what’s on our doorstep. The pandemic has taught us the importance of creating a network in the local area and offering support. As we have been told the first visitors will most likely be locals, make sure you have activities to appeal to them as well as out-of-town guests. In the future, you can continue to benefit from your local community, as having a good reputation always opens otherwise hidden doors and we all know word of mouth is the best marketing tool.
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