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Being a tour operator means that you always have to stand out from your competition. Sure, you know that the tours you give are the best and your tour guides try their best every day to deliver great tours, but how do you convince strangers to book with you?

One of the best ways to convince a stranger to become a customer is through copywriting. There are many tricks, tips, and techniques that will help you write killer copy for you website. To help you out, we asked five industry experts the following question:

Website copy can make or break businesses nowadays. What’s one trick you can give tour operators for writing copy?

Want to see what they think? Just keep on reading.

‘One of the most difficult aspects for travel related businesses is thinking up new ideas for fresh content to put out to your audiences, and every business gets stuck for ideas from time to time but thankfully there are a few things that just might help you:

Mark down important dates: There are loads of key dates, events and seasonal festivals out there that could be applicable to your business. Do research in advance and you may find loads of opportunities to create conversations involving your business in tandem with these dates or events

Use Mind maps: They are very helpful for you to draw multiple ideas from one central topic or theme.

Ask the 5 Ws (and H) – Asking who, what, where, why, when and how can help you formulate a picture of your product and service, pointing out key areas you should focus on.

Refer to the customers – Pay attention to the information you receive from your customers. Work with the problems they’ve encountered and put yourself in the customer’s shoes. From there, brainstorm the solutions and work them into a content plan.’

Chris Torres is the director of Senshi Digital which helps clients build their brands into powerful lead generating monsters | Follow @SenshiChris on Twitter.


‘One of the most important things for tour operators to remember when they’re creating copy, is to write for humans first and search engines second.

There’s been too much focus on cramming as many keywords as possible into your writing rather than connecting to your audience.

This tactic is not only penalised by Google now, it’s also a real turnoff for the people you want to delight – your potential customers.’

Renee Walsh is the CEO of Booking Boss, which helps tour and activity operators achieve systematic and sustainable growth | Follow @RenWelsh on Twitter.


‘Writing copy can be scary. You’re building your site’s first impression, and of course you want it to be a good one. I find the best way to tackle website copy is to first do your homework.

Make a list of adjectives to describe both your company’s brand and your ideal customer. Figure out what your voice is, and who you’re trying to reach.

When it comes time to put a pen to the paper, you’ll have a clear idea of the language, tone and attitude you want to use. Once you’ve identified exactly who is in the conversation, it’ll be easy to figure out what needs to be said!’

Becca Podesta is the Marketing & Brand Manager at FareHarbor, an online booking software designed for activity and tourism businesses. | Follow @fareharbour on Twitter.


‘When writing website copy, for instance a tour description, it is very important to find the right balance between search engine friendly and click enticing copy.

For example your title is very important; “Meet the Giants of the Santa Barbara sea” vs. “Best Whale Watching tour in Santa Barbara”.

You’d probably get more clicks and excite more people with the first title. However, no tourist has ever put that in their Google search bar.

The second title is more likely to get you a higher rank and more traffic, but keep in mind, you are writing for humans, make your description exciting too! Finding the right balance is key! PS. always include your location somewhere.’

Niek Dekker is a Marketing Manager at Rezdy, an online booking software for tours, activities, attractions, rentals and everything bookable. | Follow @rezdy_com on Twitter.


‘This may sound obvious but triple check to ensure that your copy follows all grammar and spelling rules.

Know your there’s from your their’s and they’re’s. That will keep your website copy clean and professional.

Lastly, try not to overuse your exclamation points. You may offer a thrilling tour or activity but not every sentence needs to end like this!’

Julia Barrero is the head of marketing at Xola, a booking and marketing system for tour & activity operators. | Like Xola on Facebook.

Thanks to all of our wonderful experts for sending these awesome answers!

Want to be featured? We’re looking for more experts to be featured on future posts. If you’re involved in the tourism industry and you’d like to participate in this kind of thing, just send Mat an email at matthew@tourismtiger.com(opens in a new tab) and let him know.


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