7 Tips to Start a Tour Operator Business in 2024?
Do you want to start the best tour operator business in 2024 and help people reach their dream destination?
Well, competition is very high, as research says that approximately 201.4 thousand tour agencies operated worldwide until January 2023. This also suggests how many people travel worldwide because companies open in the field with higher potential. So, if you listen to what I say, this is the perfect time to launch a tour operator business and help people reach their desired destinations.
With online tour booking systems, tour operators are open to more than just the locations, languages, or payments. Furthermore, as I say in most blogs, CMSs like WordPress have made it even easier for tour operators to start online services with beautiful pre-designed tour booking WordPress themes.
So, if you also want to be a tour operator and help people worldwide to be happy by wandering around their dream destinations, you have landed on the perfect blog. This blog will enlighten you on how to start and run the best tour operator business in 2024.
What is a Tour Operator Business? Definition and Stats
The tour operator business is one of the business modules trending in the last few years. With over 201.4 thousand companies and more than 475 Billion USD of revenue, the tourism industry is booming like never before.
If we go with the definition of a tour operator business, it is a business that lists, organizes, and arranges overall trip packages. From pickup-drop, food, and accommodation to the safety of travelers throughout the trip or journey, the tour operator business is responsible for everything.
Are you also planning to start a tour operator business in 2024? Here are some basic things related to this business that you must know:
- Starting with a local business will be the best option. That’s because when the local customers trust your services and website, you can showcase that as social proof.
- If you are willing to start a tour operating business, you need professional guides and porters (in the case of trekking and summit climbing).
- Understanding the lifestyles, cultures, and traditions of every place included in your travel operating services is essential.
- It would help if you were picky enough to choose the best travel booking WordPress theme to quickly design and develop your tour operator website.
- You must be able to cope with uncertain situations. Also, you should be able to handle a crowd of domestic and international visitors without any inconvenience.
- Tour operators must know any trending places or activities visitors might like.
7 Tips to Start a Tour Operator Business in 2024?
Starting a tour operator business might be one of the best and most beneficial plans for 2024. However, starting any business takes work, especially when the competition is very high and you are entirely new.
However, here are seven tips from us to make it easier and more efficient for you to start a tour operator business in 2024:
Know the Stats
Before you become a part of any industry and start your own business, you must know the stats and numbers related to that particular industry. This helps you see your dedication to building a successful business in any specific niche. Here are the stats for the tourism industry.
It’s a matter of fact that the tourism industry has become highly competitive with the constant increase in tourists. Talking about stats, Nepal welcomed 1,014,876 tourists in the year 2023. These are just the statistics of one country; imagine the tourism statistics of the world.
As per research done in 2022, over 45% of tourists worldwide preferred booking their travel plans online. There is no doubt that the percentage has increased. Moreover, another study claims that the package holiday revenue will increase by 3.03% (340.3 billion) by 2028.
Similarly, several more research studies can help you better understand the tourism industry and tour operator business.
Understand and focus on the services you provide
If you plan to start a tour operator business, you should be aware and rigid about your tour booking agency’s services. For example, you can begin with trekking and mountaineering if your team is well-known about that. Later, you can add other services or options to your tour operator business.
Do not make instant or influenced decisions by seeing what others do or offer. In simple words, know your USP and gain trust in that. After that, promote other services for better results.
Conduct Research on Buyer's Persona
Once you know what type of services you want to start with, thoroughly research the potential customers. Once you find out who your potential buyers are, it will be easy to run marketing campaigns, add content, and add more tour packages.
For example, if your potential buyers are young people who love adventures in the Himalayas, you can promote more and more trekking-related packages.
Furthermore, we suggest you research potential customers’ age, gender, device preference, location, etc. All these things are also essential before starting a tour operator business in 2024.
Get your hands on the perfect WordPress theme
A website is the best solution to take your travel operator business worldwide and increase its visibility. Website is best and quickly developed with WordPress, and to get the best result from a WordPress website, you need to choose the perfect tour booking WordPress theme.
An ideal travel WordPress theme has the potential to provide tour operators with a handy development environment and an irresistible user experience for visitors. So, one of the most important things you should do to start the tour operator business is to find the travel WP theme that matches your business requirements.
Also read: How to Choose WordPress Theme that Justifies Your Tour Website?
Go for SEO rather than paid advertisements
If you are starting your tour agency, you must spend as little money as possible. By that, we do not mean not spending money but controlling finances and expenditure. Many startups flow cash on paid marketing campaigns like Meta Ads. However, these ads would not give any ROI (Return on Investment).
Instead of spending a lot of money on paid campaigns, you can let Google Search Engine do that for free. Check all the semantics and alignments of the website while developing, add as many informational blogs and other content as possible, and generate as many backlinks as possible.
This way, your website gets optimized for search engines like Google, and when people search for any specific queries, it automatically suggests your content or website.
For example, suppose someone wants to understand the Annapurna Base Camp circuit, and they type in: understanding Annapurna Base Camp circuit on Google Search. In that case, they can see the most relevant blogs and websites to answer their queries. (Refer to the image below)
You must also optimize local SEO for your website to rank better on local searches.
Also read Tips to Optimize SEO for Your Travel Booking Website.
Make sure that your services are the best
Making the best tour operator business requires the best travel and vacation packages. Try to thoroughly research different destinations and come up with the best out of the best packages.
Also, ensure the packages are inexpensive and offer the tourist’s heartful joy and adventure. The tour operator business is directly connected to people’s emotions.
In every business, customer satisfaction plays a crucial role in better results. The same goes for the travel business; a tour operator must have solid proof of providing exceptional packages to visitors and potential customers.
Updates, Updates, and Updates!
Be updated about each and everything going on in the world. Try promoting travel packages as per the seasons and months of the year.
For example, October to December is the best time to visit Nepal, so during these months, you can add and promote trips to the mountains of Nepal. April to October is the best time to visit Bali, Indonesia, so that you can encourage Bali packages during these times.
In case of any changes in the rules or system of any destinations, do not delay updating your visitors. Giving even minor updates to your customers signifies taking care of them. Therefore, this builds trust in them, and they are more likely to be loyal and recommend your website to others.
Conclusion
Tour Operator Business is a problematic yet very beneficial business to start recently. With people preferring online booking and travel WordPress themes to make the development process more accessible, creating a tour operator business is a good choice.
Nevertheless, it would help if you remembered that a perfect tour and travel WordPress theme and several other factors affect any tour operator business’s smoothness and revenue generation.