Unlocking Profitability & Marketing Strategies: Highlights from Arival San Diego 2024
The Arival Conference in San Diego 2024 brought together industry leaders, innovators, and experts in the tours, activities, and experiences sector. This year’s event was a melting pot of ideas, strategies, and insights aimed at helping tour operators boost profitability, refine marketing approaches, and stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry.
Below are our favorite takeaways from the event, offering insights on how tour operators can revolutionize their approach to business.
Dynamic Pricing: The New Frontier of Profitability
One of the most significant discussions centered around the adoption of dynamic pricing strategies. In an era where consumers are accustomed to fluctuating prices across various sectors, particularly in travel, tour and activity operators have a unique opportunity to optimize their revenue.
The key lies in capitalizing on high-demand periods. By adjusting prices based on factors such as seasonality, day of the week, or even time of day, operators can maximize their profits without necessarily increasing their operational costs. This approach not only boosts revenue but also helps manage capacity more effectively.
Humanizing Creativity in Marketing
While aspirational marketing has long been the go-to approach in the travel industry, there’s a growing need for more human-centered, relatable content. Sessions at the conference emphasized the importance of visually answering customer questions rather than simply showcasing aspirational imagery.
This shift extends to retargeting efforts as well. The recommendation is to leverage video content for awareness-stage marketing, followed by image-based retargeting. This approach creates a stronger emotional connection with potential customers, making the brand more memorable and relatable.
If you’re interested in setting up Retargeting paid advertising campaigns (on Meta and Google Ads), reach out to us to learn more.
Tapping into the Corporate Tours Market
An often-overlooked segment of the market is corporate tours. Experts from UpLevel Tourism, Bites of Boston Food Tours, and ATL-Cruzers City Tours shared strategies for attracting more corporate bookings:
- Reach out to past corporate clients to maintain relationships and encourage repeat business.
- Create dedicated pages on your website that speak directly to corporate needs.
- Secure backlinks on authoritative sources that target corporate terms to improve SEO for this specific market.
- Tailor your offerings without compromising value. Remember, customization doesn’t always equate to added value.
- Allow time for corporate groups to mingle and network during tours.
- Utilize platforms like TikTok for corporate-focused ads with messages like “show this to your boss.”
Mergers & Acquisitions: Preparing for the Future
A panel featuring leaders from Secret Food Tours, Chenmark, RED Hospitality & Leisure, and Land & Sea provided valuable insights for those considering buying or selling a business in the tours and activities sector:
- When buying, focus on businesses in sectors you understand well. This allows you to extract synergies and build a stronger market position.
- Build relationships within the industry. Most deals happen between people who already know each other.
- If selling, ensure you’re emotionally ready for the process and have your financials in impeccable order. Remember, if you can’t show it, it can detract from the value.
Optimizing the Customer Journey
Mapping out the customer journey remains a crucial aspect of business strategy. The journey typically includes five main stages: dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing, and sharing. Tour operators play a significant role in the booking and experiencing stages, with some influence in the sharing stage.
Key insights from attendees included:
- Reinforcing information through multiple channels has been effective in reducing phone calls and enhancing customer satisfaction.
- SMS text messaging is becoming increasingly important for confirmations and updates.
- Reaching out to customers right before the tour with upgrade options has shown a 60% success rate.
- Some operators are moving away from tech-based review solicitation, preferring a more personalized, heartfelt approach.
Leveraging Technology and AI in Customer Service
Yonder’s demo-lab showcased the transformative power of AI in customer interactions. The AI-powered chatbot system impressed attendees by analyzing entire customer queries, providing swift and comprehensive responses. This technology significantly reduces response times and eliminates the need for piecemeal answers. Attendees witnessed how Yonder’s solution not only streamlines the booking process, but also dramatically enhances overall customer satisfaction. The demonstration underscored Yonder‘s commitment to leveraging AI to revolutionize customer service in the tour and activity sector.
When considering investing in chatbot services, operators should ask themselves:
- Are you satisfied with the relationship between your growth rate and labor costs?
- What percentage of your bookings are direct vs. through OTAs, and does this matter to you?
- How do you currently gather customer data insights?
Chatbots can help contain labor costs, increase direct bookings, and provide valuable zero-party data insights, helping companies make data-driven decisions.
The Evolving Landscape of Search and Social Media
Social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest are increasingly challenging Google in the discovery phase of the customer journey. Tour operators will need to continue to create content tailored to these platforms.
As search evolves, optimizing for “zero-click” answers and leveraging generative AI could be game-changers for businesses in the sector.
Paid Advertising Strategies
The conference also touched on effective paid advertising strategies across various platforms:
Meta: Test top-of-funnel campaigns and focus on effective audience segmentation for both prospecting and retargeting campaigns.
- TikTok: Utilize SPARK ad campaigns and leverage purchase intent targeting.
- Pinterest: Focus on top-of-funnel campaigns for awareness, with an emphasis on search advertising.
The Arival Conference 2024 in San Diego provided a wealth of actionable insights for tour and activities operators. From refining pricing strategies and enhancing the customer journey to staying ahead of marketing trends and leveraging AI, the key to success lies in adopting dynamic, customer-focused approaches. The future of tours and activities is exciting, challenging, and full of opportunities for those ready to seize them.
