Tour Operator Software News

Email was Never Dead--It Just Got More Mobile

You've probably seen, as I did, some of the many articles and blogs the predicted the decline in email and its eventual death. Every time I read an article I started to scratch my head--it just didn't make any sense, especially in the light of the fact that companies like Groupon and Living Social are some of the fastest growing companies in the world. They rely almost exclusively on email to sell their product.

Sure, if you are a teenager all you do is text and you don't email much nor answer your phone, but really how much purchasing power does a teenager have--not much. And they are not likely the primary decision maker when booking a travel adventure.

Well, as it turns out email accessed on traditional devices and through webmail has declined, but email accessed and replied to on mobile devices has increased. One of the main sources of information that somehow supported both sides of this argument was Nielsen NetView. I believe their methodology is outdated so they reported the decline in traditional email, but even they said deeper in their report:

"There is a double-digit (28 percent) rise in the prevalence of social netowrking behavior, but the dominance of email activity on mobile devices continue with an increase from 37.4 percent to 41.6 percent of US mobile Internet time."

If you believe, as I do, that email is anything but dead, then the automated email features in your tour reservation system is critcal to the growth of your company and critical to engaging your target audience. Tour booking software should allow you to automate and customize emails that make your customers and potential customers feel like you are talking to them personally and that you care about them.

Resmark travel booking software has the most comprehensive automated email system out there. I personally evaluated more than a dozen companies that sell tour booking systems, and none offered as many valuable feature as Resmark.

But don't just take my word for it, read what Natahala Outdoor Center has to say.

How to Move Social Media to Social Commerce

Have you heard the new buzzword: Social commerce. I just read an article by Jacquie McCarnan, on Social Media Today and I think she has some good advice. Jacquie says the following:

"The new arm of social media is social commerce and you can bet your donkey (insert synonym here) that if you're not addressing social commerce now you are doing your clients a disservice."

"For years we've all been going on and on about the power of the internet to reach people. Recently this awesome social media phenomenon has caused us all to get a glimpse at that power first-hand. When you look at examples of how "the little guy" has taken on huge corporations and won through the use of social media like youtube, you start to see just how powerful this tool is."

"Take Dave Carroll for example. Dave is a musician and a pretty good one. While on a flight from Halifax to Nebraska with a stop at Chicago's O'Hare, Dave noticed the baggage handlers were tossing his Taylor guitar around. Let's just say Dave was pissed. So much so, after receiving no satisfaction from customer 'service', that he wrote a song. A song that has received international acclaim and over 10 million hits!"

She goes on to say that marketers need to forget about selling people something and learn how to engage people; and engaging people will turn your social media efforts into social commerce, or in other words more business.

If you are an adventure travel vendor, there are lots of opportunities to capture engaging videos, some that are funny, and others that are just plain exhilerating to watch. If you are using tour booking software that can send automatic emails to clients or potential clients, you could proactively send engaging videos to multiple clients with the click of a button. And of course, you want to put them on YouTube and on your Facebook page, obviously a no brainer.

You might even want to run a contest with your customers, offering a prize for the funniest video. But all of this will take more time and money unless you can automate the campaign, so be sure to select tour operator software that enables social media interaction.

Here is what one customer says: "Resmark really gets it with social. They are constantly making improvements that have been the key to our success in this area. The past two years would not have been as successful without Resmark." Kevin Sisson, CIO, Natahala Outdoor Center.

Beyond the Basics with Social Media

Monday, February 14, 2011 by Susan Richards

In the whitepaper, Travel, Tweets & Trends, the chart below shows that adventure travel companies are doing a good job of connecting with current customers using social media.

However, the study points out that many companies make the mistake of...Read More » »

Forrester Study Makes Customer Experience Recommendations

Tuesday, February 8, 2011 by Susan Richards

On January 11, 2011 Forrester Research released "The Customer Experience Index, 2011". Only thirty-five percent of the brands surveyed earned an excellent or good rating. This means that almost two-thirds of brands were rated okay to very poor.

Among...Read More » »

Natahala Outdoor Center Cuts Training Costs Dramatically with New Tour Booking Software

Friday, January 28, 2011 by Susan Richards

Nantahala Outdoor Center more than doubled their online reservations the first year using Resmark tour booking software. And because NOC has hundreds of employees, training is always a big issue. With Resmark's tour booking software they cut...Read More » »

Orange Torpedo Increases Online Tour Business 400%

Friday, January 28, 2011 by Susan Richards

After implementing the Resmark tour booking system, online bookings shot up more than 400 percent. Customers could book a trip on the website (not just a "reservation request") and receive an immediate email confirmation which was not possible before...

Online Research and Reservations is Where it's at in Adventure Travel

Monday, January 24, 2011 by Susan Richards

According to the Adventure Tourism Market Report, most adventure travelers research and book their trip online (see below). It is a growing trend with no end in sight.

If your adventure travel software is not fully equipped to easily handle online...Read More » »

Tour Operators: Are You Investing in Social Media?

Friday, January 14, 2011 by Susan Richards

A recent study by Forrester Research, the premier analyst in social media, reports that organizations are planning to invest in social media more than any other marketing tool included in the research. (See chart below)