The big challenge for tourism businesses is to win back travelers. For this, it is essential to know how travel marketing can help your company get out of the tourism crisis
Tourism was one of the sectors most affected by the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Companies had long periods without being able to work. Trips were canceled, reservations were rescheduled, and uncertainty dominated the tourism business.
According to the World Tourism Organization, 2020 was the worst year in history for the industry. There was a 75% reduction in travel worldwide. According to the entity, global tourism went back to the level of the 1990s. As for the financial loss, the losses exceed US$ 1.1 trillion in international tourism revenue.
Now, the challenge facing destinations, hotels, travel agencies, and tourism service companies is: how to resume activities and win back travelers? And, more precisely, how can travel marketing help your company get out of the tourism crisis?
First, it is necessary to understand what the new tourism will be like in order to offer adapted services. Next, it is essential to communicate to your potential customers everything that has been done to make travel safe. This is where tourism marketing comes in.
Below, we will explain how to apply travel marketing to get out of the tourism crisis. With the right strategies, your company can overcome this moment and get travelers back. You can believe it.
What will the new tourism look like?
Tourism companies have great challenges ahead. To begin with, it is necessary to understand all the changes that the pandemic brought to people’s behavior and, consequently, to travel.
In general, the post-Covid traveler will be more connected, will avoid crowds, will be more careful with sanitary measures, will apply conscious consumption, will prioritize sustainability, and will prefer outdoors and nature tours.
This new traveler profile will define what the new tourism will be like. Destinations, accommodations, travel agencies, and tourism service companies have to adapt to the new traveler in order to overcome the crisis.
The trend is that regional tourism will be the first to recover. The emphasis will be on nearby destinations that can be visited by car. In this context, rural tourism, nature tourism, wellness tourism, ecotourism, adventure tourism and gastronomic tourism will gain strength.
International trips or those requiring extensive travel should only return after global immunization. Even so, both in regional and international tourism, the traveler will prefer exclusive experiences.
The most popular destinations, which have always attracted large crowds, will have to adapt to the new tourism. This is because the post-Covid tourist is likely to prefer quieter and emptier places.
Understand how travel marketing can help your company
But how can travel marketing help your company? The adaptation of companies to the new tourism will also go through their travel marketing strategies.
They must reinvent themselves to offer what the new traveler is looking for. For this, communication is an essential tool.
Only through digital channels will your business be able to reach tourists in the post-Covid and show them what it has done to adapt to the new scenario. Therefore, it is essential to invest in digital marketing in the recovery process.
However, it is important to emphasize that the direction of tourism businesses, as well as their marketing campaigns, should be guided by the following questions:
- What does the new tourism look like?
- How will your company position itself in this new scenario?
- What profile of traveler will you serve?
From this information, you will be able to put together a tourism marketing plan suitable for the Post-Covid to win over travelers.
Don’t know how to do this? A good tip is to look for an agency that specializes in tourism marketing to assist you in Post-Covid recovery. One example is Travel Media PR, which offers media solutions and communication advisory services for travel and tourism companies.
Operating globally, Travel Media PR leads a series of successful projects aimed at building loyalty among tourist destinations, hotels, services, and travel agencies.
Tourism Marketing Strategies for Post-Covid
To come out ahead of the competition and regain the trust of travelers, tourism marketing strategies for Post-Covid must be thought out considering all the changes that have occurred in this period of seclusion.
It will not be enough to do traditional digital marketing. It is necessary to be aware and up-to-date to be able to reach the new tourist profile.
But how to elaborate the best tourism marketing strategies for Post-Covid? See our tips:
- Be online: isolation has made the world even more connected. If before the internet was already among the main research channels, today it is the first option. The tourist who wants to travel again will search online for all the information he needs. In addition, he will purchase his entire trip through digital channels. In other words, your company needs to know how to place itself on the Internet to reach this new traveler.
- Sell experiences: Invest in selling experiences. After so much time in isolation, the traveler is thirsty for unforgettable moments that get totally out of his routine. It is essential to show that your business can offer more than just a product or service.
- Bet on e-commerce: just as research about the trip will begin, primarily, on the Internet, so will the finalization and purchase of services. Therefore, if your company does not have an online store, it is essential to bet on e-commerce in post-Covid tourism.
- Show flexibility: the pandemic made many travelers have to reschedule or cancel their trips. Companies had to be flexible in their policies to keep their customers. And this behavior is likely to follow. So advertise flexible rebooking and cancellation policies. Adopting this attitude will give more security to the tourist.
- Demonstrate security: the new traveler will need to feel secure to choose to visit a new place. Destinations, hotels, travel agencies, and tourism service companies must adopt all the sanitary protocols of the authorities, as well as publicize all the actions they take to make the tourist safe.
- Use online tools: a great differential in tourism marketing for the post-Covid period will be to intensify the use of online tools to promote your products and services, especially images and videos. Invest in virtual tours, digital influencers, tips on tours, among others.
- Highlight sustainability actions: the post-Covid traveler will be more concerned about sustainability. Highlight all the actions your company took during the pandemic. Show how you adapted to the new scenario and how your company contributed to the world and society.
- Offer promotions and bonuses: Purchasing power, in general, has fallen due to the crisis caused by Covid-19. Therefore, a great post-Covid tourism marketing strategy will be to offer promotions and bonuses. Many companies may bet on reduced fares. But this tactic can have an undesired effect, since too low a price can give the idea of bad service. Instead of compromising your image and earnings, choose to create promotions or reward the customer with bonuses or amenities.
- Create new packages to little-visited destinations: as we have already said, regional tourism should be one of the most popular after the pandemic. Research new destinations, offer suggestions for innovative packages. Brazil is a country rich in biodiversity, culture and entertainment. There are plenty of places for you to explore.