The Digital Tourism Show

Welcome to what will be the last ever Digital Tourism Show… but not the end of me producing even more videos, podcasts, articles and marketing advice! Stay tuned to find out more. Many of you are probably aware that myself, Pete Syme and Mitch Bach took over the Tourpreneur community and podcast from Shane Whaley as he starts a new career over at Fareharbor. The three of us are about to launch an obscene amount of content that will help every Tour Operator understand many aspects of their business with one aim: to increase their profit margins. Because of this, it makes no sense for me to continue with The Digital Tourism Show as this, and more content, will be recorded for the Tourpreneur community and under the Tourpreneur brand. This is somewhat of a bittersweet moment as my podcast and videos have helped many over the last 5-6 years. But rest assured my thoughts and advice will not stop and will actually increase… it will just under a different name. Now if you are wondering about all the existing Digital Tourism Show you do not need to worry as all existing content will remain online so you can always refer back to past episodes. I do have one ask of you… So you can continue to receive lots of free advice, not just from myself, but from Pete Syme, Mitch Bach and the many speakers and operators in our community, please do join the Tourpreneur Facebook Group. This will be my new home as my Digital Tourism Show Facebook Group will also close in the coming weeks. So thanks to all of you for helping make the Digital Tourism Show a success and hope you continue to join me at my new home on Tourpreneur.

Anyone who deals with sales and/or marketing has known for a while now that tracking the consumer journey from start to finish is becoming nigh on impossible because of the changes from platforms like Facebook and companies like Apple. It is now impossible to track across domain names, which means tracking over a booking widget or separate booking URL is no longer possible. But there is a simple solution to this problem that Res Tech and booking platforms MUST implement if they wish to aid their customers and partners in generating more bookings through their systems. What is the current issue? Most operators who use the likes of Fareharbor, Bokun, Trekksoft, Checkfront, Rezdy, PeekPro or any of the other popular booking platforms will be familiar with the widget that is added to a website. This works by adding a button and/or a snippet of code through a piece of Javascript. When clicked, an iFrame containing the booking widget launches on the operator website or a calendar loads on a page that itself launches a separate window so the consumer can complete the booking. Now the issue is, Facebook now needs you to verify your domain name to make tracking website interactions work properly. It also has to be a main domain name and not a sub-domain name. Without getting too technical, the widget loaded from most booking platforms is from a URL on the res tech side within a container called an iFrame. As this is seen as a separate URL – one that you cannot verify on your own Facebook account – Facebook can no longer track your customers' interactions once they start the booking stage. This makes it impossible to know if they completed a purchase or where in that booking journey they may have dropped off. Currently, it is mainly Facebook that has this issue. But this will eventually be implemented by the likes of Google and other platforms as global pressure on data tracking becomes more and more strict. Facebook, and other platforms, have launched a way to track conversions using server side tracking. This means a server you set up, say on Google Cloud, can help claw back some of that missing data. But it will still not be as it was before, and still not entirely help with how most booking platforms are currently set up. Server side tracking is also a lot harder to set up for the non technical folks and may cost you a small monthly fee (or large if you get a lot of traffic). There is an easy solution Some platforms, like TourCMS or Rezgo, offer an API solution, so a developer can build you a bespoke, on-site booking process that would get around this issue. However, this can be an expensive endeavor to build and maintain. We did this back in the day for companies like Gray Line and Macs Adventure, amongst many others, when we used to develop bespoke websites. However, this solution is not viable for the vast majority of operators. The easy solution, from what I can see, is if these booking platforms allowed operators to add a ‘payment complete' URL that redirected the consumer back to a booking confirmation or thank you page on the operator website. Now, while this may still not allow you to track the full journey, it would allow you to track if that customer who visited a product page completed a purchase on your site. Some res tech may say this could stop any upsell opportunities, but another simple solution is to embed an iFrame into the thank you page that could still pull in upsell experiences and add-ons. By going to this page, the Facebook Pixel may have the opportunity to even pull in the sale price of that booking. This simple solution would allow for more insights into the ads or content that inspired that consumer to make the booking. That means marketing agencies like mine could create more of this content to create even more bookings and revenue for the operator and the res tech. For me, it is a no brainer that brings many benefits. The likes of PayPal, Stripe and most other payment platforms allow you to set a “payment complete” URL and it is high time booking platforms followed suit. Those who do will find themselves being recommended by agencies and other partners, more so, than those who don't. If there is a good reason why booking platforms don't do this, please do tell me, but from where I am sitting, this solution, at least, must be implemented by all. Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

In this 5-min workshop I want you to research blog titles relating to your business to help give you inspiration for your own content. Creating valuable, consistent content for your website is the number one criteria for better rankings on search engines like Google but a lot of business owners I speak to struggle to come up with ideas or know where to even start. Most of you watching or listening to this episode are already storytellers. You do this day in, day out in front of your customers so creating content that will help inspire future customers should be second nature. When writing content, it is best to write as if you are speaking directly to one of your customers in your own tone of voice. But I do understand that writing content gives the fear to some. Whether it is yourself or someone else that writes for you, looking at what is popular and engaging consumers right now will help you think of ideas for your own business. Download our guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow I would love your feedback. Do you want to see more of these types of workshops? Do you prefer the interview style episodes or a mixture of both? What else would you like to see me produce that I am not currently. Please do help me by completing this survey so I can produce content that you would specifically like to see: https://forms.gle/XMDJkDpTTHFnRE657

In this 5-min workshop, I want you to conduct some quick consumer research and ask your followers on your Facebook Page or Group a series of questions that could not only help you gain some amazing insights, but also give you ideas for new tours and experiences. Knowing what your target demographic wants and desires can help you create experiences that they would love. For example, if you run a food tour experience, have you asked what types of food your Facebook followers prefer? How many are Vegan for example? What destinations do they prefer? By simply asking your audience, you can capture all these details and more while increasing your page's engagement rates. Download our guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join our Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

When it comes to marketing your business, you do need to look at what the competition is doing that is both working well and what you feel you can do better. Conducting a full Competitor Analysis is both a time-consuming and expensive process, but there are ways you can gain invaluable insights for free, using a couple of online tools. The first tool I want you to look at is SimilarWeb. This is a paid tool but you can set up a free trial which will give you some important insights into you and your competitors' online presence. You can also use tools like Semrush and a few others, but some ask for your card details upfront, SimilarWeb does not. Another tool I recommend is Facebook's Ad Library. This is a relatively unknown tool that allows you to look at ads that are currently live from any Facebook and Instagram account across the world. This means you can look at your competitors' ads, see what creative and offers they have currently running, and see how that compares with your own marketing strategies. Download our guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly Google My Business, is the platform that gives your business the opportunity to show up on local or brand searches. But it is still under-utilised by most businesses I come across. It is a platform that every local business owner should be aware of and use, given that the information you submit to your listing can appear in a number of different ways on the search engine, including the knowledge panel and maps. Google Business Profile brings with it a whole host of benefits for local businesses, including helping them reach new customers, increase their overall visibility, and ensure that their customers can find information as easily and as quickly as possible. Just remember: local searches go beyond the simple discovery of new businesses. Often, people are searching for directions, contact information, the busyness of locations, reviews, and more. A Google Business Profile is effectively like having a free ad for your brand on Google. If someone searches your brand or keywords closely related to it, your listing takes up a 3rd of the screen's real estate on desktop and sits between ads and organic search results on mobile. If you are old enough to remember, this is like the old premium listings in the Yellow Pages — but you don't need to pay for this one! The amount of information you can display in your listing is incredible. With this 5-minute workshop, I want you to set yourself a task by updating one aspect of your Business Profile each day. Once optimised, set yourself just 5-minutes per week to keep this updated with photos, videos and news. By doing so, you will increase your chances of your brand being found and increase your chances of gaining new customers.  Download our guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Welcome to the Digital Tourism Show Episode 272 and in this 5-min workshop I want you to add your top selling products to your Facebook Business Page. With more and more consumers finding products on platforms other than your own website, it is becoming more important than ever to show your experiences in a place where your customers ‘hang-out'. This is no different to social media, but what most operators that I chat with don't realise, is that you can add your experiences to a Facebook business page and Instagram account. With this 5-minute workshop, I want you to follow the guide I have provided within  the link in the show notes on how to add your own products to these social media  giants. By adding your products to Facebook and Instagram, this does not mean they become another booking platform for your business. In the US only (at time of writing), Facebook does offer a way to accept payments over the social platform through a partner like Spotify, but this will not connect to your current reservation system or availability calendar... yet... but you can set this up so that when a consumer clicks on one of these products, they are then taken to the product page  on your website to find out more information and potentially complete the direct  booking. If you only have a handful of activities, I will show you how to add these individually, but if you have a large number of them, I will also show you how to bulk upload all your products at once. We will break this down into 5-minute tasks that you will conduct and complete within the next 1-7 days, depending on how many tours and activities you wish to  add. For me, this is a no brainer as it is giving you the opportunity to promote your tours,  activities and whatever other tourism focused products you have... absolutely free. Download our guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Welcome to the Digital Tourism Show Episode 271 and in this 5-min workshop I want you to do something a little more creative. Tours operators, guides and customer facing staff all have one thing in common and that is interacting with customers. They show their passions for their destinations, share their stories and guide them through the amazing things a destination has to offer. If this is you, you have got what it takes to do what you do day in, day out, in video format and share on social media so other potential customers can get to know you before booking. This helps make a connection even before you meet them in person. I understand that many of you are a little put off recording video as you start thinking about how you are going to edit the footage, add music or add a nice intro… forget all that. With this workshop I am going to make it super easy for you. All I want you to do is take your phone, head out to a nice part of your destination that you know well, maybe a hidden gem, and film one 30 second video per day for the next 7 days and post up, as raw as it may be, on your social platforms.  This will get you not only used to recording video, but also allow you to test how your audience on your social platforms engage with it. Was there a specific video that really engaged with your audience? If so, maybe more of this type of content will help persuade someone to book with you. To help, I have provided a guide on planning and shooting video, which you can download in the show notes below. I love video marketing so I can't wait to see what you all produce and feel free to post some of your best videos in the comments section of the relevant post on my Facebook Group. Download our guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Welcome to Episode 270 of the Digital Tourism Show and in this 5-min workshop I want you to create your own crystal ball... a 2-year cash-flow predictor that allows you to see how your business will look like over the next 2 years. I have been using a cash-flow crystal ball for the past 10 years and have found it invaluable for planning for the future. Once set up, you will not only have a complete overview of how healthy your business is but it also helps you see into the future and give you the facility to play about with your figures to see how a price increase, a new product or new member of staff will affect your profitability. Many business owners live month by month, day by day even and have no true sense of how healthy their business is. When asked what is your average monthly sales or how many tours you did in June, it tends to be guesswork. Within the show notes of this episode, I have provided you with both a Google sheet and an excel file that you can use to create your own cash-flow crystal ball. I have also supplied an example sheet so you can see how it looks with data in place. I want you to spend 5 min a day, for as long as it takes, to eliminate the guesswork and get to grips with how profitable your business is by using the provided sheet and update with your information. To help further, below is another link to a video on how to use the spreadsheet. This is not just great insight into your business but it allows you to make more informed marketing decisions. Are you paying over the odds for paid ads, commissions or that expensive coffee you get yourself every day. It really helps you predict the potential future of your business and plan accordingly. Please leave your comments on my Digital Tourism Show facebook group and let me know how you get on, especially if it throws up a few surprises. Download the help guide: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/  Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Looking at Your Customer Purchase Journey - 5 minute Workshop In this workshop I am going to ask you to look at your customers' purchase journey and determine if there are any gaps in your sales and marketing, meaning you are possibly missing out on potential opportunities to sell or upsell to that customer. It will also make you think on the platforms and tools that your customer may use. In the PDF guide that you can download below, you will see an overview and a diagram of a customer's purchase journey. These include… Dreaming Moments – When your potential customer is exploring destination options and ideas with no firm plans. At this stage, people are looking for inspiration. What tools and platforms do they use? What type of content inspires them? What are they searching for? Planning Moments – When your potential customer has chosen a destination. They're looking for the right dates, the right flight, the right place to stay, and all the things they'll do while they're there. What tools and platforms do they use?  Booking Moments – When your potential customer has completed their research, they are ready to book their tickets and reserve their rooms. What tools and platforms do they use?  Experiencing Moments – When your customer's trip is underway. Travellers are ready to live the trip they've been dreaming about — and share it with others. How do they interact with your business? With locals? With people in a tour group (if all strangers). Sharing Moments – When your customer shares content and their experiences during and post trip on social media, with friends, family and work colleagues. Do they use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok?  What are your customers' start and end points and what do they do in between? In the PDF guide, you will see an example of a potential customer journey as well as more explanation. I would like you to try and map out the journey of your own customer by using the diagram provided. Add in the potential touchpoints where they currently interact with your business and see if any gaps emerge. Are you missing a sales call followup? Are you inspiring them by creating content that really gets them excited at the dreaming stage. Are you falling down once they have booked by not keeping in touch or even asking for reviews? Have a go and see what emerges and feel free to split up each of the 5 sections per day. It may help you realise that you are missing one or more steps to interact with your customer, which can be all the difference to receiving a good review, an upsell or even the initial booking itself. Download our guide:  https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join our Facebook group: ttps://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Welcome to the Digital Tourism Show Episode 268 and in this 5-min workshop, I am focusing on the sales process for enquiry based products. This has been a question that has come up a lot lately, not just from our own customers but from other tourism business owners looking for this sort of advice online. Although some of you reading may not believe this, the amount of potential revenue I see being flushed down the drain is frightening. So many potential customers are either not being contacted at all, or they only receive one form of communication and then are forgotten about. The excuse I hear a lot is “I just did not have the time to contact everyone who enquires”. Let me apologise in advance if what I am about to say seems blunt but it is absolutely essential to convert the leads generated from marketing — especially during the pandemic. “Having no time” is something I can sympathise with during this chaotic time. I am a business owner myself so I understand how busy things can be, but it seems counterintuitive to throw away potential revenue that your business could make. I am sure we have all been there at some stage, but take a closer look at what you do on a daily basis. Really look hard at what you do. Could you spend 1 hour less watching your favourite show on Netflix if it meant you could close a few extra bookings? You probably could. Human beings are so good at procrastinating. If you took some simple steps to rearrange your daily routine your business could perform better in many areas. For example, in my business I have set up some automated tools to take care of the initial stages of my sales process. I also divide my day into chunks. I look at my email between 8am-9am and then later between 4pm-5pm. I spend a few hours helping my team with our own customers and then the last few hours on my business, creating strategies, looking at new opportunities as well as writing my thoughts about the industry, including this very guide you are reading now. The day-to-day is delegated to my team. I may be preaching to the converted here, but it really does help when trying to stay on top of sales leads to schedule in a section of structured activity each day, focusing on any leads generated. Dedicating even just one hour on sales per day can make all the difference. With this episode, my hope is that it can show you how to interact with your potential customer in an automated way, with just a few in-person touch points along the way. Not only that, I have provided a basic process guide and email templates that you can use today. Over the next 5 days, and following my guide, I would like you to go through your sales process and see how you can make improvements. On day 1, check all your enquiry forms on your site are set up correctly and ask the right questions. On day 2, Set-up the automated emails to your email platform of choice. Day 3, If you wish to try Facebook Form ads, set this up, targeting the right audience. My book, Lookers into Bookers, which you can download for free, provides advice on how to create Facebook Ads. On Day 4, Using Zapier, connect your website form(s) and Facebook forms to your email platform and test that this works. Guides on how to set up Zapier, and other platforms are widely available online, or take a look at my book which has some step-by-step guides. On Day 5, Launch and test the automated sales process and be ready to interact with your potential customer at key stages. What I am providing you is a basic process and you may have more complicated systems, but I hope it inspires you to take a good look at your sales process and make it more efficient. I would never go for a full automated process as you do need that human interaction, but what I propose in this guide will help make the process easier with a little upfront work. Let me know how you get on. Download the guide and email templates here: https://tourismmarketing.agency/tourism-marketing-reports/ Join the Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow

Welcome to the Digital Tourism Show episode 267 and the first of our 5 min workshops in which I will provide you with tasks that you can do for 5 min a day. Today, I am going to cover reviews and assign you a task to ask for reviews from previous customers. Next to actual bookings, reviews are the lifeblood for any tourism business as it can be all the difference between someone selecting your experience over another. Building trust in the minds of your customers is what makes them book with you in the first place. Over the next seven days, I want you to ask all your past customers if they can leave you a review with the angle of helping you rebuild your business after the devastating effects of the pandemic, without begging for them. To help assist you, I have created some templates that you are free to use to send to your customers. I would suggest selecting one of our post-covid templates and uploading to your email platform be it MailChimp, MailerLite or other platform that you use. Replace the highlighted areas with your own information and dynamically pull in the customer's name.  If you don't use a platform for emails currently then I recommend MailerLite. Link provided in the show notes. You may also use a booking platform or OTA that allows you to send follow up messages to your past customers. If so, use the templates there too if allowed. On where to ask for reviews, if they came from an OTA and that OTA has an inbuilt review system, direct them to that. If they came direct or from a platform that does not allow for reviews, use Google as this will help your SEO and rankings long term. So what are you waiting for… follow our guide and use our templates by visiting... MailerLite: https://www.mailerlite.com/a/vgnsazj1cq Website: https://tourismmarketing.agency/reports  Please let me know how you get on.  Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow Website: https://tourismmarketing.agency

Welcome to the Digital Tourism Show Episode 266 This is just a quick video to say that from the 3rd February 2022, and for the next 10 weeks, I will be launching a weekly 5 min workshop series that will highlight one aspect of digital marketing or business growth that you can do for 5 min a day within your business to help you gain more exposure, build trust and give you more opportunities to generate booking and enquiries. I will cover such topics as email marketing, video, competitor analysis, building reviews and much much more. These are designed to give you quick to-do's that don't take up much of your time but will help you grow your business if you take just 5 mins out of your day for each task we cover. Not only that but I will provide downloadable guides and templates that you can use to speed up the process. So keep your eyes peeled on the 3rd February where we will first cover review building. Look forward to seeing you then. Join our Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow Website: https://tourismmarketing.agency

Important Announcements and the Future of The Digital Tourism Show Welcome everyone to the Digital Tourism Show, the first of 2022 so Happy New Year to you all and hope you had a fantastic break. I wanted to use the time in this episode to provide you all with a few exciting announcements of things I am looking to launch in 2022, as well as an update on the future of this very show, so let's start with the Digital Tourism Show. When I first launched this show back in January 2017, my main aim was to help educate tourism businesses on effective ways to grow their business through online marketing, and many of the episodes have fulfilled this promise. The show then evolved into providing insights from others in the industry, which in itself has added incredible value, but for me personally, I feel the show has lost its original focus and I want to go back to its roots, so this year, the show will be providing a lot less of these interview style shows and go back to providing actionable marketing advice. This will start with a new series of 5-min workshops, which will be launching in the coming weeks. I will do a separate video next week on what this will entail. The second big announcement is that I am currently working on a follow up to my book, How To Turn Your Lookers Into Bookers, entitled, ‘The Lookers into Bookers Marketing Blueprint.'  The aim of this book is to guide tourism businesses through a full marketing strategy from start to finish, highlighting each step of the consumer's purchase journey and how you can guide them towards booking with your company. Not only that, it will help advise on what you should do during experience and after. The book will highlight a real company and the journey they will take to become successful, as well as highlight the results of the strategy they will take. The book will come with actionable tasks and worksheets so you can implement this in your own business. The third announcement is that following the book, I will be launching ‘The Lookers into Bookers Marketing Blueprint' workshops. These will be in-person workshops that will use the blueprint from the book, to further guide those who wish to take their business to the next level. More on that in the coming months. These are just some of the initiatives that I have planned for 2022 and more will be announced soon so please do keep on the lookout for more updates coming soon. Until then, stay safe and keep positive as I do feel 2022 will be the year we are all wishing it to be. Check out my Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/digitaltourismshow My Website: https://tourismmarketing.agency

In this episode, I am chatting with Murray Decker the CEO of TourAmigo. Tour Amigo are a booking platform with a strong focus on the multi-day tour sector. Murray and myself have a chat about how technology is changing within the tourism sector, specifically tours and activities, and how the future of our sector will look a lot different to what has gone before. How we experience tours, the technology we will use during these experiences… What shifts we are currently seeing in this sector and what this means for everyone. https://touramigo.com https://tourismmarketing.agency

How Technology Can Enhance The Guest Experience - The Digital Tourism Show #263 In this episode Chris is joined by Josh Liebman of Roller Software, a veteran in our industry of some 15+ years. Josh and Chris  discuss how technology can enhance the guest experience from the dreaming phase, through to the experience phase and beyond. Josh also hosts and shares his knowledge on his own podcast, The Guest Experience Show, so you can expect lots of good advice from this episode. Chris asks questions like: - What have you seen that can help enhance the pre-arrival experience and how does technology fit into this? - What emerging technologies have you seen that is working well today? - What technology have you seen used in the post experience stage that works well? https://www.roller.software https://tourismmarketing.agency

A look at Things To Do On Google and Google My Business - The Digital Tourism Show 262 Christian Watts of Magpie and Chris Torres of Tourism Marketing Agency discuss the benefits of Things To Do On Google, the replacement for Reserve With Google and what it means fo Tour Operators. They also discuss Google My Business in general and how you can capitalise on this under utilised resource. https://about.magpie.travel https://tourismmarketing.agency Link to GMB Overview: https://about.magpie.travel/google-mobile-results/  Special thanks to the following who contributed: https://tourismmarketing.agency https://www.tourismsolved.com https://vonmackagency.com https://tomis.tech https://trkcreative.com https://easymodemedia.com https://blend.travel

In this episode we are joined by Sahara Rose De Vore, founder of The Travel Coach Network, to discuss the rise in Wellness related products and travel as we start to think about travelling again in the aftermath of the pandemic.

​​How well do you truly know your customer? Their want's needs and dreams? What excites them and what makes an unforgettable experience for them? In this episode Chris is joined by Peter Johnson of Trytn and we discuss the importance of a robust reporting system so you can make informed decisions in both your marketing and sales. Knowing everything about your customers is key to knowing how you should ‘talk' to them to help you create more engaging content and sales opportunities. 

SMS messaging in both marketing and sales is often overlooked in favour of methods like email marketing, but in the post Covid world, SMS may become more popular for its immediate consumer interaction and help both them and the operator in the 'touch-less society' we have all been facing. In this episode Chris chats with Daniel Pino of TourOpp Go on how SMS messaging can help grow your tour business and some of the methods this medium can be used.

In this event, we speak with Brandon Gonski of Glacier Raft Company who generates more profit margins from the retail and merchandise side of his business than tours and activities. We discuss how you can effectively use retail to help grow your business, especially important in a post-pandemic world.-- About Brandon --Brandon Gonski has spent his whole life in the outdoor tourism and recreation industry. He currently serves as the General Manager of Glacier Raft Company in West Glacier, Montana. Before joining Glacier Raft Company, Brandon spent six years as the General Manager for AVA Rafting & Zipline, driving high growth for the company. Prior to this, he was Operations Manager for several rafting outfitters throughout the U.S. and has led trips around the world, from Ecuador to Alaska. In addition to managing Glacier Raft Company, Brandon is a product ambassador for PicThrive, a photo sales and marketing platform, and is currently earning his MBA, concentrated on business strategy. -- About Chris -- Chris is an author, podcaster, and brand & digital tourism expert with over 26 years' industry experience. Chris speaks at many tourism events worldwide, offering his advice and guidance on how travel, tourism, and destination businesses can gain brand recognition and increase bookings. Chris has focused his business, the Tourism Marketing Agency, on tour operator marketing with over 90% of his client base coming from outside the UK, working with some of the biggest players in the industry. Chris is the author of the best-selling marketing book, How to Turn your Online Lookers into Bookers, a 400- page book full of practical marketing advice dedicated to the tours and activities sector. Chris also produces a video advice series called The Digital Tourism Show which you can watch on his Facebook Group, YouTube channel, or listen via Google or Apple podcasts.

In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Hong of Levantr, who's aim is to help traveller better plan their trips. We discuss the consumer journey and how Levantr fits into the all important planning/dreaming stage while generating revenue for travel providers.-- About Jen --Jen is a Go-to-Market and Customer Experience specialist with over 9 years of strategy experience at tech enterprises, most recently at Uber. She has also helped startups launch new products and scale their operations efficiently.She founded Levantr, which launched in March 2021, to free travelers from spreadsheets, word docs, and long email threads. Levantr is a tool that enables cohesive communication and collaboration throughout planning. Think Pinterest meets Trello for Levantr. But her vision for Levantr goes way beyond the initial tool. She believes that by leveraging the "tool first, community next, then marketplace" strategy, Levantr can offer much more cost-effective opportunities to get exposure for travel providers and allow them to build more genuine relationships with consumers.She plans on benefiting all players in the travel ecosystem - hotels, tour operators, travel bloggers, etc.- and helping the industry recover faster.Having attended an American international school with 48 ethnicities at a young age, Jen believes that global mindset and traveling allow us to be less prejudiced and more empathetic. Her long-term mission is to inspire more people to travel farther, explore the unknown, and grow from shared experiences with old & new friends. She's also dedicated to building a global and remote team (even after the pandemic) and has been featured on The Offbeat Life podcast as a digital entrepreneur.-- About Chris --Chris is an author, podcaster, and brand & digital tourism expert with over 26 years' industry experience. Chris speaks at many tourism events worldwide, offering his advice and guidance on how travel, tourism, and destination businesses can gain brand recognition and increase bookings.Chris has focused his business, the Tourism Marketing Agency, on tour operator marketing with over 90% of his client base coming from outside the UK, working with some of the biggest players in the industry.Chris is the author of the best-selling marketing book, How to Turn your Online Lookers into Bookers, a 400- page book full of practical marketing advice dedicated to the tours and activities sector.Chris also produces a video advice series called The Digital Tourism Show which you can watch on his Facebook Group, YouTube channel, or listen via Google or Apple podcasts.

In this episode we are joined by Sandra Thomas-Comenole, an award-winning travel marketing professional and behavioural economist with over 10 years of experience leading marketing and sales teams in the travel industry. Sandra is a ground-up & turnaround visionary leader known for breakthrough results that consistently delivers 3x revenue gains, brand expansion & increased customer base. With both Sandra and Chris' marketing expertise, this episode contains a load of marketing advice and tips.

As every destination around the world has been affected by this pandemic in some form or another, the last year has been devastating and heartbreaking for almost everyone in the tourism industry — not just tours and activities. But I am not here to talk about what has just passed; I'm here to offer my thoughts on what l feel lies ahead. I, for one, feel the future is looking very bright indeed.My team and I have taken it upon ourselves to conduct market surveys with real consumers, asking the questions so many of us in the industry want to know. The insights gained from this research will better inform tour and activity providers on how to market their businesses in 2021, including which demographics and product types to focus on.In this episode, I discuss some of the findings in this research and what you should do to market your business in 2021 and beyond.This is not all speculation and theory; the focus on surveys and statistics allows me to provide facts about how your potential customers perceive the threat of COVID-19 and their travel intentions for 2021 and beyond. What products excite them? how do they intent to travel? We ask these any many more questions.You can download the full report at: https://tourismmarketing.agency/battleplan

In this episode, we are looking at how tour operators have successfully pivoted their business during Covid. We will chat with... Lauren Hefferon – ciclismoclassico.com Daud Grewal – seesight-tours.com Don Littlefield – themainebrewbus.com Gábor Bánfalvi – tastehungary.com All of whom will share their insights and real life examples of how they pivoted their business.

An incredible discussion between leaders within tours, attractions, accommodation and hospitality.In this multi-industry discussion, Chris is joined by:Bridgeen Mullen: https://www.theclydeside.comZakia Moulaoui: https://invisible-cities.orgDeborah Macken: https://www.lochlomondholidaycottage.comLaura Mckenzie: https://cathedralhouseglasgow.comIn this chat we will discuss the effects that Covid has had within the tourism sector in Glasgow and Scotland as well as how each business is planning for the future. This is an episode, no matter which country you come from, that is a must watch.

Chris is joined by Russel Astle-Coates, Business Development Manager for TourismTiger, a website developer focused on tours and activities.We discuss the fundamentals of creating a website that enhances the consumer purchase journey as well as providing tips for the optimum layout.

Alex Bainbridge's influence within the industry should not be underestimated.Alex founded TourCMS, the original leader in tours & activities online travel agent distribution providing reservation system and distribution technology to hundreds of local tour operators, and ran that business for 10 years until its successful sale in October 2015. Highlights of this period include working with the industry leading sightseeing brand Gray Line providing online travel agent distribution services from 2012 onwards (TourCMS still runs this service today). In multi-day tour distribution Alex also created, with TourRadar, the first industry end-to-end solution connecting live reservation system availability with travel agent distribution. Alex will be discussing his new venture, Autoura a platform for autonomous vehicles, and Sahra, an artificial intelligent tour guide.

Hubspot, ClickFunnels, Active Campaign etc etc can all be very expensive. Especially Hubspot! You can part with the best part of $10k and more per year. Not many operators could afford that, even pre-covid.With this episode, I hope to highlight cheaper options and a possible set up, while still using Hubspot's free CRM.Please leave comments on what you think of my set up and please do suggest how you manage this without paying the crazy prices by these other systems.

In mid September (2020) GetYourGuide sent out an email to all operators stating that they will no longer pass on the email address of the customer who books your experience but will provide a temporary GetYourGuide branded email instead. This email will only be active for 7 days after the experience has been delivered. This, as it states in the email, is to provide a better customer experience.Now, while I can understand some of the reasoning behind it, this move from the OTA is yet another attempt from these businesses to hinder the potential growth of your own brand. Not only that, it throws up all sorts of questions, some of which could be serious in terms of health and safety. In this episode, I shall break down some of my concerns and give you the real truth about what an OTA actually is, one that may make you see them in a different light.Is this really what operators need when the industry is currently on its knees due to Covid?

A marketing and strategy specialist, Cat Leaver is the director of Brand Scotland, the first shared/centralised role for Scotland working across Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and VisitScotland to coordinate international marketing activity, pool talent, resource and expertise, in order to raise Scotland's profile and reputation on the world stage. This includes responsibility for managing brand image, digital infrastructure and talent development.  Outside of work until 2019, Cat was one of the five leaders who built Europe's most established TEDx organisations - and one of the top ten TEDx events in the world - TEDxGlasgow, which welcomed some 4,500 people in 2018 and exceeded 10 million views of their talks online. Now supporting as an ambassador it remains a platform for change, encouraging local businesses, organisations and individuals to collaborate and stimulate innovation.  Most recently, Cat was honoured in BIMA's 100 list in 2019 in the CMO/Marketing Director category and received the Inspiring City Awards 2017 award for Outstanding Contribution by a Young Business Leader. In 2015, Cat was awarded the Chief Executives Award at the Women in Business Awards and Digital Personality of the Year at the Mancoolian Awards. She has also been listed in The Drum's 50 under 30 and DQ Magazine's Ones to Watch 2015.  Cat will be discussion Brand Scotland's role in promoting our destination and the plans for 2020 and beyond.

Paul Semple is General Manager of Waverley Excursions Ltd which operates Waverley – the last seagoing paddle steamer in the World. Paul is also Vice Chairman for the charity which owns and preserves Waverley but has an associated with the iconic vessel since the 1990s when he first worked on her as a student while at University. After a seventeen year career as a Chemistry and Physics teacher Paul took up his current post in early 2019. Following the discovered of structural defects in the ship's boilers in May 2019 a fundraising appeal was launched to raise £2.3 million to Save The Waverley. Paul lead the campaign which successfully raised the funds in just 6 months. Waverley will return to service this summer on the Clyde and help celebrate Scotland's Year of Coasts and Waters. The famous steamship will visit over sixty ports and piers around the UK and carry over 100,000 passengers. Paul will discuss the recent appeal and give an insight into what it takes to operate and preserve Waverley.

Cultural Perspectives Limited is run by Peter Trowles. For 30 years Peter was Curator at Glasgow School of Art overseeing the heritage of the Charles Rennie Mackintosh building and its important collections. During that time he curated art and design exhibitions worldwide, contributed to multiple books and journals, and has been a speaker at numerous international conferences. He has extensive experience of working with corporate clients, cultural agencies such as the British Council, and is a regular provider of content for the media. Peter will be discussing Glasgow's past and how it has grown it's reputation internationally since the Glasgow Garden Festival.

Chris Torres provides insights into the future of tours and activities over the next 2-3 years, showing real life stats that prove domestic should be the main focus for tour operators for the next 18-24 months. Chris will also highlight key demographics that you should be targeting now as well as current Google trends.

Chris is an Adventure Guide/Instructor and avid Traveller, having worked in Scotland's Outdoor Activity and Customer Services industry for over 25 years. He would like to take this opportunity to share his experience with you in creating adventures and experiences to last a lifetime - this is why he has created Unique Adventure Tours Scotland. Helping people get the best out of their time in Scotland has always been a pleasure for his, and by adding that bit extra attention to detail, he feels he can help his customers discover the best Scotland has to offer in Adventure, Activity, Food, and Accommodation, all set in this stunning country. Being a lover of travel and adventure, he has had the privilege to sample and enjoy many cultures and experiences - let him take this opportunity to share his passion with you, in stunning Scotland.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy of Visit Scotland shares his thoughts and advice on how tourism businesses can be visible at the right moments.

Chris is joined by Kelsey Tonner to discuss the validity of virtual tours and if they are a worthwhile product to create. An interesting discussion as both Chris and Kelsey share differing views, while finding some common ground.Kelsey also has some resources for those interested in Virtual Tours...Virtual Tour Business Summit - Free On-Demand Replays https://www.beabetterguide.com/Replay/ Virtual Tour Business Program - Information Page https://onlinetourismacademy.com/p/virtual-tour-business/?product_id=1790731&coupon_code=VTB-200-OFF&?affcode=30293_g7twa6_1 Free Workshop - How to Design, Launch and Sell Online Experienceshttps://beabetterguide.com/onlinetours

Peter Syme once again joins us on The Digital Tourism Show to share his thoughts and ideas on how to look for opportunities from the Covid crisis, as well as being his usual, candid self.

Chris Newlands of Spelfie served in the Royal Navy for six years from October 1982 to June 1988, he left the service and studied to become a Chartered Financial Planner. He embarked on a new adventure in 2017, as the CEO of both Spelfie and Tripsology Ltd, in partnership with AIRBUS and the space industry, bringing a new use-case for the highest resolution satellites in orbit around Earth. On December 3rd, 2019, he was awarded the title of Innovator Of The Year, by the Ex-Scottish Forces In Business Awards. Spelfie – in partnership with AIRBUS - uniquely allows people to capture their experiences at events globally, from space, in real time, capturing the individual and the entire event! Chris will discuss how he came up with the idea and how he has grown his business as well as strategies during COVID-19.

Emma Jamieson has been Marketing Manager at the Edinburgh Dungeon since June 2018, recently a finalist in the ASVA Marketing Awards, Emma enjoys the creative-side of marketing with a focus on digital, online and content development – an advocate of keeping it simple and listening to your audience at all times. Emma will chat how the Edinburgh Dungeon create and innovate ideas to bring in new and repeat business.

In this episode I talk with Alyssa Schoenfeld of Bites of Boston Tours on how she made the move from neuroscience into food tours, working with suppliers and partners and the marketing efforts she took. We also briefly touch on the impact of COVID. This was filmed at the very start of COVID.

In the episode I am joined by Evan Tipton of Tomis and we will be discussing marketing strategies and ideas tour operators should be focusing on now during the COVID crisis.We will be discussing topics like the importance of content creation, product ideas you can take to market as well as the importance of historical data.

Vikki Bruce is the founder and Managing Director of MacLean and Bruce, running it with whisky expert, author and legend, Charles MacLean. Vikki's background is in whisky and she works with closely with the industry to create bespoke, VIP whisky-orientated travel and events for luxury overseas buyers. As part of the Bruce family, Vikki works closely with the family home in Fife, Broomhall House, using the historic venue to create prestigious events and experiences. MacLean & Bruce has been operating for seven years, working mainly with inbound guests, primarily from China and the USA. As part of the company's natural growth and development, M&B have become known for creating unusual stand-alone experiences, and as well as creating luxury travel packages for guests are used by DMCs and agents from home and abroad.Vikki will discuss how she has grown her high luxury brand with international visitors and even Royalty. 

Joshua Ryan-Saha works at the University of Edinburgh where he leads on the application of data-driven innovation for the tourism, travel and festival sectors as part of the Edinburgh & South East Scotland City Region Deal. He previously worked at The Data Lab where he was responsible for programmes to improve data science skills across Scotland. He joined from Nesta where he established the £10m Longitude Prize, featured on BBC Horizon's 50th Anniversary Episode. Joshua has also worked as in Bosnia and Herzegovina working with international organizations such as The Public International Law and Policy Group to design projects related to constitutional reform, tourism and reconciliation. Joshua started his career in local government as a participant in the sector's National Graduate Development Programme, working at the London Borough of Newham transformation projects across a range of service areas including education, social care, housing, and crime reduction. Joshua will lead a session to explore how Scotland's tourism sector can get started in using data technologies and methods to address the sectors most pressing current challenges. 

COVID Marketing, Facebook Ads, Marketing, Growth - The First Ever LIVE Digital Tourism Show. Watch a recording of the first ever live version of The Digital Tourism Show, hosted by Chris Torres. Chris answers questions concerning marketing during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, Facebook advertising, email marketing, business development and growth, as well as covering other topics.

Kyle Long from UnTour Food Tours who's business provides tours in China and we will be discussing how his business has been affected by the coronavirus and the launch of No Appetite for Ignorance - an initiative to help engage the public and raise awareness of the xenophobia and racist attitudes against Chinese and asian-owned business.

Chris Atkin, the CEO of Rezdy, discusses the effects of Online Travel Agents (OTAs) in the tour and activity industry and the future of reservation systems and Rezdy itself.

Daphne Tsevreni is the co-founder of Clio Muse Tours, a tech company that provides audio tours around the world through their mobile app. Daphne will be discussing how they find the best guides and how they produced a tour of the moon!

After working as a sustainability expert for several travel companies across Eastern and Southern Europe, Anula Galewska co-founded Travindy, the world's key source for sustainable tourism news, to help more businesses learn about responsible travel and market their sustainability efforts better.

Travel and tourism is in the midst of a Coronavirus crisis, with large scale events like the Arival and ITB Berlin being cancelled in March, and even the possibility of the Tokyo Olympics being postponed due to the Coronavirus. Whether you think this virus is a genuine threat or something that has been blown out of proportion by the media, what matters most is what your customers think.

Synden Grieve works for Expedia as a Market Manager looking after Glasgow. Previously she worked for Scottish Enterprise working on a number of tourism projects and leading on the Edinburgh Tourism Action Group's technology and digital programme for tourism businesses. She is passionate about tourism and about helping Scottish tourism businesses to become the best they can be. Synden will be discussing the key accommodation trends for Glasgow. This will include looking at 2019's key trends and what we saw throughout the year as well as having a forward look at what we expect to see for 2020 for Glasgow. Synden will also discuss trends for online customer behaviour including the importance of reviews and visual content.