Many travel brands are wondering where to next. We’re here to help you differentiate your brand and take it to market, to make it easier for you to hit the reboot button.

The impact of the pandemic on the industry, on destinations and how people travel, calls for a new approach, new connections and some significant business adjustments to get the trade going again.

When in crisis, seek opportunity

Your top two reboot challenges are: your traditional products or destinations may no longer be relevant, and for many of your trade partners, it may not be business as usual.

What do travellers want?

The most pervasive travel motivation now is escape – the question is how. The pandemic mist is parting to reveal a lusty appetite for mindful tourism, including: sustainability and all it entails for destinations, the environment, local economies and cultures; gender and ethnic inclusivity; once-in-a-lifetime experiential travel; and vetted, COVID-safe experiences. Can you compete in this context?

Search engines don’t lie. Online searches for ‘hotels near me’, ‘social distancing’, and ‘green tourism’ lead a digital breadcrumb trail to what travellers are dreaming about right now: meaningful experiences, closer to home rather than in far-flung destinations; family or small group visits in managed travel bubbles; longer stays in single destinations; privately guided or independent travel; the freedom of outdoor spaces and safe, urban adventures too. To be competitive, you need to be relevant, on-trend, and adapt your offerings.

Who’s open for business?

Nobody knows when the days of in-person networking with trade partners will change, and how. All we know for sure is that we can’t wait to find out. It can take time and trust to forge new partnerships, source new, reliable products, or develop new experiences from existing partnerships. Fragmentation and disconnect within the travel trade is a major obstacle – can you overcome this and move your business forward?

Under the circumstances, it’s hard to keep track of which businesses remain operational and to what extent. If you’re a DMC, you need to know which product suppliers are still around. If you manage a property or activity, you want to compete for new business knowing that some of your regular agents may be in business hibernation. If you’re a tour operator, you may consider selling new destinations while others remain closed to travel or to your target market. It may even be time to target other travel markets. By the way, the trade is probably also wondering if your brand is still relevant and open for business!

Give your business the reboot

We recommend you connect with trade partners, explore new destinations to sell, and collaborate on new experiences and content to attract new markets. That might sound like too much work over a long time, with costly processes and multiple tools, and lots of hope and prayer. Luckily, you have access to a centralised, global networking solution.

Attract new business

As an accommodation, restaurant or activity supplier listed in Wetu, you have the advantage of digital presence and connection. Now to get aggressive with product visibility and exposure, and to simplify your distribution channel mix. Make your products more attractive to Wetu users trying to adapt to new trends, so that you become their next best alternative.

Have you adapted your offering?

  • Update your product content to reflect any changes.
  • Showcase property refurbs, amenity upgrades or ‘green’ enhancements in your content. 
  • Document hygiene and safety protocols, and make this information freely available on your iBrochure or connect directly with trade partners using WetuShare.
  • Upload more (and better) visual imagery and product info to your listing to bolster its content rating in Wetu, and make it more attractive to operators and agents building itineraries.

Your product stands a better chance of being picked if it looks phenomenal in client proposals. This is even true for members of the global trade that only access Wetu for free content. More eyes on your product with a lot less effort, gets you higher returns on your content investment.

Source new partners

As a tour operator, DMC or travel agent, you have easy pickings from a vast content bank of properties and activities that share your vision. Check the listings of your preferred suppliers to see if they’re open for business or find alternatives that match the new experiences you wish to promote.

Looking for new partners and destinations to sell?

  • Conduct an iBrochure search from your Dashboard to see what’s available in those destinations. 
  • If the content you find lacks panache, encourage the supplier directly for an update and involve them with your plans.
  • Strengthen your messaging and branding by customising content – use only your own or use hybrid content for your client proposals.
  • Re-brand the iBrochures of relevant products with your logo and enable agents that re-sell your tours onto other markets to add their own branding to your itineraries too.

This empowers you to develop new offerings, incorporate services for that desirable end-to-end travel buyer experience, and to go about marketing and re-selling them efficiently.

Your next starts here

Pent-up travel demand is simmering deliciously on the back burner. This is just a friendly reminder that the resources you need to reboot your business are within your grasp.

Login to your Wetu Dashboard today, and start exploring your next.

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