How to create powerful travel itineraries: Our tips and templates
There are no secrets here…itineraries are sort of our thing. We live and breathe them every day, and have been developing software that makes it easier to create them for over 10 years. We’ve helped create thousands of itineraries, from the simplest single day trips, through to complex multi-destination tailor-made itineraries …. you could say we’ve learned a thing or two along the way!
Here are our top tips for creating powerful itineraries that will delight your customers.
1. Consistency is Key
When staff numbers begin to grow businesses often feel a number of different growing pains. One of those, in particular, is the inability to control the look and feel of all of the documents that your team is producing. Ensuring the correct language is being used, the most up to date branding, font styles, and correct pricing are all things that should be kept consistent – after all, an itinerary is a living representation of your business offering. Wanting to keep a close handle on how your business is represented to the world is absolutely something that you should care about.
Putting in place good procedures and processes early on will help make your document creation a more scalable activity as you grow. Try implementing brand guidelines and using technology to automate your itinerary creation. Tour operator software is designed to remove the chance of human error, the system is forced to work within the preset styling and information you’ve given it, meaning you won’t be spending any more time double-checking everyone’s documents! *insert sigh of relief*
2. Make it Accessible
You know better than anyone just how often last minute changes occur. It could be weather events, flight cancellations, or your client simply loved one of your destinations so much that they had to stay for another 2 nights! Publishing itineraries online means you can seamlessly update your clients’ itineraries direct to the cloud at the press of a button, eliminating the stress that often comes along with those uncontrollable changes.
To make matters even better, online itineraries mean your travelers have the best of both worlds: A beautifully printed itinerary, and a dynamic online one that they can access from any of their devices at any time, no matter where in the world they may be…talk about convenient!
3. Find the Right Balance
Everyone is different, it’s up to you to get to know your target market and understand what they respond best to in an itinerary. Some travelers will prefer simple line items whereas others may favor an itinerary rich with details and imagery covering each leg of their upcoming journey. Once you know what makes them tick, tailor your itinerary style to suit. It’s a small detail, but it’s the little things that will make you stand out over and above your competitors. Click here to view the printed itinerary templates for tour operators that come with our software.
4. Use Your Resources
If your itineraries have you stumped and you feel like you’ve hit a wall, don’t be afraid to reach out to other resources in the industry. Online knowledge libraries, webinars, and industry organizations are all good places to start when you’re looking for a little bit of extra help with your itineraries. If you’re already working with a tour operator software provider they can also act as an excellent soundboard and will be able to point you in the right direction as well.
