Don’t Overlook the Opportunities in Selling Group Tours

While most group tour travelers are senior citizens, marketing group tours to younger travelers is an untapped opportunity. Expedia’s Millennial Traveler Report found that this generation is more concerned about risk when traveling and more intimidated at the thought of going it alone than other generations. Group tours can be an ideal way to alleviate those Millennial concerns.

How to make group tours appeal to Millennials? Emphasize these aspects:

• Cost/value: The Millennial generation had a tough time getting their careers going. Although they’re willing to splurge, they look for value in their purchases. Millennials who choose not to purchase an independent trip after seeing the price of buying individual trip components may find the inclusions of a group tour present a compelling price advantage.

• Safety: Millennials grew up in the unsettled post-9/11 world, so it’s no wonder they’re uneasy about safety when traveling alone. Group travel provides the reassurance that there’s an organization behind them, overseeing the journey. The trip leader is a resource that can help travelers with any issues they encounter. When travelers go on excursions offered by a group tour, they can be assured that the operator was vetted and is reliable.

• Authenticity: There’s a strong desire for authentic cultural experiences, which are often built into group tours. By providing licensed guides at sites, travelers receive insight that they may not get by visiting on their own or with information from a website. Tour operators are able to use their pull to arrange behind-the-scenes access that isn’t available to individual travelers; at many attractions, there are special group tours that offer hands-on experiences that single travelers can’t get.

Once you’ve identified the selling points that will make group tours appeal to Millennial travelers, marketing needs to reach out to them on their terms:

• Social media: Social media marketing is key for this demographic. They search for information online through social media sites that go beyond Facebook and Twitter to Instagram, Pinterest and more. Enable potential travelers to communicate with you through any technology they choose, including tweeting and texting. Social media is especially important for generating word of mouth and future business, as Millennials rely on their friends’ online advice to make purchasing decisions.

• Online booking: Upgrade your mobile booking site to make it easy to purchase packages from an app. Millennials are more likely than other generations to use their phones to research and book travel.

• Offer online reviews: Millennials want to see other travelers’ opinions on the trip they’re about to book. Offer easy access to honest reviews that present both the good and bad of the group tour experience.

• Use video: Millennials are visually oriented. Include videos on your site that show the travel experience and let them picture themselves traveling on the tour. Most of the tour operators have extensive video libraries including 360-degree footage shot by drones.

One last key to selling group tours online: experiment. Online travel agencies don’t have a lot of experience selling group tours. In an interview with Skift, the CEO of The Travel Corporation, which has more than 25 travel brands, discusses that they’ve tried to get their products onto online travel agency sites with limited success. Because there isn’t a lot of experience selling these products through online agencies, there is no industry-standard for this. That means companies can experiment with new methods to find what works. Agencies that do this well may find it becomes a key differentiator between them and their competitors. These products can offer substantial commissions, so success in selling them, whether to Millennials or to other generations, can lead to significant profits for an agency that finds a way to market these trips successfully.