Partnerships are crucial in nearly every industry as they serve as catalysts for success, fostering increased awareness, growing a community, and delivering positive returns on investment.
Let's explore the significance of partnerships in the travel industry and discover various types you can leverage for success.
Why are partnerships important in the travel industry?
Such partnerships provide a unique avenue to tap into previously unreached customer segments. Furthermore, they can offer valuable means of proactively supporting the local economy and small businesses.
In areas where travel companies join forces, a more tourist-friendly environment emerges, ultimately contributing to a vibrant tourism sector.
Travel business partnerships are also an excellent avenue for achieving a favourable ROI. Additionally, through a well-structured partnership agreement, both brands can mutually promote each other without incurring financial costs, effectively boosting brand awareness.
Five partnerships within the travel and tourism sector to consider
1. Referring each other’s holiday services with travel agents
Many may not be aware, but travel agents pioneered the travel game, providing excellent examples of travel and tourism partnerships. Today, many still depend on these services to book their upcoming vacations and packages, drawn by the convenience and, at times, the cost-effectiveness they offer.
Travel agents can also refer your tours and activities to their guests and clients, effectively boosting awareness of your business.
2. Increase brand awareness with online travel platforms
When discussing noteworthy partnerships in the tourism sector, it's essential to emphasise the role of online travel platforms. For travel and tourism operators today, establishing connections with online companies like KLOOK is a fundamental step.
Companies like KLOOK, Agoda and Booking provide access to fresh markets, travellers, and customers. For instance, you can collaborate on a tailored promotion on each other's platforms, ensuring it reaches an audience genuinely interested in your services.
3. Display attractive brochures at hotels and hostels
Partnering with hotels and hostels is a great way to increase awareness. They are often keen to partner with tour and travel companies because it enhances the overall guest experience, providing value for their guests.
These collaborations with hotels and hostels can be formal, like connecting with a hotel distribution partner, or informal–distributing brochures, which they display for their guests. That's why you see various brochures of activities or recommendations whenever you stay at a hotel.
The closer the partnership, the more beneficial it is for your brand. When guests seek recommendations for activities from hoteliers, they can readily suggest your company, demonstrating an effective form of top-of-mind marketing.
4. Offer coupons and discount codes from restaurants and cafes
Tour and activity businesses can explore a variety of creative approaches to collaborate with local cafes and restaurants.
It includes offering coupons and discount codes to travellers and featuring visits to these eateries as an integral part of your packages. You might have seen examples of restaurant recommendations on travel websites promoting an offer or an exclusive price when you purchase a travel package.
Another excellent example of top-of-mind-marketing, incorporating cafe and restaurant recommendations, can elevate the overall tour experience by immersing interested parties in authentic local cuisine, providing them with a genuine taste of the destination–similarly, growing your brand following.
5. Leverage influencers’ content and review for marketing purposes
Collaborating with influencers offers an exceptional opportunity to enhance your brand's visibility significantly. Influencers possess the capability to craft content that specifically highlights your unique selling points, creating tailored narratives that resonate with their dedicated followers. Their reach extends to a diverse group of audiences, tapping into niche markets and broader demographics, enabling your brand to connect with a wider and more engaged community.
When was the last instance you chose a travel destination or booked a holiday without the influence of someone else, perhaps an influencer, who had shared their experiences or insights about it? For many social media users, this serves as a valuable prelude to their online exploration, providing them with the opportunity to encounter your offerings and reviews and evaluations of influencers before trying out themselves.
The takeaway
Travel brand partnerships bring out a level of excitement into your brand's identity. Instead of sticking to routine offerings, you can orchestrate seasonal joint promotions, unique giveaways, and exclusive offers, spurring additional enthusiasm around your brand.
The above are merely a few examples of the partnerships the travel industry can leverage and gain substantial benefits.
If you're a tour and travel brand looking to start a partnership with influencers, don’t hesitate to reach out to Partipost–we can definitely help!