2020 has shown us all that the rapidly globalizing world in the past 20 years can become localized at a tremendous speed with the closure of airports, quarantines, and social distancing rules.
Global tourism has been the center of sales and marketing strategies for almost everyone, from countries with millions of population to small travel businesses with 10 employees. Then suddenly airports became thousands of square meters in size, quiet and empty places. In these times, the countries’ economies, major airlines, and chain hotels suffered unpredictably. Local and small businesses also got their share of the coronavirus like everyone else. We can’t give a clear answer about whether the tourism boom, which agencies and hotels are looking forward to, will happen soon. But we have a couple of ideas about what they can do along the way.
The “Support Local” campaigns, which have been on the agenda of everyone from social media to news recently, show that the tide is turning and the time for local businesses has come. This means a huge opportunity for agencies, hotels, and their guests. Therefore, hotels, one of the key actors of the tourism ecosystem, can do more than wait for this process to end.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a chain hotel, a boutique hotel, or an alternative property such as camping, caravan, and bungalow, which have become increasingly popular in the past year. The first thing to do is to change your perspective. For now, it is not possible to get the same efficiency from the global online travel agencies you worked with in the pre-coronavirus period. Instead, it would be wiser to choose travel agencies that play an active role in your country or region. You can take the first step towards increasing your sales by being active in local online travel agencies and providing forward-looking, up-to-date inventory. Being online on these sales channels that you may never have worked with before will increase the visibility of your property and allow you to reach a brand new guest segment. Remember that this guest segment consists of families and travelers who have been unable to leave their homes for a long time, are bored with their environment they are in and are looking for a quick and safe getaway. By increasing the number of local agents you work with and by providing attractive offers and deals to your potential guests, you can help them make their quick getaway come true, which they have been dreaming of for a while.
By collaborating with local travel agencies, you can use your already limited budget more wisely and economically, get through the pandemic with minimum loss or even profit, invest in your own business, and, more importantly, take the first steps towards long-lasting and solid partnerships going forward.
HotelRunner is the right place to go to discover new and local online travel agencies. It offers an efficient platform for you to find the travel agencies and sales channels powerful in your regions, make your direct contract, connect and start a successful partnership.
If you are already a HotelRunner partner, you can log in to your account and start discovering new travel agencies. If you’re still not a user, it’s time to sign up for HotelRunner before it’s too late, and start a new period full of opportunities for you!
