How to find partner resellers for your tours and activities

Finding partner resellers for your tours and activity products is easy, there’s a bunch of them in the market right now. But as a tour operator, you should know that not all resellers and online travel agents are the same. The key is to find competent and dependable ones to partner with. Follow these tips to help identify the best partner resellers for your tours and activities.  

Showcase the advantage of your tour over others

This is where having a unique niche or products can come handy. Stand out from the crowd and highlight the benefits of your tours. Stay up to date with the latest industry trends, and make it clear you're an industry leader.

If you have a real-time availability check through your booking system or website, then make sure people know about it. This gives your company an edge when it comes to convenience.  

Focus your marketing campaign in your local market

Running a successful local advertising campaign will show your potential partners the benefits of working with you.  

There are many things you can work on to build your brand locally, such as the following:

Networking at local events

Tourism conferences, seminars, and trade shows are ideal opportunities to build your network and find potential partners. Join as many as you can and try to talk to as many people as possible. You.never know which ones will give you the best chance to grow as a business. 

Make sure you do your research about other participants and scout for potential partners before the events. Introduce yourself and present your company, tours, and products in an engaging way.   

Build your online presence

Invite your guests to visit and leave a review on your Facebook, Google, and TripAdvisor pages. You may need to respond to some of the comments. Make sure to respond and acknowledge these reviews on every social media platform you are on.   

Make sure you respond to negative ones and be polite and helpful as much as possible.   

Modify your tours and products to suit the international market 

With any luck, you'll eventually reach the point where your offering is so popular with local and national visitors, you'll start attracting international visitors. When this happens, be prepared to reshape your tours to suit the needs of the international market.   

Do your due diligence. Research and be open to changes to accommodate the international market. Make sure you adapt your marketing campaigns for the tours to suit the specific international market you are targeting.  

Avoid mistakes in commission rates

Agents work for commission rates; it’s how they get paid - promoting your brand and booking guests for you. However, there are two types of rates you should know about: retail rate (amount paid by a customer) and net rate (what agents seek to add to the commission).  

Obviously, you want different commission rates for different types of agents, and the type of distribution rate (domestic or international). Make sure you demonstrate that you understand the standards of the industry. The typical commission rate for tour operators is at 10 to 15%. That means $100 to $150 for every $1,000 booking. Of course, you can always negotiate this with your resellers and adjust accordingly for low seasons.