13 Things to Do at the End of the Tourism Season

For Tourism Operators:

Labour Day Weekend in North America signals the end of summer for many and with it, the end of family vacations, visits and travel.  June, July and August is peak tourism season in the northern hemisphere and tourism operators work like bees to create a good time, comfort, memories and great experiences.

With the end of this busy season in sight, the list of work continues as things are getting wrapped up.  Here are a few marketing ideas to consider:

Manage Contact Information

• Organize your list of names and addresses of guests and customers that you collected during this past season.

• Segment your contact lists (couples, families, boomers... whatever is suitable for your business).  

• Capture the contact information in a contact management system (Google Contacts, Batchbook, Zoho CRM, Microsoft Outlook Address Book or an Excel Spreadsheet) or in an email program (Constant Contact, MailChimp or StreamSend)

Follow Up

• Send a follow-up e-newsletter with photos from the summer and a bit of news to encourage happy memories to linger a bit longer. If it makes sense in your business, create different version of your e-newsletter for different segments of your list, i.e. outdoor enthusiasts; theatre-lovers; families, honeymooners etc.

• Send a sincere thank-you note or card - make sure your business gets a fond spot in the email box, on the fridge, album or notice board.

Continue the Relationship on Social Media

• Invite guests to become a part of your social community on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or YouTube.  Continue conversations with your guests on these social channels.

• Search for photos, tweets, blogs or videos that were posted by guests or visitors to your region, establishment or town and comment, link, "friend" or "like" the content.

• Add a Facebook "like" button to your website as well as social media buttons to your social channels.

Freshen up your Website

• Update your website with photographs and images for the new season to encourage a few more weeks of travel during the shoulder season.

• Post photos to your website and invite your guests to provide their favourite pictures for your site. 

Create Packages

• Plan travel packages with other tourism operators in your area or a location along the route for the new season.

Testimonials

• Update testimonials on your site and invite your list to submit testimonials to sites like Canada Select and Tripadvisor.

Learn and Network

• Plan for your own professional development and register to attend one of our workshops! You may learn a few new things but also network with like-minded people.