2019 Aug 3

How to Be the Best Travel Agency in the Area

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Traveling is fun. Having a traveling agency can feel just as rewarding… But it can also be an absolute nightmare. To make it work, you need to be communicating with vendors, visitors, and travelers all the time. Technical difficulties aside, with all the competition in the field, being the best travel agency around is far from being easy.

Just as with any business to be excellent at it, you need to put in a lot of work. If you have been looking for ways to join the list of the best travel agencies in Dubai, you have found yourself in the right place at the right time.

Start with yourself

To be the best company in the area, you should first inspect yourself.

Determine what you have and what you lack. Objectively try to understand what would you like to achieve. Learn from your existing customers what they most like and dislike about you. Conduct a company audit and do it properly. If you skip on this step, the only person you will lie to is yourself.

Here are some of the things you should be paying close attention to if you want your business to prosper (which let’s be honest, you definitely do).

– Who represents you

Take care of your employees and choose them carefully. Travel agencies are customer-oriented services, and the travel agents your customers come in contact with are essential to your business. Treat them well, train them well, and they will make your customers happy.

So, never save up on your employees. Think of the ways to motivate them. Be clear and transparent with your communication and treat them like people. Have rules and enforce them, but also give them freedom.

The travelers come to travel agencies when they want a human understanding. Leverage that human aspect, pushing your employees to do their best and reward them when they do.

Functions of travel agencies

To understand how you can improve and learn about people’s expectations when you should first know the functions of travel agencies.

  • Provide information and expertise
  • Recommend destinations according to the needs of the client
  • Provide help with visas, accommodations, and other documents
  • Process travel arrangements
  • Assist in case of refunds

You can see that the role of travel agencies spreads wider than just buying tickets and recommending hotels. A travel agency is essentially a mediator that takes the pain and the difficulty of traveling away.

So if you want to be the best you need to perfect all of those services, your company needs to inspire trust. To make it happen, you need to take responsibility and help customers with all travel-related questions. The first step to being the best travel agency is making sure you do your job well because it is what will pay off in a longer run.

– Types of travel agencies

Just like some people like to be prepared when traveling and others prefer to be less organized about it, agencies differ in their specializations. Some agencies only offer business travel arranging services. Some focus on regular sales; others focus on specialized travel offers. Choose the one you want to do the most.

If you are just starting, the specialization will help you get a specific segment and target it with all your marketing activities. As with any other business, having a specific goal and target is much more productive than just targeting everyone for its own sake.

In the end, it might be not about being the best travel agency for everyone in the world, but it is quite possible to become the one for your favorite art-obsessed travelers.

– Branding your agency

You might think, is not it something that only larger corporations should think about? And you will be wrong. It is what all companies should think about, because a brand strategy can help a company to deal with customers, making better financial decisions, etc. If you want to be the best travel agency in the region you cannot let faith take control over it.

You also need to make sure you have a brand identity you can present to other people and use in your marketing. It is a large subject — banding includes everything from a logo to packaging.

Pick a name that connects with traveling and use the elements in all your marketing and promotions. Keep it simple, consistent, and memorable.

– Sponsorships and collaborations

It is not a secret that as a travel agency, you will need to be dealing with airline companies, hotels, and other destinations. To make sure your company has a good name; however, you need to keep all in check.

One bad deal can kill your travel agency. If the traveler ends up having serious problems with checking in or with the condition of the hotel, you can forget about a loyal customer. And the better agency is the one that has the most loyal customers that are not afraid to spread a word about the services. That is how you build a reputation and what is the meaning of ‘best’ if not reputation.

So, instead of just taking on any deal that comes from just any company be selective. It is excellence we are going for not a scam or mediocrity. Do your background check before signing a deal and always advocate for your customer. Yes, you are getting a percentage, but you should not be an easy target for just any hotel that wants to profit off uneducated customers.

Promoting your travel agency

Now, after you have understood your company and fixed its imperfections from within it is time to get a word around about it.

You have a lot of tools in your arsenal, branding being one of them. Here is an overview of two marketing strategies you should be combining to bring make the promotion of your traveling agency as effective as it can be.

– Traditional marketing

Traditional marketing for traveling agencies is still just as important as it used to be. People usually come to the location physically, which means you need you to get a perfect opportunity to establish loyalty and spread a word about your company.

Using traditional marketing tools like table displays is going to do the job. They will help you promote your company and your partners right in the office. If you gift your customers something before they leave — a piece of corporate merchandise — things will only get better.

Make your place feel all nice and work. Place a couple of custom mugs around so that your guests can wait with comfort. When talking to them have all of your offers ready.

– Digital marketing

Most of the agencies heavily rely on their physical location. The digital presence is, however, just as significant.

Luckily, the digital marketing strategy for the best travel agencies in Dubai will not differ much from one salon to another. The underlining principles are very similar.

A quality website will not only from the searches but also make it easier to find you. Website aside, in the age of the platforms like Yelp, you need to not only have a presence but also work on it. All the time. As scary as it sounds, your travel agency will be the best in the area only if your online presence is of the top quality.

Make your website visually appealing. Have a submission form for people to leave their question. Optimize it for search engines (good old SEO). You cannot go wrong with that.

Best Travel Agency

The best travel agency is the one that knows its priorities.

And here you have it, a guide to becoming the best in the area in a couple of not-so-easy steps! But let us assure you, the struggle will be worth it.

Yes, we can write about all the strategies in the world but becoming the best takes determination. It is about being sensitive to the details and looking out for the best.

A priority of the top travel agency is its customers and their comfort. So, no matter what you do — let them be your guiding principle.

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