Here's how you can meet deadlines in the travel and tourism industry with time-saving strategies.

To meet deadlines in the travel and tourism industry, use technology like comprehensive management software for efficiency. Prioritize tasks with tools like the Eisenhower Box and create detailed schedules. Utilize automated systems for repetitive tasks and standardized communication templates to streamline operations. Delegate responsibilities and consider outsourcing non-core functions to focus on service delivery. Incorporate buffer time in schedules to handle unexpected delays and regularly review processes using key performance indicators to ensure continuous improvement.

Prioritize is of utmost importance and ensure you have a your quick information source to Google for updated information. The worst thing is to procrastinate!

One thing I have found useful is to have a daily quick 5-10min check-in with the team at the start and end of day so that each person knows what to prioritize and work on.

Delegating tasks correctly is vital in the travel industry. So, prior to this it is importance to identify each team members strengths so that you can delegate most efficiently and effectively. But it is also important that you look not into external trainings so that skills improve, but within the teams, have them teach and mentor each other so that people become multi-skilled.

The next generation booking platforms come with many of these features which optimises resources. However there's many ways of ensuring intelligent and efficient design. Crucially remaining so is often the key challenge as departments grow and focus on this lost. One of the worst failing is not accounting for a process change and there's no excuse for thinking this would be enough.

It is important that you also get suppliers on board with this. As a tour operator, we find that we play a key role in helping our suppliers improve and also embrace technology for better communication. Saying that, don’t lose the personal touch in all the technology - communication and connection is most effective when you have built solid personal relationships with everyone from clients, team members and suppliers.

Staying adaptable in the travel industry and how you deal with the unexpected is often the difference between a good and great company. This step quite often requires you to have all the other steps already mentioned in place. The unexpected and things out of our control can happen, but clients will remember how you dealt with the situation to ensure a perfect trip for them and that is also going to then increase your referrals (am saying this from personal experience).

One thing which we’ve found to be most helpful is developing good connections with our suppliers. Don’t ever lose this in getting everything streamlined through technology.