What Does the Smart Traveler Expect from You (Travel Agency)?

Before we begin, what defines a smart traveler? No, a smart traveler is not the former valedictorian of your class or received an A+ on an exam, but a traveler who has emotional and mental intelligence when it comes to traveling. The smart traveler looks at every aspect of travel and how to make the best out of the destination, experiences, budget and most importantly, impact within the country. 

So what do smart travelers expect from you, the travel agency?

1. Transparency 

Transparency is the practice of being straightforward about your company’s operations and its values, mission and goals. There is plenty of room for every company to thrive and what works for one customer may not work for another, so you don’t need to fit in to be everybody’s cup of tea. However, the smart traveler is also a smart consumer and when they make decisions, they need to be well informed. They are able to do research on their own, aren’t afraid to ask questions and look for transparency when booking their trip. So, therefore, start with your itineraries, don’t be afraid to include price breakdowns, how much commission you’re taking, inclusions and exclusions as well as how pricing might change, should a client book during high or low season. Build trust between your company and the consumer without fear of losing a customer. If your company also provides impact that makes you pay hosts above market value for experiences, include that. Ethical and sustainable practices aren’t necessarily limited to environmental reasons, it could also be anything that deals with the ecosystem and business you’re in. 

According to a 2011 study by researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, it takes 0.05 seconds for a customer to form their opinion about your website. These stats, while studied in 2011 are still ringing true today. The consumer is looking for very quick and useful transparent information. 

2. Clear, Concise Communication

This is probably the most important part of being able to tie together transparency and communication together. Do not beat around the bush, be clear and concise when it comes to communicating anything on your website or your social media outlets. Don’t be the company that falls under the umbrella of enticing the customer through clickbait, such as great pricing, but then hiding terms and conditions until the customer gets to the checkout. At the end of the day, driving traffic to your site and converting them into sales should be part of your messaging strategy. Clear and concise communication includes the following: prioritizing the most important information first, thinking about the first line the customer should read, adding infographics or visuals if the information is too much to consume and coming up with great taglines or content to keep the customer enticed. 

A 2021 study found that over 66% look to fast communication and responses when booking a decision. 

3. Knowledge

Part of Global Tribes’ business strategy is serving as the bridge between the traveling agency and the reseller through its business-to-business model or through the business-consumer model which is bridging together the travel agency and selling it to the consumer directly. This means that when we look to partner with travel agencies, we look for local knowledge and local ground operations. There is the comfort of not only employing or working with a local travel agency on ground but also creating a bridge of open communication that can be met with a lot of knowledge. For instance, we can direct questions that the consumer may ask or understand the insights of a destination since they are experts in their own country. We can direct sensitive questions or information, being able to communicate clearly and openly about the needs we have for our customer database. Local ground operations are also protective over pricing, they can understand how the pricing works, recommend better options and be honest about any practices that may put the customer at risk. 

This knowledge can also serve as a key indicator for the takeaway of how a customer feels when going on a trip, hint, we wrote an article about experiential tourism, check it out. 

4. Technical Capacity 

Invest in your technical capacity. Invest, invest, invest. The smart traveler is most likely the traveler who isn’t afraid to invest in new technology or gadgets, try something new and is looking for innovative ways that won’t get in the way of their booking process. Think like them, invest in talent that can help increase your technical capacity and join along for the ride. This all depends on your customer profiles, the ages, the type of activities they like to do, but increasing your technical capacity means that you need to have the budget as your foremost priority…because as we stated before, your website is going to get judged by its cover and you only have 0.05 seconds to impress. 

5. Buying Process Streamlined

It’s sad, but true, you need to be a one-stop shop for everything that the traveler needs. A smart traveler is willing to pay a little more if it means that they can guarantee everything in one spot and be able to navigate all of their travel options in one compartment. They don’t want to go to a separate booking site for their plane ticket and another website for their accommodation and then another website for their experiences. By being able to streamline the process in one place, they can guarantee safety when it comes to booking their trips and this means that as a travel agency, you can create meaningful partnerships to include these aspects on your website. 

6. A Face to A Name

Community management is so important and extremely necessary in creating a relationship between the consumer and your company. Create a fun face for your company, someone that isn’t afraid to communicate with customers, answer sensitive questions and generally be open to any feedback. This person can be responsible for also creating research and development to further enhance your practices and be able to share new trends that customers are asking for. You can also do this through micro and large-scale influencers. 

7. Conscious Practices

We believe in conscious practices and our first mission is to work with local travel agencies in the destination of choice. For us, this creates a conscious effort, because we look to small and medium scaled travel agencies that can connect us with local experiences, and unique activities for the traveler and can create transparency. This also means that we can also offer the consumer multiple options when it comes to booking, we can provide off-season, and low-season options and aren’t afraid to also mix it up and include different modes of transportation or accommodation even if it isn’t the first popular choice. In the end, conscious practices look to travel as a whole with integrity and at the forefront and aren’t afraid to charge a little more if it includes a more holistic approach and is a win-win for the consumer and the agency. We are all looking to add a bit more good in this world, even if it is just one small impact. The smart traveler also appreciates this, because their well-informed decision-making also takes in every aspect when it comes to travel in mind.