6 Ways Your Hotel Can Partner with Local Tour Operators to Boost Revenue and Provide a Better Guest Experience

Take these steps to offer guests local experiences centered around popular attractions, local cuisine and local culture.

Fewer than 20 percent of local tours, sightseeing and other tourism activities are bookable online, according to travel research and news source PhocusWire. That low percentage is due to the fact that the local tours sector is “greatly fragmented, consisting of millions of small, independently owned operators,” says PhocusWire.

Most small, local tour operators simply don’t have the resources and technology to offer local tours and sightseeing online, says PhocusWire.

Hotel owners, managers and staff have a good idea of their guests’ preferences, along with knowing all the local hot spots for sightseeing, city tours, favorite attractions and more. That knowledge places hotels in the ideal position to connect their guests to local tours and activities while boosting their ancillary revenue, says PhocusWire.

Today’s hotel guests expect more than just a place to sleep and are often eager to enjoy local experiences, according to “Hotel’s Digital Divide,” a report from Alice, a hotel operations platform, and YouGov. The survey found that during their stay, hotel guests are most interested in the following local experiences:

• Food tastings and tours of local cuisine: 40 percent
• Guided tours of the city or town: 36 percent
• A learning center where they can find out more about the city’s culture and what living there is like for residents: 33 percent
• Tours of local breweries, distilleries and wineries: 27 percent

Selling local tours and experiences to guests is an “effective revenue booster” while also working as a “significant guest experience enhancer,” without requiring a lot of staff time and effort, according to Trivago Business Blog.

Here are six tips for working with local tour operators to provide your guests with access to local and outlying attractions for a better guest experience.

1. Partner with local tour operators

Partnering with local tour operators and providers of local activities is an easy way for your hotel to “get in on the action of selling local experiences” to earn additional revenue according to Trivago: “In this case, the partner takes care of designing and providing the experience, while the property receives referral fees or commissions.”

2. Offer bundled room and tour packages

Offer “bundled” local tours and activities as packages included with accommodations to make booking tours easy for guests who plan to sightsee and experience what your city has to offer, says PhocusWire.

3. Offer experience add-ons

PhocusWire recommends offering guests the option to purchase “experience add-ons” for a price that can be added to the cost of the room reservation in advance, upon arrival or anytime during the guest’s stay.

4. Make your hotel the “hero of the destination”

Present your hotel in marketing campaigns as the “hero of the destination” and the best choice to stay while exploring shopping, dining, museums, family attractions, entertainment, nightlife and more, advises PhocusWire:

“Combine this with a strong website merchandising program, focused on the uniqueness of the hotel product and its value proposition, and you have a successful strategy.”

5. Stay on top of seasonal tours

“Keep your local experience offerings up to date with the season or events,” recommends Trivago. “Guests will want to know about and be able to experience unique festivals, special seasonal activities, and other uncommon happenings.”

6. Ask for guest feedback

When booking, ask guests in advance what kinds of local experiences they’d like to have during their stay, advises Trivago. Then tweak your sightseeing and tour packages according to guest preference data gathered over time.