3 Actions Smart Travel Professionals do to avoid going bankrupt

Trust the Wait. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. When nothing is certain, anything is possible. Mandy Hale

I would say it’s easier said than done 😊

But the truth lies there. When we can’t really influence how things are going in our lives, then there is a trend to be confused, irritated and maybe fed up with everything.

It becomes hard to accept the scenario we’re living and not able to do the things that we need to do for our emotional stability and even for our survival.

In these circumstances we tend to see the world in our own eyes and avoid to work it out how to rebuild trust in the system, in life and even in ourselves.

But the good thing is. There is still Air to breathe and we are certainly Not the only ones in this struggle.

I’ve seen businesses being in worst conditions and still being able to put their ideas together to come up with solutions.

Industries like Tourism and Retail which have been severely affected by this pandemic are now looking for ways to reinvent themselves.

In a time where your business processes are being scrutinized, travel professionals are finding innovative ways to be visible in the market despite the current conditions in which each destination is living with travel bans, social distancing, health prevention measures and much more…

What we’ve also seen is travel professionals turning to Online methods to be more visible in this thriving times. Check it out the Airbnb experiences created by some creative tour operators.

And they’re not the only ones because with the almost-total disappearance of all channels that involve face-to-face meetings, individuals and businesses are looking for ways to continue to network and not loose track of deals and clients. A very good article by Forbes shows this reality.

Therefore, the acquisition of digital skills to be able to deliver more service to prospects in the future has become a priority for thousands of travel professionals. If you have these skills, you won’t be just digitally prepared to save your business but it will also enable you to help other people as well in other industries.

1) Digital Marketing Training

A Google Marketing approach to address the issue of covid 19 has defined how their guided their digital campaign during these sensitive times of coronavirus.

But, being able to understand the fundamentals of marketing and adjust them to your business can be a challenge sometimes.

Posting on Facebook or creating a slideshow on Instagram is just one of those things people do for fun. And with the resources you have nowadays, will only take you few seconds to do it.

But actually using those resources and aligning them with marketing strategies to convert users into clients, requires some effort in learning about how these processes work.

A simple trick like getting 5 people to comment on your linkedIN posts for 30 days, can be a real game changer if you know what you want to achieve.

2) Creating a message that matters

Writing a message that resonates with your target audience, considering the times that we are living, will for sure capture your prospect’s attention more easily. It will mean that you understand them, know how they are feeling and you can be sensitive and relevant at same time when writing your content on different digital channels.

A good example is to for example to see how some tourism boards are addressing the coronavirus reality and delivering a message to their audience to still be connected despite the absence of travelling.

Visit Portugal replaced by Read Portugal, source: Visit Portugal

Use of #traveltomorrow on social media, source: UNWTO

Use of #StayHomeEarnMiles, by Thai Airways, Timely. Relevant. Clever. During hashtag#COVID19, Thai Airways is giving people miles for not going anywhere. 1 mile for every 4hrs of staying home!

Even if consumers can’t travel, it doesn’t mean they can’t engage with travel brands during this time. Staying close to customers is extremely important for any company during this crisis.

The CEO of upwork, Hayden Brown, has also mentioned in an interview to CNBC in April 2020 that:

We’ve seen an increase of copy writing requests from businesses who are transferring their mortar and brick processes to an online presence.

Therefore the need for copy has increase dramatically.

3) Take a word of advise

Sometimes, we do and repeat the same process over and over and we still don’t see any results.

Sometimes we need to give the benefit of the doubt and it might be and a some small changes in your social profiles or an eye catching call to action on your website, can lead to getting enquiries and leads more frequently.

These are just some of the actions we’ve seen growing exponentially since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak. Everyone wants to be alive in their own area of expertise. The ones that will win it? Hard to say and not even the most tactical analysts can predict. But one thing is fore sure and Alexander Bell already warned us that Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.