How to Create A Travel Agency Marketing Plan

With the changing market scenario, a marketing plan should be flexible enough keeping in mind the recent and upcoming trends of the travel industry. It should be a map of your agency’s plan for success with clear and executable steps to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Moreover, you need to be sure that the fundamentals are sorted at the first place. What services do you offer, who are the target customers and what makes you different, are few of the basics that need to be done with and only after that you can start building the plan.

The Marketing Mix

Since the customer behaviour towards travel has changed with the advancement of technologies and time, the marketing mix has also extended from the conventional 4P’s of marketing to the 7P’s.

Product – The services, travel types and suppliers you sell should match your client’s requirements appropriately. If there is a scope you should always look out for development.

Price—There has to be a complete clarity in service fees, mark-ups and revenues goals. Moreover, you should continually examine your price with that of your competitors.

Place— Find a convenient place where your clients would like to interact with you, conduct your meetings there. This can be your office space or a meeting room at your client’s convenience. A suitable place for your client makes it easier to sell.

Promotion – There are four key components of promotion viz. advertising, direct selling, sales promotion and public relations. You need to mix these elements to communicate your message in a very smart way. For that you need to understand the media that your clients are exposed to. It can be billboards, TV commercials, radio spots, newspapers and social media. Direct mail, email and social media are the ones that work better for the clients of travel industry.

People – Human Resource is one of the crucial factors of a travel agency. Proper trained professionals with excellent communication are the keys to win your customers. Moreover, dealing with travel issues of clients and resolving them fast, increases customer retention.

Process – This is a way in which you deliver your service to your clients. It involves a service blueprint that defines the procedure right from taking the order till the delivery to the client. Moreover, you also need to check the lead time that takes the entire process.

Value Proposition – The first question that you should ask is ‘Why should a client buy from you instead of your competitors’? The value additions like On-time delivery, Experience on destinations, Awards won and a Strong Client Database will keep you ahead of your competitors.

Understanding the 7P’s of marketing will help you to create an effective marketing plan. But the most important part is that you need analyse the client database for understanding their preferences and requirements. Then, plan a route to reach out to them in order to communicate your product offerings or special messages. It is always better to create an annual plan with more specifics on monthly activities.