Travel Takeaway Tuesday Part V

Over the past week, more progress has been made to continue to re-open a variety of industries. Travel and tourism businesses need to be prepared to adjust messaging and attract visitors differently.

Connect Travel continues to keep us up-to-date on this progress in its ongoing webinar series. 

Here are our latest takeaways: 

Start Local Groups on Social Media

If you haven’t already, create locals-only social media groups on Facebook or LinkedIn. Use these groups to have conversations with your local business owners and community about re-opening. Encourage group members to share updates, post deals and discounts, and ask questions. 

Get Ready for Families First

Travel experts are saying that the first group of travelers post-pandemic will likely be traveling to visit family members. Many people haven’t seen their family in months, and are eager to visit with them as soon as they can. Experts recommend continuing to foster engagement with your locals, because they will be tour guides for their families when they visit. 

Welcome Smaller Groups

Tour operators predict that group travel will be smaller in size for a while. It will be unlikely that tour groups will be over 30 or 40 people due to the lingering challenges. For international groups, it will be more difficult to find airline seating availability, and many foreign travelers will be concerned about health and safety. Attractions need to be prepared to accommodate and welcome smaller tour groups in the future.

Distribute Post-Visit Surveys

Safety and health protocols will be important to maintain and communicate with visitors for the rest of this year, and possibly into next year. When attractions first start welcoming back visitors, they should follow up with short surveys to gauge the visitor experience. 

Some important questions to consider are:

• Did you feel that the facility and grounds we properly cleaned and sanitized?
• Did you feel that visitors were able to practice social distancing easily?
• How could we improve our post-pandemic processes?

The “new normal” will be different than the past, but all destinations are facing the same challenges together. Stay tuned for our latest travel takeaways, and stay connected as we navigate these times together.

By Bethany, Social Media & Public Relations Strategist | June 2, 2020