What are good practices for client prospection to grow my tour business?

Hi everyone, my name is Averil (founder and guide at Prague Feminist Tours). I'm new to the world of tourism and I need your help.

I'm looking for advice, especially from fellow self-employed guides, on what are good practices to find clients.

For now, I've mostly managed to find local customers (living in Prague), but not exactly tourists.

Except from a good use of social media and network, what is important to do? Leave brochures in key places? Submit your tours on online platforms for a fee? Send out emails?

Thanks a lot in advance for your wisdom! 😊

I would advise you to first make a website and then place information about yourself on Google map and Tripadvisor.

Hello
Welcome to the world of tourism 👋
My advice is that you build good relationships, provide quality with your tours and share your story👍

The rest will happen.

Create blog posts around Feminist tours and sightseeing trips and syndicate your content to social media and other travel platforms.

Another way to bring in new clients is to use some special software to set up an affiliate marketing program for one or more of your travel services and offer them for a commission to potential affiliates, influencers, and YouTubers.

Hi Averil, thanks for asking and a great question.

If you’re a solo business owner then my best advice would be to prioritize and focus on channels that can make the most immediate impact.

Establishing traffic (and converting) to your website and listing on OTAs might take over a year to see a return on investment (especially with a free tour model).

Have you explored B2B sales models, such as providing your tours to a conference/company retreat/school? You could probably build higher value, bespoke experiences with these kinds of clients, and use your branding/free tours as your “CV” to gain trust.

Along these lines would be partnering with group tour companies and providing a local tour that could be bundled with their trips.

Networking is also key! Get yourself along to local tourism conferences, or ITB (and attend all the networking events). There’s lots of experienced tour guides in our community but you’re more likely to get helpful advice over a beer than a keyboard.

Last idea, perhaps look for a mentor in the industry who might be a few steps ahead of you, and would be willing to give you advice relevant to your particular business and model.

At the end of the day, it’s all about distribution - so that’s the best mindset to have. Hope these ideas are helpful!

Hi Averil,

You already have quite a few ideas rolling in (all of them great), but I would also try to get to know people at the local tourism office and Convention Bureau to pitch your unique take on Prague, which might be very appealing to them who are always searching for new ideas on how to promote your destination.

Tourpreneur.com is another great resource, more especifically their podcast. A couple of years ago I've listened to a series about 2 female business entrepreneurs in Australia who described their sucessess and failures building an unique tour in Canberra, Australia. I believe you will particularly enjoy this episode (#153) from July, 2021.

Tourpreneur (26 upvotes)

Best of luck!

Hello Averil! Welcome to the world of tourism! To attract tourists, consider collaborating with local accommodations, creating enticing online content, and utilizing review platforms for visibility. Best wishes! 😊

For day tours I think a combination of an OTA and B2B approach is perfect. Something unconventional but with potential high reward would be to reach out to sustainability and diversity oriented companies in the local area and offer to lead tours for their employees for education or for their business partners.