How to sell private tours and day trips online
Visitors plan trips from the other side of the world, often at night. Here is how to let them book and pay for your tours without a dozen messages.
Private tours are bought differently from transfers. The customer is usually a visitor, often booking from another country and another time zone, comparing a few options in the evening before they travel. They want to know three things fast: what's included, how long it takes and what it costs. If finding out takes a message and a reply the next morning, they've booked elsewhere.
Sell each tour at a fixed price
A tour with a clear name, duration and price is easy to buy:
- Old City highlights: 4 hours, $240.
- Coast and vineyards: 8 hours, $480.
- Sunset viewpoints: 3 hours, $180.
Fixed prices also protect your margin. You know the route, so you know the cost. On Viadence each tour can be a package with its own price and duration, bookable straight from your page.
Offer custom days by the hour
Some visitors want to design their own day. Give them an hourly option with a minimum, such as $60 an hour for at least 3 hours, and let them add stops. The price follows the hours and the real route, so you never under-quote a long day.
Price extra stops honestly
“Can we stop at the cathedral on the way?” is the most common tour question. Make the answer a price, not a negotiation. With Viadence customers can add stops to the route (up to the number you allow), each priced, and the fare updates before they pay.
Show times in your local time
A visitor booking from Tokyo for a tour in Lisbon needs the times to mean the same thing to both of you. Viadence shows every time in your company's own time zone and handles clock changes, so a 9:00 start is 9:00 where the tour happens.
Take payment when they book
Tourists are mobile and their plans change. Taking payment at booking turns a maybe into a real reservation. With Viadence, card payments go straight into your own Stripe account, in your local currency.
Make cancellations clear and automatic
Visitors expect clear cancellation rules. Set tiers such as:
- Full refund up to 48 hours before.
- 50% between 24 and 48 hours.
- No refund within 24 hours.
When a customer cancels online, the refund follows your rules automatically, and you're told if a card refund fails.
Give your guide-drivers everything
On the day, your driver needs the route, the stops, the passengers and any notes in one place. The Viadence driver app shows all of it, with buttons to call or text the passenger and to mark the trip as it goes.
After the tour
Happy visitors leave reviews, and reviews sell tours. Add your Google review link to your booking page so it's one tap away for the customers you've just driven.
See how tour operators use Viadence on our tours and sightseeing page.
Cover photo by Raivis Razgals on Unsplash.