The travel industry relies on human movement to function, and most have made the commitment to saving lives by staying home. Now, it is time to make the next commitment: to travel again.

#iwilltravelagain serves as a reminder for tour and activity companies around the world that travel will be back, and provides us as travelers an opportunity to lend support in their time of need. Help keep the mountain biking, food tour, and surfing experiences alive. These businesses are struggling and need our help today, so we can enjoy their experiences in the future.  

You can make a difference in helping our industry weather the storm. #iwilltravelagain creates an opportunity for operators to earn revenue during these unprecedented times through gift card purchases and highlights the rich stories and personalities behind local businesses that provide us thousands of amazing experiences worldwide.

Head to iwilltravelagain.com and start planning your next trip! Join the #iwilltravelagain movement and help spread the word to encourage the world to do the same. It’s a quick and simple vote of confidence that says, “we will be back!” We may not know when, but this won’t stop us from dreaming of our next adventure.

We will experience the tastes of a new city, learn the history of a new culture, and enjoy the beauty of new landscapes again. #iwilltravelagain – will you? 

For more information on promoting gift cards for your business and how you can get involved with the #iwilltravelagain project, check out the FAQs section on iwilltravelagain.com.

Listed on #iwilltravelagain?  If you would like to change the photo, update your description to make it more personalized, or remove your listing, contact us.  Share your listing everywhere! Post to Facebook, Instagram, and send out a personalized email to your past customers. Be sure to include the hashtag #iwilltravelagain! Want to be listed on #iwilltravelagain?  Take a few seconds and contact us!

To showcase the creativity and resiliency of our industry, we looked to our FareHarbor Ohana to find businesses that are adapting and providing fresh perspectives for coping with the current pandemic. We’ll continue to update this inspirational list with companies that are paving the way with their innovative thinking. If your business has something to share, be sure to let us know!

Badge Criteria

	Re-imagining services as virtual or online experiences
	Demonstrating unique ways to connect with local customers
	Leveraging social media to increase engagement opportunities

The Rustic Brush Gives Us a Fresh Canvas (And Perspective)

For a company that provides a social crafting experience during a time of social distancing, Tanya and the team at The Rustic Brush had to use their creativity in a different way. In order to keep customers and families engaged at home, they created take-home DIY kits containing all the necessary tools to unleash your inner artist. In addition, being a family of first responders, The Rustic Brush partnered with the Houston Food Bank to launch the Thank a Hero and Feed a Family Project through which $5 of every purchase goes to the Food Bank to help feed families at this time.

All Things Garmisch Offers A Crisp & Refreshing Bavarian Experience

At the onset of booking and changes cancellations, Jake at All Things Garmisch & Bavarian Beer Vacations went straight to Facebook Live to communicate with his customers and potential buyers quickly. After receiving a positive response from his outreach, Jake took his history of beer and natural story-telling ability online by providing brief history lessons through his social media which eventually turned into Virtual Tours. It was at one of these Virtual Tours that sparked Jake’s next idea to keep customers engaged. To cater to the beer lovers and aficionados around the world, he began connecting with the local breweries to curate weekly care packages from the unique Bavarian breweries in the area to give you truly a unique and refreshing experience.

Casanova Tours Creates Virtual Tours You Can Taste

As a local, family-owned and operated business, Giuseppe and the Casanova Tour team acted quickly to cater their tour offerings to a global audience. The solution: create an immersive experience that allows you to enjoy Venice’s beautiful culture and cuisine from the comfort of your own home. Casanova Tours offers live cooking classes that provide customers with the proper ingredients and then connects them with local chefs to make some of Italy’s most renowned dishes. The result: a unique and delicious experience that gives you a true taste of Venice.

Unlimited Biking Launches #RideItOut

We spoke to Annie Zou, Director of Sales at Unlimited Biking, about their refreshing approach to adapting their business model to support their local communities. As the largest, premier bike rental tours and experiences company in the US, Unlimited Biking found themselves with extra rental inventory on- hand amidst recent stay-at-home orders. At first, they began by giving their employees access to the bikes to help them avoid public transportation and provide an additional means of exercise. This idea quickly evolved to what is now the #RideItOut program, which allows customers to take advantage of long-term bike rentals at a discounted rate based on the local metro and subway fares in each city. The decision to pivot their business became a big hit with residents in their communities and Unlimited Biking has stated they plan to continue to program long-term.

Underground Donut Tours Supports First Responders

Jeff Woelker found a creative way to combine two of his favorite things: good donuts and a good cause. While the majority of us find ourselves in a state of self-quarantine and remote work, Woelker wanted to create awareness and build support for the first responders and individuals on the frontlines. Fueled by his passion (and consumption) of donuts, Woelker created the #DonutsForHeroes campaign, which allows you to send donuts from your local shop to another essential business. His campaign enables communities to support local donut shops while also expressing gratitude for the self-sacrifice of others. You can get involved by visiting https://www.donutsforheroes.com/

Lyon Wine Tastings Goes Virtual

Who doesn’t enjoy a good Wine Wednesday? As signs of quarantine and social distancing hinted that this could be the new norm, we spoke to Caroline Conner of Lyon Wine Tastings, who transformed her intimate, local wine tastings into  online experiences. By offering free, virtual BYOB wine tastings, Conner can continue to share her passion and knowledge of wine by educating participants on wine tasting techniques, while also creating a platform that fosters interaction and engagement at a time when it’s needed the most. Her ability to quickly adapt to the changing times created social buzz that earned Conner a spotlight in the New York Times.

The recent passage of the CARES Act has resulted in a number of new initiatives to help Americans navigate the economic challenges faced by small businesses due to the  COVID-19 pandemic. To streamline the loan application process for clients, FareHarbor has teamed up with Lendio, America’s largest small business loan marketplace.

Lendio allows business owners to apply for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a piece of the new CARES Act,  and connects them to a network of lenders to secure their loan.  In addition, Lendio has a team of trained Funding Managers that work with clients to understand their business needs and navigate the loan application process. For these reasons and more, FareHarbor has identified Lendio as a great option if you are looking for the right lender. 

If you are still working to find a loan for your business, please visit the FareHarbor partner page on Lendio’s website to begin your application! We look forward to our continued partnership and making a strong network of lenders available to our clients.

Supporting you throughout this time comes in many forms. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is ensuring that our Customer Support teams are always available, 24/7, to assist with any Dashboard or business inquiries. This also means sharing tips, resources, and updates that allow you to be better informed and prepared.

For your convenience, we have been adding to our Help Center and Compass libraries, new resources that you can follow along for updates. In addition, we will continually update this page with relevant information including FareHarbor tips and best practices, industry insights, and useful examples from our fellow tour and activity operators.

Financial Resources 

• Our Guide to Small Business Loans: If you’re planning on applying for a small business loan but not sure where to begin, this guide will provide an overview of common small business loans (Americas). Please visit our Help Center to learn more about specific loan details available in your Region (Americas & Global), State or City. 
• SBA Disaster assistance: The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19).
• Small Business Relief Tracker: In an effort to help business owners & tour operators find financial relief, here is a running list of all of the government agencies, private companies, and nonprofit organizations that are extending support.

Business & Marketing Tips 

• 13 Ways Businesses Can Use SEO & Marketing to Combat Coronavirus Impact: Your initial reaction may be to shut down existing marketing efforts, including your SEO. SearchEngine Journal provides 13 ways SEO and marketing tasks to do for a quicker recovery and why you should “keep calm and optimize on.” 
• FareHarbor Webinars: FareHarbor is producing a new webinar series to help you optimize your business and be ready when normal activity returns. To view the complete list of webinar topics and timezones, please visit our help page. As always, our webinars will be free to attend and will be available across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions.
• How To Adapt and Prepare for Travelers: If you haven’t already, check out our blog to see what we can do as an industry to adapt to the growing concerns of customers and travelers. 
• Compass Articles: You can Login with your same FH dashboard credentials and start exploring business-boosting resources and hone your skills to set yourself up for future success. We’ve collected a few you might like below:
• • Marketing To Your Local Communities
  • Email Tips During & After COVID-19
  • Virtual Experiences
  • SEO, Marketing & Business Tips to Combat Coronavirus Impact

Industry Insights, Expertise, & News

• Guidelines & Best Practices for Reopening: provided by the International Association of Amusement Parks  (IAAPA), this 30+ page guide covers sanitation, social distancing, capacity management and much more which can be applied to reopening your tours and activities.
• Tourpreneur: Subscribe to Shane Whaley’s TourPreneur podcasts where he provides extensive coverage and actionable tips to better arm tour operators during this time. We recommend subscribing to both his email newsletter and to look for his latest podcast.
  • Whaley hosted this podcast with guest and industry veteran, Peter Syme, to discuss a battle plan to deal with the impact of the Coronavirus on our tour businesses. 
• Arival: Our friends at Arival recently held a Town Hall discussion with leading tour and activity operators regarding the current landscape. If you were unable to attend, you can visit this page to access the key takeaways, download the findings from their recent survey, or watch the recorded version. 
  • Arival will also provide a variety of online events and webinars for additional insights during these challenging times. 
• Live Blogs: 
  • Skift’s Live Blog: Since January, Skift has been monitoring the COVID-19 impact on the travel and tourism industry. Their blog is regularly updated to reflect the latest news about coronavirus and its impact on hotels, airlines, cruise lines, tourism destinations, and other sectors of the travel industry.
  • PhocusWire’s Live Blog: PhocusWire’s live blog also includes their own extensive coverage and contains articles and commentary from their sister brands in the Northstar Travel Group (in meetings, retail travel and business travel), WebInTravel, and updates from reliable news outlets and official government/agency bulletins.

Sources for Inspiration

• Virtual Tours: The growing need for social distancing has introduced the emergence of virtual tours! Both Forbes and Insider covered several tour companies and attractions that started offering virtual tours or seminars that customers can do in the comfort of their own homes.  
• How We Can Help the Travel & Tourism industry: We all have a role to play, here is how we can help the Travel and  Tourism industry during this crisis. 
• Connect with Facebook Groups: If there is one thing the last few weeks have shown us, it’s that we are a strongly-knit community. Whether you want to start a discussion or provide your own advice, there are several Facebook groups and forums available for you to connect with other tour operators such as Tour Operators United and Tour Activity Owners Worldwide.
• Client Testimonials: In the coming weeks, we will spotlight several of our fellow tour operators who are adapting, innovating, and providing new perspectives during this time.
  • Caroline Conner, Lyon Wine Tasting: Adjusting to the recent norm of social distancing, Caroline has begun offering virtual happy hours to provide educational content and keep customers engaged. Best of all, it’s currently free to join! 

As media coverage has increased over the course of the last few days, we’ve received several questions and inquiries about the status of FareHarbor and guidance on next steps. While we will continue to monitor the situation closely, our goal is to provide you with the most current information, as it relates to FareHarbor and address any questions you may have at this time.

Please note: this blog will continually be updated with the latest news and information

Q: Will there be any changes to FareHarbor’s support hours?

Q: Where is the best place to find information and resources?

Q: I issued a refund, how long does that take?

Q: What are my options instead of issuing a full refund?

Q: Can I issue a refund or rebook multiple bookings at the same time?

Q: Can I email all clients on the same availability at once?

Q: Where can I find industry-related resources?

> If you have any additional questions you would like us to answer, please submit them to support@fareharbor.com.

You have undoubtedly been keeping up with the media coverage and articles surrounding the recent outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). It is unclear exactly how much the travel and tourism industry will be affected, or how long this will continue, but it is clear that this industry is resilient and will bounce back stronger than ever. In the meantime, it’s important to consider how our industry can adapt to the current circumstances and prepare as much as possible. 

We want all of you to know that we stand alongside you every step of the way and, as always, remain committed to best-in-class service and support! Beyond your support system at FareHarbor, we’ve gathered the following tips to help your business and customers during this time. 

1. Encourage Local Tourism

Even though we’re seeing a decrease in international travel, you can still run your tours and activities by encouraging local tourism and incentivizing local customers to book with you. Reaching out to your community is a great way to keep operations up and running, especially since there is no travel needed for local guests to participate. 

Drive bookings by offering a discount to people who might be looking for local gems they haven’t discovered yet. Invest in your local marketing initiatives rather than those that aim to reach a broader audience to better allocate your resources. Consider taking out advertisements in area newspapers, posting on local online directories, or targeting specific areas with Facebook ads or other social media campaigns. You can even get creative and hang flyers in places like restaurants, bars, bus stations, and parks.

2. Get Ahead of Cancellations

There will inevitably be customers looking to cancel their reservations during this time. Make sure you are prepared to handle the influx and have a process in place. When possible, always try to offer a credit or rebooking over a refund. You can utilize gift cards as a form of credit that will allow customers to book whenever they want in the future, while you keep the revenue. 

Most importantly, when it comes to cancellations surrounding these extenuating circumstances, make sure to be understanding and flexible when working with customers. It hurts to lose out on reservations, but providing your customers with a positive experience makes it much more likely they will want to come back in the future.

3. Provide Clear Communication

Although it may seem best to reduce communication touchpoints at times like these,  it’s actually important to continue providing clear communication with your existing and future customers. This can be in the form of emails to upcoming reservations explaining the status of your operations, or making sure your cancellation policies are buttoned up and updated in all locations on your website and book form. 

You can also incorporate communication through your website, including announcement banners, informational pages with updates, and blog posts. Consider including things in your communication like the status of your activities, steps you are taking to ensure the safety of customers, as well as how you plan to handle future cancellations and rebookings. 

4. Band Together

Collaborate with other local operators in your area who are likely going through the same situation you’re facing. When multiple operators in a particular region or industry work together, it can boost the entire region and the local economy —  A rising tide lifts all boats, as they say! You can even support each other by signing up for the FareHarbor Distribution Network to easily resell local operators’ tours.

We hope these tips will help you prepare and adapt your business practices during this economically challenging time. Please remember that the health, wellness, and safety of your employees and customers should always be your top priorities. For further updates on the current coronavirus outbreak, please check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and World Health Organization (WHO)  for the latest news. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at FareHarbor for additional support.

Our partners at Arival have put together a brief survey to help understand the impact the Coronavirus is having on you as operators, as well as what steps are being taken to respond. If you would like your voice to be heard during this challenging time, please fill out this survey. 

FareHarbor’s Reach Continues to Grow in Europe

We are excited to announce our continued expansion within Europe, by extending our services to Greece, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.

The addition of these seven countries to the FareHarbor family comes just over a year out from our initial rollout into the EU in 2018, representing our commitment to growth in the region. According to the European Council, “tourism plays an important role in the EU because of its economic and employment potential, as well as its social and environmental implications.” 

With this in mind, our ongoing contribution to this economy will provide local businesses the ability to generate better visibility, reach a wider global audience, and streamline the online booking process for their customers.

To find out more on how to get started, please contact our team: https://fareharbor.com/demo/

Greece Support: +30 21 1198 5407

Poland Support: +48 81 884 72 03

General Support: +31 30 249 2017

So you’re coming to FareHarbor Conference. Now what? Whether you’re a Dashboard master or just starting out with FareHarbor, we’ve got your back with our tried-and-true tips for how to do FareHarbor Conference right.

1. Map out which sessions you want to attend in advance.

Set a goal for what you’d like to learn at the conference and save yourself time on October 28 by working out in advance which presentations will help you reach that goal. Review the FHC schedule, and plan your day around the session topics you find to be the most beneficial. Come to FHC feeling prepared, but allow a little room for the unexpected.

Check out the full FHC lineup

Not sure which sessions best fit your business needs? Reach out to our team and we’d be happy to work out a personalized schedule with you!

2. Take full advantage of a 1:1 session.

This is one that few attendees pass up! Our one-on-one sessions give you an opportunity to sit down with a FareHarbor specialist for some personalized training. This is a great chance to work with a team member on-site and resolve any challenges you may be facing, from industry best practices to Dashboard organization. Leave these sessions feeling better than ever about the direction your business is headed!

Schedule your 1:1

3. Use #fhc19 to connect with attendees through social media.

It’s a good idea to engage with people on social media before the FareHarbor Conference even begins. Twitter and LinkedIn are both great places to start, and joining in a few discussions can give you a sense of who will be there and any similar interests you may share.

With so many networking opportunities at FHC, connecting online may also allow you to build somewhat of a relationship beforehand and make it easier to guide in-person conversation starters. “Oh, you’re the one who was talking about XYZ on LinkedIn!”

4. Stop by the sponsor area.

We don’t partner with just anyone. We truly believe the partners we bring to FHC are dedicated to helping you run your business faster and smarter. Discover new services and get hands-on with demos by taking a minute to visit the sponsor area!

5. Stick around for the FHC happy hour.

FHC is filled with networking opportunities — from the organized lunch breakouts to casual meetings by the coffee station. But we’ve found that some of the most high-value networking happens at our after-hours event. Take some time after the conference to unwind and strike up a conversation with your peers at the FHC happy hour!

There you have it! Follow these tips and you’re sure to have a great experience at FareHarbor Conference! See you soon!

It’s not too late to register for FHC! Trust us, this is one you don’t want to miss…

Expert advice on getting connected with OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) to fit your tour, activity, or attraction business

The world of travel looks vastly different than it did five years or even one year ago. With the list of ways to promote your tours only growing, it’s worth putting some thought into your distribution channels. 

Are you getting your tours in front of the right people to convert them into customers? These days, three out of four travelers are making reservations through OTAs. Plan ahead for a sustainable future and follow these tips for working with the right OTAs for your particular tour, activity, or attraction business. 

1. Plan for your business and reach new audiences

Think about your business, and also consider your audience. Make sure they’re in the right vertical and have the right reach to put your tours in front of the right customers who are ready to book. These are the kinds of questions you should be considering: Who is your tour tailored to? How do you hit that target audience with the right OTA? Do you typically have open availabilities on your tours and want to offer more ways for potential customers to book? 

Once you have some of these questions lined up and answered, you can then dig into the specifics of which OTAs best fit your business objectives. For example, if you want to attract a global audience, look for OTAs with a global reach such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, or GetYourGuide. Want to reach people looking for water excursions? Get set up with Seabookings, specific for customers searching for water activities. Do you offer romantic sunset cruises? Doorstep is one option for expanding your reach to couples looking for date night ideas. You can get as broad or granular as you want with your connectivity partners if you envision a good fit. 

Check out this list for a full breakdown of the OTAs we currently partner with by region. 

2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket 

This tip is dependent on your business. Strategically think about what kind of tours you want to offer to an OTA. Identify your target audience and then consider what that audience is searching for on TripAdvisor. Keep in mind that OTAs are used in different ways to search. Reserve with Google was designed with last-minute in-destination bookings in mind. This connection is great for suppliers who are close to a major attraction to bring in travelers who will be spending extra time in the area; a common “near me” search term. Expanding your options with multiple carefully selected OTAs is great for targeting in-destination customers. Some OTAs have a cutoff for last-minute bookability, but because you are connected to an API you don’t need to worry about last-minute overbookings. This allows you to lower your online booking cutoff to target in-destination customers and get more bookings from your various booking sources.

3. Let the FareHarbor Connectivity team take care of you

Working with OTAs is a good aspect for your business strategy, but can be challenging to manage on an ongoing basis. That’s why FareHarbor has a dedicated team of Connectivity Specialists to ensure you’re set up for success across all of your OTA partners. 

Not only do we take over the heavy lifting, but we also know which setups work best and love to offer our strategic advice. Consider us the experts. By working so closely with these OTAs on a daily basis, we feel confident in providing you a seamless connection with our partners from the start. Just let us know when your account is all set up with the OTA of your choice, then we will step in and take care of the connectivity process from start to finish, as well as provide ongoing support for your live API connections. Connect with a member of our team here! 

This is a guest post written by Podium

Today, most consumers need to see a healthy average star rating and a few of your most recent reviews to be convinced of your company’s credibility. In fact, 88% of consumers form an opinion by reading 1-10 reviews. 

With that said, it’s incredibly important to ensure you have positive reviews and a lot of them. This helps increase your average star rating and decrease the odds of potential customers basing their booking on a single negative review.

But, it’s not always that simple. Whether it’s a tour that started late or a customer that’s having a bad day—things don’t always go according to plan. Sooner or later, a bad day will turn into a negative review.

If and when that happens, it’s important to know how to respond. That’s why we’ve put together a 5-minute, 3-step guide to responding to negative reviews.

Step #1: Know when a negative review goes live

This step may seem obvious, but you’d be surprised by how many businesses aren’t aware of new reviews they receive, or that they have any reviews at all.

It’s important to know when these reviews get posted online so you can respond appropriately and ensure the same mistake doesn’t happen again. The easiest way to do so is to work with an online review management platform. For example, Podium aggregates reviews in real-time from sites across the internet, keeping you in the know the moment a new review goes live.

If you aren’t ready to get started with a review management platform, we recommend turning on Google Alerts. Google Alerts allows you to track online conversations by specified keywords or phrases in real-time, allowing you to manage your presence and hear what people are saying about you, good or bad.

This is, undisputedly, the first step in combating and responding to negative reviews. After all, if you don’t know the review exists, how can you respond?

Step #2: Respond to the negative review as fast as you possibly can

Now that you’ve read the negative review, let’s discuss how to carefully craft a response.

First and foremost, it’s important to ensure that the person responding on behalf of your business is removed from the situation that sparked the negative review. For example, if there is a negative comment about a salesperson, they’re probably not the best person to respond to the review.

This is crucial because any response to a negative review should be calmly written and well thought out. When someone with an emotional investment to the situation is the responder, the message will generally come off as defensive. We know that not every business is in a position where someone disconnected from the situation can respond, and if this is the case for your business, respond as dispassionately as possible (here are a few calming techniques).

Next, follow these few steps:

1. Apologize (“We’re sorry to hear…”)
2. Approach the review with a calm and collected response (cushioned-defense)
3. Offer a proactive way to right their wrong (“We’d like to do what we can to resolve the situation…”)
4. Ask to continue the conversation privately (“We’ll follow up with a direct message / Contact our customer service manager…”)

That should yield a response similar to this one:

“We’re so sorry to hear that your experience was a negative one. We’d like to do what we can to right any wrong. Please contact our Customer Service Manager so we can resolve your issues. We’ll also reach out to you in the next day or two to discuss how we can resolve your issue.”

Make sure you craft a response and get it posted as quickly as possible. This way anyone who sees the negative review will also see that you are a responsible business that takes care of your customers. 53 percent of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week.

In many cases, negative reviews are not truly representative of your business. Responding to them in a courteous, professional manner builds consumer confidence as potential customers research your business.

Step #3: Learn from Feedback

Learning from customer feedback is one of the most valuable, long-term steps you can follow to improve your business. It allows you to gain valuable insights into your customers and make data-driven decisions about your processes. This will be valuable for positive reviews as well as negative reviews.

The process is simple:

1. A transaction takes place and your customer leaves an online review.
2. Your business takes note of the review (positive or negative) and responds upon receipt.
3. If the online review is positive, your business reinforces existing processes or performs optimization. If the online review is negative, your business alters existing processes to improve the overall customer experience.
4. Repeat.

A customer feedback loop will continuously provide insights, and in turn, your business managers can continue to alter or optimize processes.

If you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a negative review, don’t let that stop you from embracing customer feedback. Instead, learn how to improve your business from the experience. 

Did you know that 84% of people trust reviews as much as recommendations from a friend? By following the above suggestions you’ll be building your brand and your business online and off.   

If you have any other questions, download Podium’s eBook:
Negative Reviews: A How-to Guide for Turning a Negative into a Positive.