Tackle your busy season or ease into your slow season with FareHarbor

The travel industry relies heavily on seasonality, with peak seasons that ramp up during school holidays and summer vacations for many tour operators. While some businesses in the northern hemisphere are winding down their busy summer season, others are getting ready to welcome visitors for fall and winter activities. Whatever your seasonality or location, FareHarbor is here to help you succeed.

Below we’ve identified simple tasks to help keep you on track, whether you’re preparing for the start of your busy season or are ready to slow down and tackle your to-do list.

If your busy season is about to start…

If you’re getting ready for spooky season or waiting for the first snow fall to start your winter adventures, here’s what you can do to prepare for your busiest time of year.

Website, SEO & marketing channels

• Prominently display your best-selling activities on your website and in your booking flow to increase sales.
• Check to see if any of your items need updated descriptions, images or pricing. Bonus tip! Use our Content Builder to better organize your listings and grow conversions by an average of 7%.
• Review your website on a mobile device to ensure that it’s mobile-friendly — aka easy for customers to navigate and make a booking. This will help your business rank on Google search and improve your guest experience.
• Update your Google Business Profile listing with accurate info, including booking links, hours of operation, and contact details. This tool will help you capture travelers who are searching for something to do once they’re arrived at your destination as well as locals looking for tours and activities in the area.

FareHarbor Dashboard

• Make sure your best-selling items are optimized on your FareHarbor Dashboard. Check the activity description, headline, prices, images, and confirmation notes on your Dashboard to ensure everything is up to date.
• Use FareHarbor Reporting to easily view the information you need and make informed business decisions throughout your season.
• Easily set up a special promo codes to attract more bookers with early bird specials, Black Friday deals, group discounts, and more!

Pro tip: Discover even more ways to increase bookings this busy season with FareHarbor tools and features by heading to the Product section of our blog.

If your busy season just ended…

Take a breath. You did it! Now it’s time to work on those tasks you didn’t have time for during your busiest months.

Website, SEO & marketing channels

• If you were running PPC ads on Google or your social media channels during your busy season, analyze their performance and use that data to inform your strategy for next year. Continue using the keywords and ad copy that performed best and cut what didn’t do so well.
• Review your SEO performance, using tools like Google Analytics, to create a plan to optimize your website. For example, review the pages that had the highest bounce rate and make any necessary updates, such as improving the content or bringing the “Book Now” button to the top of the page.
• Create a blog posting calendar for the coming year and write a backlog of blog posts that you can publish throughout the year. This makes it easier to stay on top of your SEO while in your busy months!
• Similarly, build out a social media calendar and draft all your evergreen posts and campaigns so you can easily post them throughout the year. (Of course, leave some room for timely posts as the need arises).

FareHarbor Dashboard

• Build your booking calendar for next season to ensure you capture all those early bookers! If you are still deciding on some details, like pricing, it’s easy to edit your availabilties later on.
• Are you considering working with partners and resellers next year? Make it easy to find local connections on the FareHarbor Distribution Network, our very own affiliate program.
• Use FareHarbor Reporting to inform your strategy for next year, such as adding more availabilities for popular activities or reconsidering items that didn’t get many bookings.
• Set up promo codes during your slow season, such as discounts on off-season tours or early-bird specials.

No matter which season you’re heading into, these lists will help you stay on track and ensure you’re putting your first foot forward all year-round.