Do you love clients from TravelEssence and want to receive more of them? Are you looking to extend your high season? Do you want clients to stay longer? Find the best ways to attract more bookings below.
Going the extra mile
One of the reasons our clients love us and our partners is because we sell personalised trips to unique places, where they can get to know you and your community. When our guests are on holiday they have the time of their lives. However, there are even more ways to help make their experience memorable. Here are some tips that go above and beyond our clients’ expectations and would make their time with you even more special.
Special occasions - In the booking requests, we will advise you of birthdays and other special occasions occurring on your guests’ trip. A personal gesture to acknowledge it makes their stay extra special.
Spend the night as a guest - Stay in your accommodation yourself and you will see things through the eyes of a guest. It will help you notice things you otherwise wouldn't.
Feeling of home - Add some homely touches, such as fresh flowers, a welcome note, or fresh cookies, and your guests will feel at home on the other side of the world.
Take the rough with the smooth - Complaints are part of the business, but how do you deal with them? First, always let the guest express how they feel. No matter how big or small the complaint is, the guest needs to be taken seriously. Then you can provide a solution where possible.
Rates and incentives
First things first, having a rate structure that is suitable for the international market ensures that you maximise your selling potential and encourage more bookings from our sales team. Simple and easy to understand rates make your accommodation instantly sellable for our sales team. Clients also love stay pay incentives in the shoulder season. If you make this clear, you will bring in more business.
Rate Parity & Structure
Having a simple rate structure with rates that are valid for a complete season helps to make accurate bookings, to be able to offer clients the best itineraries and to remain competitive. The latter is by ensuring rate parity, which means that your website rates should match the rates that we offer our clients. Providing us with contracted gross rates that are the same across all your channels allow our Sales team to sell your product with confidence. Your accommodation is part of an itinerary with many components that could fall through if the rates are not representative of your other channels. Having rate parity and a clear structure enable us to bring happy and mindful clients straight to your doorstep.
A simple rate structure entails the following:
- Limited date bands, e.g. low & high season.
- One rate valid throughout the week, weekend and public holidays, as our clients travel 7 days a week, regardless of local holidays.
- All components commissionable. It’s always important to include a margin for commission in your advertised product that covers these costs.
- Provide rates a year in advance as we book 8-12 months in advance.
- Your rates inline with the seasons:
New Zealand: 1st of May to 30th of April
Australia: 1st of April to 31st of March
Stay pay incentives
Are you considering offering a stay pay incentive? How can you know it will be beneficial?
A stay pay incentive is an offer where your guest books to stay for two or three nights and receives an extra night free of charge. TravelEssence encourages stay pay incentives because we have seen the benefits. Hosts with these incentives achieve longer stays and higher occupancy. The best part - it gives you more time to connect with your guests.
The ideal time to offer a stay pay incentive is before and after your shoulder season. This extends your high season. Our clients often prefer travelling in these times to avoid the heat and crowds.
See below an overview of the months that we believe a stay pay incentive are beneficial for our partners and our clients:
Australia:
TAS: Oct-Nov & Mar-Apr
VIC: Mar-Oct
SA: Mar-Nov
NT: May-Oct
NSW: Mar-Oct
QLD North: May, Jun & Nov
QLD South: Mar & Oct
New Zealand:
ALL: Mar-Dec
Commission
TravelEssence works with an industry standard commission that is competitive with other international agents. Our sales staff sell based on commission, so the better the commission, the more attractive your accommodation is to our sales team. Also, the better the commission, the more we invest in marketing costs to promote your business. By offering a competitive commission, you will maximise your selling potential and be able to secure more bookings from us.
Familiarisation
What is a familiarisation trip? This is your chance to show our sales team exactly how special your accommodation is. They want to see your paradise so that when they meet with clients, they can share their experience first hand. Our sales team are more likely to recommend what they have seen and done themselves because they can do it with confidence.
Do you have any questions?
If you want to know more about the ins and outs of rates, stay pay incentives, commission, or familiarisation trips, our team is ready to help.
Sustainability matters
Our clients care about nature and the environment. It’s important that we help them be conscious of sustainable travel and share tips on how they can do it. Alternatively, it’s important that your future guests respect your community and the nature where you live. What is the future of travel? It begins with taking sustainable steps today to make a big impact in the future.
Frequently asked questions
You have questions and we have answers. We have gathered the most common questions we get asked about partnering with TravelEssence. Click below to find what you’re looking for.
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Do you have any questions?
If you have any other specific questions about TravelEssence, working with us or our current partnership, our team is happy to help.