The Importance of Email Marketing for Travel Companies

With an average return of $36 for every $1 invested, email marketing delivers an incredible ROI rate. Especially if you run a small firm in the travel and tourism sector, that is a rather outstanding statistic.

Yes, email is the least expensive but most effective sales medium for the majority of tourism firms. The effectiveness of email as a sales tool is frequently underrated, and 90% of hoteliers and tour operators never even attempt to obtain a customer’s email address.

The truth is that email marketing can help you generate a sizable amount of bookings without having to pay for any advertising. Let’s see how.

Benefits of email marketing for travel companies

The travel business may benefit greatly from email marketing, and those in the field are aware of this.

But numbers speak better than words do — let’s see what scalable results email marketing brings to companies in the travel sector:

• Travel email marketing has an incredibly high performance — a whopping 20.69% open rate.
• Email marketing for the travel industry is especially important because of the lockdown, during which international tourism dropped by 62%.
• Email marketing helps woo clients while they’re making up their minds, as people start planning their trips 84 days in advance.

In a nutshell, email marketing is like the cool friend that keeps you in the loop, even when things get tough. It’s your secret weapon to stay connected, informed, and top-of-mind for travelers.

Now, let’s see some of the most powerful strategies travel companies use to maximize their email marketing.

What makes email marketing crucial for travel industry

It is commonly known that owners of hotels and other accommodations struggle to acquire direct reservations. When making reservations, customers use OTA websites, which charge hotels commission fees.

But we get a chance when a visitor who made a reservation through an OTA stays at our hotel. To ensure that they return, we must greet them, offer high-quality service, and make a positive first impression. How can we encourage our visitors to make direct bookings rather than using an OTA website for their subsequent reservations?

In order to keep customers coming back to your hotel, you must first deliver excellent service and meet or even exceed their expectations.

Source: Unsplash

You must then get their contact details — such as basic demographic information, their emails, and interests! Once that information is in a CRM of your choice, you can discover powerful insights about your audience, and come up with powerful personalized messages to reach them next time via email.

How to build an effective travel email marketing campaign?

Now, it’s time to whip up a killer email marketing plan for your small business — as you’ve surely seen how travel professionals do it, and it’s pretty effective. The secret ingredient lies in sending the right message, in the right way, at the perfect time. 

So, let’s get to that email strategy — below are some of the best email formats for your consideration:

• Welcome email: Make sure to automate the delivery of a welcome email to new signups. They have a very high open rate because more than 82% of email users open their welcome emails.
  
• Invitation to connect: A few days after delivering your welcome email, notify your contacts how they may find out more about your company by sending them an email. Invite them to check out and interact with your website, social media accounts, and review websites.
  
• Milestone emails: With birthday offers and exclusive seasonal discounts, you can honor clients. Customers can also be told about anniversary sales or loyalty incentives.
  
• Newsletter emails: You can share information about your most recent offers and services, travel industry news, expert interviews, and vacation inspiration with subscribers to newsletters.
  
• Educational emails: Travelers join email lists for informational mailings to aid in decision-making. Sending emails with travel advisories, schedule updates, or inclement weather alerts will demonstrate how your company can assist in offering knowledgeable information.
  
• Email confirmations: After clients make reservations through your business, send them an email confirmation. These emails are a fantastic opportunity to include extra offers or bargains because they have high open rates.
  
• Thank you emails: Emails of gratitude show your subscribers that they are valued. They’re also a terrific approach to get your clients to participate in surveys that will help you enhance your offerings. 
  
• Seasonal offers: At least once a month, effective travel email marketing campaigns distribute emails. Additionally, it’s a good idea to schedule your email distribution before public holidays, professional gatherings, and recurring marketing campaigns like Black Friday.

By using these email formats in your email marketing campaign, you’ll rock at connecting with your audience, getting them engaged, and seeing real results for your traveling business.

Bonus tips for launching a travel email campaign

Before we conclude, let’s learn a few extra tips for boosting your email performance:

1. Segment your database: First thighs first, right? Use subscriber interests to create segmented databases. Gather data like favorite destinations and vacation types through subscription forms to tailor content matching your customers’ interests.
   
2. Start building relationships early: Initiate contact when customers inquire about reservations, as we’ve already mentioned that trips are planned well in advance. Keep your communication friendly to pitch your services and information in a friendly manner.
   
3. Send reminder emails: Clients may be forgetful, so send them reminders about important trip details or promotions to offer extra value. You can improve customer loyalty even further by offering destination guides and travel tips.
   
4. Win churn clients back: You can target inactive customers with retention campaigns, aimed at reminding your customers about your services — and your value. Feel free to offer special offers and discounts to reactivate their interest.
   
5. Proactively request customer feedback: Use inquiries about recent reservations to collect customer feedback and analyze it. Make sure you conduct surveys via email survey software on a regular basis to stay aware of your customers’ needs and opinions.

Wrapping up

Hopefully, the strategies reviewed in this guide — from the welcoming vibes of the first email to super personalized newsletters — will help you maximize your travel email campaigns.

And be sure to use our bonus tips, like welcoming your customers early, offering timely reminders, and winning your inactive customers back.

So, dive into the email marketing space with confidence and creativity — and let this marketing channel work its magic in your travel game.