A practical guide for good tourism In its simplest definition, tourism is the activity of travelling and visiting different places. There are many benefits of tourism where it’s creating positive impact for the environment and local communities. However, when it’s not...
Plastic pollution in tourism Plastic pollution is making an unwelcome impact on beaches and nature all over the world. Many islands have vulnerable economies that largely depend on tourism and fisheries. Mismanaged plastic negatively impacts biodiversity, livelihoods,...
What is online marketing? Online marketing is a broad term about all marketing activities people execute online. Although, it is far from easy to become successful online as a tour operator. With the right knowledge and persistence, it will help your business thrive....
Sustainable safaris for a better tomorrow When we think about sustainability, we tend to think of how we can protect and conserve the environment. While this isn’t completely off track, I like to think of sustainable safaris as a form of tourism that not only...
GLP Films GLP Films (GLP) is an award-winning content creation agency. Our filmmakers, writers and photographers are all leading experts in sustainable travel and positive storytelling. GLP writer Catherine Mack shares her thoughts on the importance of storytelling in...
Supporting the local economy An important aspect of good tourism is the realisation of creating better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit. In order to realise this, one of the key elements is preventing leakage. Making sure that money...
Online networking For tour operators, online networking is simply the use of internet-based media platforms to stay connected with industry peers. In times of the COVID-19 pandemic, online networking has gained popularity. Most likely, this wil remain popular long...
Buyer personas in your target group The tourism industry is very competitive. Doing marketing as tour operator successfully, can be a challenge. There are hundreds of ways to promote a travel business and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all available strategies. Which...
Creating impact through sharing knowledge My name is Anna Grodzki, and I am managing Matoke Tours Uganda. A reputable tour operator based in Kampala since 2002. A lawyer by profession, I moved to Uganda in 2011 to volunteer with UNESCO. This is where I discovered my...
Fam trips as sales opportunity In the tourism industry, a Fam trip is one of the biggest sales opportunities. As a tour operator, you have the potential to put your destination and your business on the map. The main aim of a Fam trip is to network, build relationships...
High motivation to travel For almost a year now very few travellers have booked or went on a holiday. It’s unsure when tourism will be back in business. The lack of perspective for the future makes the situation challenging. Travellers are cautious and need to regain...
Usage of social media in tourism We all know that, in general, people are fairly active on social media. But how do people use social media regarding travel? In this article we'll start of with a few statistics, after which we describe how travellers use social media...
Travel Matters My name is Karen Simmonds and I’m the founder of Travel Matters and the Make Travel Matter campaign. I set up my business 21 years ago and the campaign over 11 years ago. Along with my team, we learn, as well as share, best practices within the travel...
Delivering outstanding value Even though the tourism industry is on hold for now, it will be back on its feet someday. And when that happens, every tour operator should be ready for business. There are thousands of tour operators worldwide and the competition is high....
Safety first: travelling post-COVID The well-being of travellers has already always been top priority for tour operators. However, now that the entire tourism industry has been disrupted by the COVID-19 virus, health and safety are even more important now. Therefore,...
Creating work, value & prosperity for local families in Argentina We are Heart of Argentina Travel, a family owned travel agency from Córdoba in Argentina. Our customers are mainly Europeans (Jan, one of the owners is Dutch) and North Americans. We organise...
Sustainability to ensure competitivity Success is no longer dictated by profit alone. The professional world widely recognises the need to also address social and environmental concerns. Mainly through business practices that account for a targeted sustainability...
Leadership culture as key element There are many elements that need to seamlessly come together, in order to transform the experience you offer into one your guests will remember forever. To stand a chance at creating loyal customers, below aspects all need to be on...
What is community-based tourism? Community-based tourism (CBT) is a way of sustainable tourism that allows travellers to closely connect to local communities. Tourism where travellers are invited into local homes. Experiencing the actual local culture, the diversity,...
The need to lower emissions The tourism industry is responsible for around 5-8% of global emissions. We all know it’s important to reduce our emissions in tourism to prevent the earth from warming up. Climate change is a real threat to the tourism industry. If we are...
Why every tour operator should consider content marketing Content marketing is a marketing strategy in which valuable, relevant and consistent content is distributed to reach your target group. All with the aim of encouraging your target group to take profitable...
Increase sales by generating leads One of the main aspects of content marketing is turning your website visitors into leads. Basically, if you do not have a proper plan for this in order, your content marketing won’t result in any financial gain for your business....
Keen towards sustainability Join Top Tours is an Egyptian tour operator with its head office located in Cairo. Our agency has over 35 years of experience and we are members of IATA and ASTA. We deal with outgoing and incoming operations. We offer different kind of...
Sharing a passion for Africa New World Safaris is a destination management company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was founded in 2010 to deliver unique, authentic and immersive African safaris to travellers from across the world. They share with them an...
A revert to single-use plastics As the world starts to slowly open back up to tourism, all of the focus is on health, safety and hygiene. We completely agree that this is of utmost importance. However, we don't believe that it needs to come at the cost of the...
Achieve sustainability with a return on investment Travel can be hugely beneficial to the planet. There are numerous studies highlighting the positive impact it can have on mental wellbeing and nature. It breaks down prejudices and is an efficient redistributor of...
The background story of Kara-Tunga My name is Theo Vos, founding director of Kara-Tunga, Karamoja Tours and the Karamoja Tourism Academy. I am half Dutch and half Karamojong, was raised in the Netherlands and went back Uganda to discover my roots a few years ago. I...
The importance of nature As tour operators, we already know the importance of nature and what it uniquely brings to many destinations across the world. It: Is integral to our prosperity and wellbeing Supports human development and equality Feeds our resilience to...
Optimise your destination pages for search engines As a tour operator, the most important pages on your website are your destination landing pages. These are the pages that promote a specific destination that your business offers tours to. Most people tend to focus on...
Why impact matters to your guests When a potential guest interacts with your brand, they want to be impacted in a meaningful way. They want to experience something, feel something, discover something. Experiential travel is currently a huge, emerging trend and you can...
Tips for finding new business partners and customers once tourism recovers ‘Tourism isn’t tourism until it’s sold’, my responsible tourism professor Harold Goodwin always says and the COVID19 pandemic has certainly given us a taste of that. Easier said than done,...
Sharing your sustainable business story More and more tour operators, (slowly) integrate sustainability in their business strategy and operations. Sharing your business sustainability story is important. Not only because it supports your sustainable tourism practices,...
How to become a (more) successful tour operator? One thing that's certain in business, is that you should always be open to improve. You might think you don’t need to become a more successful tour operator. However, we believe there’s always room for improvement....
Visible impact of tourism The international tourism industry has been on hold for the past few months due to COVID 19. Closed borders, negative travel advice and no income for a large group of people. It shows us how many of the world population are actually dependent...
Why email marketing is important for tour operators Email is one of the most effective ways to reach people who are interested in your tours. Even though a lot of social media platforms have an impressive number of users, they can’t compete with the number of people...
Improving employee satisfaction as a tour operator A key element of successful and responsible tour operators is a high employee satisfaction rate. Research shows that having satisfied and committed employees are 20% more productive than employees who are dissatisfied...
Write appealing travel content for both humans and search engines Once you have your content marketing strategy in place, you can start to create content. But how do you write content that is appealing to both humans and search engines? We’re big fans of writing for...
Improve your business strategically with the sustainable business model canvas From a broad perspective, a successful tour operator is a business whose purpose and actions are equally grounded in financial, environmental and social concerns. A business that takes into...
Why you should be analysing your website and search data As a tour operator you can easily use data to your advantage. Whether you are working on your buyer persona or content marketing, analysing your website and search data is of the utmost importance. Without...
Understanding your animal footprint At the Good Tourism Institute we believe that animals belong in the wild, in their own natural habitat. However, animals in captivity remain a popular tourism experience. Still too many tour operators actively promote and offer...
Manage, measure and reduce CO2 emissions Over the last years we have all experienced weather becoming more extreme all over the world. Businesses from all sectors, including tourism, are working hard to protect their operations and supply-chains from the consequences...
Managing and measuring emission Worldwide, we are seeing more and more severe disruptions for local communities and the environment due to global warming. It has a major influence on the tourism industry as it advances heavier storms, flooding, extreme heats, serious...
The carbon footprint of tourism Of all emissions worldwide, 5 to 8% is caused by the tourism industry. When people drive cars, take flights or stay in accommodations, their activity produces greenhouse gases. Also expressed as carbon dioxide (CO2). The carbon...
CO2 emissions by human activities Almost all greenhouse gases are caused by human activities. Usually, the total amount of greenhouse gases is expressed as carbon dioxide (in short CO2). CO2 is emitted when driving cars, taking flights, using gas at home and producing...
Creating a futureproof tourism industry Tour operators have the possibility and responsibility to contribute to creating a futureproof tourism industry. It’s safe to say the tourism industry has great impact on economies and that it leaves a large footprint on the...
7 ways to increase loyalty and turn customers into fans Customer loyalty is a driving force behind successful tour operators. They have that little extra that holds the power to connect customers to their business, to make them fans and to make them come back for...
Sell experiences instead of activities Technical innovations, higher educated and demanding customers are pressing the tourism industry to change. Tour operators are required to shift away from their focus on services and facilities, and instead start to focus on...
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