Welcome to the new Business Support Hub. Please use this form to provide any comments or suggestions.
Once you understand how travel distribution works, it’s time to decide if working with a travel distribution partner is right for your business.
There are many benefits to working with a distribution partner including reaching new audiences and creating a bigger shop window for your business. You could also see more direct bookings and get a higher return or value per customer.
Working with a distribution partner is different than selling directly. Consider the timescales of developing a relationship, how you’ll be paid for these sales, and what systems and marketing materials you’ll need to prepare.
Consider the benefits of working with a partner, and how it is different to selling directly to customers.
JavaScript needs to be enabled to watch this video. You can turn this on in your browser settings.
5 minute video
Travel distribution is how you get your product in front of customers, whether that’s through a website, an agent, or a tour operator. Watch this video to understand what travel distribution is, and the benefits that selling through a partner will bring to your business including reaching new audiences, increasing bookings and spreading your risk.
Watch the full travel distribution video series.
It may be more efficient to use a travel distribution partner to reach new audiences than to try and do this yourself. This is because:
Working with a travel distribution partner adds additional channels and therefore more opportunities for a customer to come across your business. The more people who see your product, the more bookings you can hope to make.
Known as the billboard effect, some customers will browse business options online – such as through an online travel agent (OTA) – but make a booking directly through your website. It’s important to have both to showcase your product through travel distribution partners and to operate a user-friendly booking system on your own website.
The business you get through a travel distribution partner can often expand over time, known as the multiplier effect. A destination management company (DMC) or tour operator may only send a single tour group to test out your business, but once they are confident that you’re meeting customer expectations, they will likely book in further groups across the year. They’ll also keep you in mind for any bespoke requirements that might be a good fit.
You may have a particular time of year, day of the week or time of day when you struggle to take consistent direct bookings. You could sell that slot directly to a travel distribution partner, increasing your overall business.
It can often be helpful to create a bespoke product for selling through a travel distribution partner. As this product offers more than your standard direct experience, you can charge more and make more per customer than you do currently. Examples of products distributed exclusively through a travel distribution partner might include opening for a private tour outwith normal operating hours, meet the maker experiences, or adding food or drink elements to an existing experience.
Working with a travel distribution partner often requires dedicated resource - a staff member who can be on hand to answer questions and keep regular contact to develop the relationship. It could also mean more consistent business allowing you to give staff more consistent hours. This all helps to encourage staff loyalty.
It can be helpful not to rely too much on a single market or distribution channel, as it can easily be impacted by changes such as cost of living or visa changes. By working with a partner, you can distribute your product in multiple markets and aren’t relying on one income stream only.
Before you decide whether to sell your product through a travel distribution partner, consider the following things and how they would work for your business:
Lunan Bay Farm
What's different from selling directly
What new things do you need to consider
What will a partner need from you
Remember to consider any additional costs you could incur when working with a travel distribution partner such as attending travel trade events, hosting meetings or familiarisation (FAM) trips, and additional staff to manage relationships and handle enquiries and inventory. This will need to be factored in when setting your prices.
Make sure to check for any additional fees beyond a commission when working with a travel distribution partner.
When you want to start working with a travel distribution partner, you will need to review your prices.
Find out more about how to set your prices for a distribution partner.
Your prices need to be available for around 2 years in advance. As you’re working with travel distribution partners for next year or even the following year, you need to come up with a price that is sustainable long-term. This means factoring in any price rises you might need to make due to rising costs and economic pressures. Otherwise, you’ll have to renege on the agreement with the partner, who may not be willing to renegotiate, and you won’t work with them again.
A travel distribution partner may want to negotiate price depending on what size of group they’re bringing and the frequency of those groups.
Working with a travel distribution partner might give you access to research, insights and trends.
Consider what access you will get to:
You should also be mindful of what insights you won’t receive – some partners won’t share customer data with you, as it’s a valuable commodity in today’s world. You may need to think about other ways to capture that data yourself (such as on arrival) and whether that is allowed within the terms and conditions you have with them. This could be when a customer first uses the WiFi or signs up to your newsletter.
If you are going to try and collect your own data, make sure you check carefully that it doesn’t breach your agreement. It’s not worth endangering the partner relationship to capture a few customers’ data.
Direct and OTA sales can be made right up until the last-minute.
It can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to work with other travel trade partners.
A luxury travel advisor might be looking to make a booking for a client in around six months.
It will take time to build up confidence and trust in your business to the point that they are comfortable adding you to a new itinerary or adjusting an existing itinerary to include your product.
Most partners are selling to customers who are already planning a holiday for next year. The partners need time to arrange a contract with you, and potentially sell your product to another part of the distribution chain before it reaches the customer.
They also need time to set you up as a supplier on their systems and promote you across their marketing materials.
Any contract should detail when and how often payment will be made to you when working with a travel distribution partner.
Some travel distribution partners won’t pay upfront for your product. This is due to the risk of cancellations from customers, and not wanting to pay for a product they may not sell. The sales are tallied up and paid at a set time, eg monthly.
You may be tempted to ask for part-payment on booking – but be aware that for some partners, the cost and operational challenges of sending you two separate payments is too complex to make the opportunity viable.
If you work with the travel trade, they will gather their own customer feedback. An OTA will take reviews through their website while a tour operator or travel advisor may have their own customer survey or use a review platform such as Feefo. They will usually share that feedback on your business with you.
Customer feedback will be considered by potential customers when booking, so you need to be ready to respond and acknowledge any issues highlighted through an OTA website.
The feedback gathered by a tour operator or travel advisor can impact on whether they decide to continue selling your product. Think about what feedback you might receive, and how you will manage that feedback and show your partner that you are taking this onboard, and are happy to work together to make improvements or adjustments if needed.
Check if your modern booking solution can help you connect to a travel distribution partner. If not, you may need to consider a new system with API connections or even a channel manager if you plan to work with multiple partners.
As a modern booking solution can connect with tour operators and OTAs, it makes it the most effective way of sharing availability and reduces the need for manual intervention, e.g. in handling enquiries or confirming bookings. Each distribution partner will have their own preference of a modern booking solution and it’s worth asking what they work with so you can consider it as one of your options.
Read more about online booking systems for experiences or for accommodation and see what would best suit your business.
When you first begin your growth journey, consider making it part of someone’s job role to handle all of your work with partners.
This allows a member of staff to grow their knowledge and build relationships with the partners over time. They can attend events on behalf of the business, and also look to share their work with other staff, undertake dedicated training opportunities, and train up other staff members where required. This can be a valuable specialism for staff and may encourage them to stay with your business longer in order to grow their skills in this area.
Your product and wider business will be judged by a customer as part of the partner’s business – so they want to see what you have to offer through a customer’s eyes.
A travel distribution partner may want to come and try out your business themselves. This could be organised as a familiarisation (FAM) trip through you directly or by them as a mystery shop experience – where they don’t tell you until after they have visited.
Alternatively, they can make a trial booking, bringing a small volume of customers to you. This allows them to see whether customer expectations are likely to be met, the business performs operationally, and what customer reviews might be.
This trial would also give you a chance to try working with the partner – do they pay you on time, were the conditions of the contract met to your satisfaction?
When distributing through an OTA, it is important you carefully manage your inventory and ensure your availability is as up to date as possible for future bookings, i.e. at least a year in advance.
Top tip: Use a modern booking solution to manage your inventory efficiently. This will automatically update your live availability and reduce the need for manual intervention and double bookings.
When you work with a DMC, OTA, tour operator or travel advisor you may be creating a bespoke product that is only available in a particular month or season. It might be a product that is also only available to buy through one specific partner.
You will need to create text, images and video to be used in marketing materials by your travel distribution partners.
You will need to create your own product listing for customers with marketing copy, information, images and video and continue to update it yourself each quarter to best reflect your current product and business.
The partner will use the information you provide to create their marketing materials. They may have a different approach to content, so expect to see the information you supplied in a different format, tone of voice or brand style.
Think about how you can share your marketing materials with a travel distribution partner.
Consider using a file sharing site (eg Dropbox) to set up your marketing copy, images and videos. It will then be easy to share a link with a partner.
Check they are up-to-date every 3-6 months and refresh your imagery regularly.
Read our article on how to connect with a travel partner.
Check what the guidance is about branding – are there opportunities for you to include the partners’ branding in your marketing materials? How will they make use of your branding?
This is the agreement between you and the travel distribution partner. It could cover:
You should seek legal advice to check over the terms and conditions to ensure they meet your needs.
Make sure you’re prepared for meeting your first travel distribution partner with market research, prices and business information.
