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  5. Prepare your business checklist

Prepare your business checklist

6 minute read • Last updated: 25 February 2025

Before you sign up for a travel trade event or reach out directly to a travel distribution partner, check if you’ve done everything you can to prepare your business. You’ll need to have all your information ready, and know which partners are most suitable and likely to be interested in your business.

Check if you understand how travel distribution works and know who to speak to as a partner. Make sure you understand the audiences you could target, and have the right prices ready for selling directly and through a partner. Look at what tools you may need to share information with a partner.

In this article:

  • Delivering a quality experience
  • Understanding travel distribution
  • Understanding the markets
  • Setting your prices
  • Having the right tools

Delivering a quality experience

Well lit and spacious living room area in a self catering property

Well lit and spacious living room area in a self catering property

© Highland Spaces

After a contract agreement with a travel distribution partner, you will be representing their business and brand. A customer makes the purchase through the partner and holds them responsible if anything goes wrong. A partner will want to make sure that you are ready and thoroughly prepared to welcome their customers.

Can you meet their expectations around your product, and your customer service?

Your product

  • high-quality product or service
  • up-to-date information across all channels
  • positive customer reviews
  • user-friendly marketing materials available in language (if required) for both customers and travel distribution partners, highlighting your unique selling points and contact details
  • good quality imagery and video footage
  •  a repeatable experience which could handle repeat bookings

Your customer service

  • understanding of how travel distribution works and what is required from you
  • a reliable and efficient business with great customer service
  • consistent opening hours or availability
  • friendly, engaging staff who are keen to build and maintain relationships
  • understanding and willingness to meet needs from different markets
  • product or service availability and guaranteed price information (rates) available up to 18 months in advance
  • good communication via phone, email and other online channels
  • fast turnaround in 24 hours for bookings, enquiries and issues
  • awareness of consumer protection laws for travel distribution partners

How to check you’re delivering a quality experience

Every business needs to review their standards regularly. Perhaps you want to move the quality of your product and service up a notch, target a market with higher expectations, or have received some constructive feedback on what you could do better? Look at your standards across your business and put a process in place for setting and maintaining standards consistently across your business.

Read our quality experience articles.

Understanding travel distribution

Do you understand how travel distribution works, who the partners are and how they work?

What is travel distribution?

Travel distribution is all the different ways you can get your product to the customer. The goal is not as simple as selling more experiences to more customers, but to find the right travel distribution partners for your business, where you can get more value from every customer you sell to.

Read about travel distribution.

What are the benefits of selling via travel distribution partners?

From reaching new audiences to filling quieter times, there are many benefits to working with a travel distribution partner. There are a few key considerations as well, such as creating a travel trade price for your product, reviewing terms and conditions and considering the impact on your staff responsibilities.

Check out the benefits and considerations of selling via a partner.

Having an awareness of how a travel partner works

People using mobile device at desk

Lochend Chalets

Terminology

The travel distribution partner will call you a partner or a supplier – they regard your relationship as a partnership, working together to ensure the product is of a high-quality and is a good fit for their customers' wants and needs.

Group sizes

They will bring you:

  • groups of between 6-100 people
  • fully independent travellers (FITs) of between 1-8 people

Job roles

A travel distribution partner could have different staff for different products – accommodation versus experiences – so make sure you’re speaking to the right person for your business.

Look out for:

  • Contractors – this person arranges a contract with you for a set price and set terms and conditions.
  • Product developers – this person puts the itineraries together, they get to know what you offer and whether that will fit what they are looking for.

Processes

When do travel distribution partners look for new businesses?

A travel distribution partner will look for new suppliers all year round. A DMC, tour operator or travel advisor in particular might be looking for a new supplier so they can:

  • be the first with new experiences
  • offer different experiences at different price points out of season
  • breathe new life into an existing tour which isn’t getting as many sales anymore
  • start up a new tour in a new destination
  • extend an existing tour
  • adjust an existing tour to reflect a change in a current supplier circumstance

Due diligence

Remember to do your due diligence on a travel distribution partner before signing a contract. Ask around other businesses you work with or know of, have they heard of the partner and what do they know about them? Look them up on Companies House where you can see basic information about their business (if UK-based). If something sounds too good to be true, check it first. Seek legal advice to check over any terms and conditions to make sure they work for you.

Understanding relevant regulations

Will any current legislation impact you working with a travel distribution partner?

Package travel regulations

Find out how the package travel regulations can apply if you collaborate with another business to sell a product. They can also apply to your travel distribution partner, if they are selling your product as part of a package or itinerary.

Read about the package travel regulations.

Understanding the markets

Group on farm tour

Lunan Bay Farm

Do you know which markets you want to target, and what partners can help you reach them?

  • What are Scotland’s target markets?
  • What trends bring customers to Scotland?
  • How do customer expectations differ across different markets and trends?

Reach new markets

Scotland’s biggest markets based on number of visits are the UK, US, France and Germany. The country also sees interest on particular trends such as ancestry, cycling and Gaelic. Read more about each market and trend, and what their customer expectations are of your business. You can then adapt your business to cater directly for those markets and customers.

Learn about how to reach and target new markets.

Setting your prices

Have you considered a pricing strategy for selling through a travel distribution partner?

Pricing strategies

Setting a price for your product is one of the most important things you’ll do for your business. Take time to research other businesses and for different pricing strategies to apply and get customer feedback before you decide on a price. Ideally you should have a pricing strategy in place that reflects the same price whether you sell your product direct or via a travel distribution partner. You need to regularly review your costs and margins to ensure your products and business as a whole stay profitable.

Check out how to set your prices for a distribution partner.

Having the right tools

Have you considered how your current systems could support your working through a partner?

  • Does your current system offer connectivity to travel distribution partners?
  • Will you need to consider a new online booking system, application programming interface (API) or channel manager to connect with a partner?

Online booking systems

Read all about online booking systems, APIs and channel managers. Learn more about them and how to decide which system is right for your business, and will allow you to easily share information with future travel distribution partners.

Read about online booking systems for experiences.

Check out online booking systems for accommodation.

How to prepare for meeting a travel distribution partner

You need to create an engaging and informative pitch which inspires an intermediary partner to want to sell your business to their customers. Find out what information you need, and how to create a template you can use for your future partner meetings.

How to prepare a business pitch

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How to target and reach the US market

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Connect with travel trade partners

Find out about travel trade events and walk step-by-step through building your first travel distribution relationship.
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How to target and reach the French market

Understand the French market and adjust your product and marketing to reach this audience.
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