Five recommendations to boost the sale of tourist services

After two years of pandemic and the lifting of restrictive measures adopted by the Government on the end of the state of health emergency in Peru, Peruvians have been increasing travel plans within the country, with which they would generate close to US $2,500 million just in mobilizing at the national level, according to the report of the Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Exports and Tourism (Promperu), called “Travel intentions of Peruvian vacationers”. This report also reports that 9 out of 10 Peruvians would choose a national destination for their trip.

For Alejandra Gallegos, Commercial Head of Openpay Peru, there would be a tendency to travel more to the interior of the country and domestic tourists would have an essential role in promoting the recovery of the sector. “Tourism is slowly recovering, but still not reaching pre-pandemic figures. Taking into account this inclination and considering the proximity of the season in which Peruvians will travel more -end-of-year parties and summer-, SMEs dedicated to tourism must identify the points of improvement in the service they offer to provide an experience pleasing to the user, especially in the face of new preferences that have emerged during this time of pandemic, such as more digital behaviors”comment.

Not only the purchase, one of the most important points in the process of selecting a travel plan is the payment process, which tends to be digital: 70% of travelers indicate that a good payment experience would make them select a travel provider instead of another; and 25% of people give up buying a tourist service, through the internet, due to a bad experience at the time of payment, according to the global study by the Spanish company Amadeus IT Group.

LOOK: They propose the use of Directly Collected Resources to promote tourist and cultural activity

More transparency, options and security for payments

A Google survey, at the Latin American level, indicates that what Peruvians value most -when traveling- are the offers and financing (41%), as well as the experience when choosing an airline or lodging (11%) . Likewise, travel reservations -with less than two months in advance- have increased and millennials have doubled the odds of making them, unlike adults over 55 years of age.

“Digitization is a challenge for this sector; especially in the face of this generational group that is also more than twice as likely as those over 50 years of age to ‘abandon’ their shopping cart. Therefore, digital payments represent an important opportunity for the tourism industry. A strong payment gateway can promote better and safer conversions”indicates the Openpay Peru specialist.

In this sense, Gallegos offers 5 key tips to strengthen the digital payment process and thus promote the sale of tourist services:

Provides multiple payment options. An average tourist uses up to 4 payment methods during their trip. Therefore, it is important to identify the most relevant options based on the public and its sales channels. In addition, it is ideal that the traveler can select a variety of payment methods as he wishes during the reservation and then choose which one to use.
Increases transparency. 41% of people, according to the Amadeus study, abandon a reservation or trip, they do so because they find extra or unexpected costs at the end of the purchase. It is critical that additional payments – such as taxes – be displayed at each step of the purchase to avoid inconvenience and discomfort. Similarly, allowing the user to pay in their local currency will prevent them from having extra charges of the exchange rate.
Personalize the experience beyond the reservation. Users don’t just engage with a brand at the time of booking. From pre-trip research, to post-trip check-in, to trip management, every moment helps build long-term brand loyalty.

Prioritize security. Although many users prefer websites or applications that allow them to save their financial information, since it makes it easier for them to purchase new services, there will be more chances that they will use a platform again if it safeguards their provided data. “For example, a business or SME that uses a gateway and payment links, guarantees that the e-commerce operation is safe, because they quickly verify financial information and make a clear record of operations, functioning as an intermediary between different cards. and banks”, emphasizes the specialist.
Empower last minute shoppers. Google points out that on average 1 out of 10 Peruvians do not plan their trips. In turn, search interest in phrases such as “last minute flights and fares” grew by 57% in the country. At this point, the use of open APIs (application programming interfaces) and the cloud are versatile to offer complete, fast and reliable payments, as well as to customize the payment methods offered to a tourist.

“By strengthening the digital transformation, especially in the field of payments, SMEs and businesses in the sector are getting closer to offering stress-free travel experiences to users and boosting their sales opportunities. Digital payments open up opportunities, which would help gain the trust and loyalty of users”Gallegos concludes.