First impressions are everything, and in the travel industry, these are formed during the quotation stage. It’s the key moment when prospective clients decide whether your trip is the unforgettable adventure they’ve been dreaming of, or an experience they’d rather skip. So how can you ensure your quotes always hit the mark?

This hot topic was up for discussion during the recent webinar, ‘Quotes That Convert: Turn Travel Queries Into Bookings’, hosted by Vamoos. In just 45 minutes, the panel of travel industry experts, including Tom Harding (Nemo Travel), Samantha Kelly (The Travel Hub Collection), Alisdair Luxmoore (Vamoos) and Peyton Labiak (Vamoos), explained how tour operators can transform simple quotes into powerful selling tools. Ready to learn the secrets to exceptional quote creation? Check out the full recording below to find out!

 

 

Webinar: Quotes That Convert: Turn Travel Queries Into Bookings

 

 

 

 

Samantha’s key conversion tactics

 

With 20 years of expertise in the travel industry, Samantha Kelly from the The Travel Hub Collection shared her top 5 tips for delivering high-quality quotes.

 

1. Stay informed: Samantha advised tour operators to stay up-to-date about the destinations they offer holidays to. While information can be found readily on the internet, Samantha also recommended getting intel directly from local representatives.

 

2. Be visual: Engaging imagery and videos are the perfect way to impress prospective clients. Samantha explained how using interactive itinerary builders, like the Vamoos Storyboard, can help to engage travellers from the get-go. She also advised listeners to present information to prospective clients in a way that is accessible to all demographics.

 

3. Show value: When it comes to details, Samantha explained that you can never be too descriptive. For example, if you offer all-inclusive holidays, detail exactly what’s included, from meals to local activities. This allows prospective clients to understand the value of your service beyond just the price, make more informed buyer decisions, and budget accordingly.

 

4. Create urgency: Samantha pointed out that evoking a sense of urgency from prospective clients can encourage them along the buyer journey. You can achieve this by making prospects aware that the properties and experiences you offer are season-dependent or have limited availability, meaning if they don’t book quickly, they’ll likely miss out. You can also showcase the availability of your services using live calendars, which the Travel Hub Collection provide on their website. 

 

5. Have the answers: Always have key information to hand, and be prepared to present fact sheets to prospective clients during meetings. While it’s important to be upfront about your pricing, ensure prospects understand that your holidays have much more to offer too.

 

 

Tom’s tips for quotes that convert

 

Next, we heard from Tom Harding, the founder of Nemo Travel. Nemo are a bespoke tour operator, who provide special occasion trips around the globe. With growing competition from OTAs and other travel companies, Tom stressed the importance of delivering quotes that wow potential clients. Read on for his 4 top tips for converting prospects into buyers…

 

1. Be relatable: build a rapport with prospective clients, by enquiring about their preferences and the background of their trip – beyond just the necessary information.

 

2. Cooperate with travellers: prove to prospects that you can be flexible and accommodate their individual needs and travel styles.

 

3. Showcase your expertise: share your knowledge about different holiday destinations and experiences – after all, you’re the travel expert.

 

5. Maintain control: stay in control of your buyer’s journey, and remember that prospects are likely considering other options for their trip.

 

Tailoring quotes using Loom

 

Tom explained how he uses Loom, a video messaging tool, to take his quotes to the next level. Following an initial discovery meeting with a prospective client, Tom and his team create an engaging sample itinerary within their bespoke quotation tool.

Using Loom, they then record a voice-over, walking the prospect through the itinerary and the details of their trip, while also building on the topics discussed during their initial discovery meeting. As Tom narrates the video, Loom automatically generates a summary based on the topics discussed, making the information more digestible for the listener.

 

Personalising quotes for maximum impact

 

As Tom explained, sending a personalised video is an excellent way to strengthen the relationship between travel company and prospect. For the team at Nemo Travel, using Loom is a win-win, as it allows them to add a personal touch to the quoting experience for prospective clients, while also reducing the need to manually type out long emails, where information inevitably gets lost.

Tom also recommended being transparent about pricing when delivering quotes, so prospective clients can make a more informed decision about your services.

 

Read now: Upgrade the way you deliver quotes – Vamoos for travel companies

 

 

Balancing tech with travel expertise

 

While AI tools allow travel companies to stay in control during the buyer process and deliver a more personalised experience to prospective customers, Tom pointed out that they should only be used to assist in the quoting process, and should not be treated as a be-all and end-all solution.

He explained that blending AI tools with travel expertise and unique destination knowledge is the key to crafting exceptional quotes, which turn prospects into buyers.

 

 

Peyton’s top 3 tools for seamless quote creation

 

Peyton Labiak from Vamoos showcased 3 AI tools which can be used in the Vamoos Travel App to improve efficiency, when creating itineraries and quotations.

 

Grammarly Pro chrome extension

 

Grammarly Pro is a free-to-use tool, which can be used across a variety of platforms, including Storyboard, Vamoos’ visual itinerary builder. Grammarly excels at improving pre-written copy and can even be used to draft high-quality writing from scratch, for either itineraries or quotations.

As Peyton demonstrated, Grammarly can be used for a range of purposes, like adjusting the tone, fluency and format of your copy, or even increasing the level of description in your writing. Whether you’d like your copy to sound clear and conversational, or professional and concise, Grammarly’s intuitive prompts allow you to adapt text to suit any audience.

 

Imsert

 

Imsert is an AI image sourcing tool, which helps tour operators to build exceptional itineraries in the Vamoos Travel App. Imsert makes relevant image recommendations based on the copy you’re writing, and even suggests pictures from your library as you build up the resource over time. The handy AI tool simplifies the process of itinerary and quote creation, by automatically recommending engaging visuals as you type.

 

Instant view

 

Instant View is a useful quotation tool which operates within the Vamoos Travel App. After creating stunning visual itineraries in the Vamoos Storyboard, simply select the Instant View link to generate a dynamic, web-based version of your itinerary which you can share with prospects. 

Either add pricing information directly into the itinerary or send the Instant View link alongside external pricing details to deliver quotations which will wow prospective clients. The Instant View link is interactive, allowing prospects to browse through the engaging imagery you’ve selected, the day-by-day breakdown of their trip and even a digital map, packed with exciting activities suggestions.

 

Best practices for using AI tools

 

Alisdair reminded listeners that AI tools like Grammarly should be viewed only as drafting assistants, not finishing tools. Despite their countless applications, it’s still possible for AI systems to make mistakes, deliver flawed outputs or omit key information, so balancing AI use with the discerning human touch is important.

 

 

If you’d like find out more about the Vamoos Travel App, and how you can use it to create stunning quotes, book a meeting and we’ll show you a personalised app demo. Alternatively, get started right away with a FREE trial.

 

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