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Since the internet has taken over practically the whole world, we can get products and services we want from almost anywhere. Where in the past we had to limit our choice to the few things we knew, we can now search and find if somewhere out there there is exactly that service or product that you need.
With the possibility to get something that exactly meets your need, it becomes very difficult for a travel company to deliver a wide variety of products with high quality. The expected personalization is too high to do this and you will not deliver a service that will blow your customers expectations. It doesn't make sense for a customer to buy something that doesn't completely suit there needs if there is a company out there that delivers it. And know that you can be aware of almost all available travel services in the world its hard to imagine that what you are looking for is not somewhere out there.
This means that as a tourism business you need focus on a few things that you can do really good, and develop your services and products around a niche.
Creating a niche means crafting products specially created for a very specific group of travelers versus a general offer everyone might like.
Its wise to create a niche because travelers have different passions and different interests. By focusing on a small group (niche) you can put all your energy and resources into fulfilling these specific needs creating a product that is ideal for this group. And with a focus on a specific set of services and products you are probably also able to improve those products faster then when you focus on a wider range of services.
Its also a way to make yourself visible much easier.
Because there is so much travel content online, it's incredibly difficult to sell travel products on the internet that are not targeted towards a niche, very few travel companies have the resources to do this and the competition is stiff.
The amount of content online is still growing. There is so much information coming at us at a daily basis, that we have to filter most of it as non relevant, those pieces that we or the algorithms of our social media channel let go through our filter are those pieces of information that confirms the preferences you have, confirm to what kind of "tribe" you are or want to be part of, or can help the improve your status within your community.
To cut through the clutter and to be appealing to a community with special interests, you have to focus on a niche. The internet makes it possible to target the people of your niche interests across the world.
Other reasons to go for a niche are the costs to acquire a customer through online marketing, they are significantly lower for very targeted niches. Making it easier to run profitable marketing campaigns. But its also easier to brand, people remember specialists like Golf Tour Operators or Diving specialists better then generalists. Ad its easier and cheaper to advertise in for example all diving magazines and websites then selecting a wide range of magazines that you wish your clients might also be reading.
But it doesn't stop with a niche, now with AI technology, even a niche becomes limited people want to services that are exactly made for them. Unique experiences, tailored for their wishes. We call that personalization.
Creating a niche when you already have a business
When starting to define your niche look at your strengths and your passions what do I love to do and what am i good in. But also look at your revenue. Look at those products / services that give you a high margin and contribute most to your profits.
If you analyse you might see the 80 / 20 rule, 20% of products contribute to 80 % of revenue.
Can you become a specialist around those products ? Focus your attention to go the extra mile for clients of those products, how can you create more value for them, up sell other products, make spin offs of these products ?
- How do you deliver the best possible: preferable customized customer experiences for it.
- What do you like most about this product, can you build on to that
- What do customers like most about this product, can you extend on that
It's always easier to focus on the things that go good and make them even better then putting lot of energy in improving things that don't go very well.
On a lot of travel website of tour operators that i work with there are products they haven't sold in a whole year, which might work well if you sell things that never change, but destinations and experiences change all the time, it hard work to keep them update and relevant.
To benefit from a so called long tail of products ain't easy in the travel industry without hurting your image of a professional and relevant travel company.
So if products don't contribute to your profit, nor your image through them out. It will only eat energy, because you didn't give enough attention to it. If you get leads other companies, can probably make a better offer, making your scoring change on these quotations low. Eating only unnecessary resources of your company.
If your a new company, you can start from scratch, look at we you are good in, have passion for, can you create value with that for travelers ?
A really good Ted Talk about niches is a ted talk of Malcolm Gladwell who tells about Howard who helps food companies with flavors. He claims there is not such a thing as a perfect product for everyone, then you will always comprise. You have to break up the market in clusters and give each cluster what they like most.
