lead in travel

• Host Agencies
• Accelerator Course
• Travel Jobs
• Travel Agent Chatter
• Etiquette & Rules
• Privacy Policy

Travel Leads: A Complete Guide [+Comparison Chart]

If you’re struggling to grow a thriving client base, a travel leads program may be a good tool for you. This article will take a closer look at travel industry association, host agency, consortia, and franchise lead generation programs, addressing:

• Travel Leads. What Are They?
• What to Expect from Travel Lead Programs
• Evaluating Travel Leads Programs: 5 Questions to Ask
• Travel Leads Comparison Chart
• Alternatives to travel leads programs

All the programs on our comparison chart are listed on our site! So be sure to check them out!

What Do I mean When I Say Leads for Travel Agents?

For the purposes of this article, when I’m talking about lead generation program I’m talking about client leads that come from your host agency, franchise or consortia. I’m not talking about lead generation apps and programs outside the travel industry. I’m also not talking about referrals from Jack who’s in the PTA with you, or Sally from your kickboxing class. I’m talking about the kind of travel leads that are not a direct result of your own connections, marketing or social media efforts.

Rather, the host, franchise or consortia will leverage their own marketing and branding to attract clients and somehow pass them along to you, the agent. 

There are two primary kinds of travel lead generation programs.  Before I jump into it, I just want to mention that I'm making these terms up to help explain them. So you will not find them in textbooks or the Googleverse:

1. Mediated Travel Lead Generation Programs: 

By a "mediated" lead generation program, I mean that the host agency, franchise or consortia qualifies the travel leads and designates which agent they will be assigned to. That's right, they are the matchmaker. So when kickbox Sally calls into Supernova host agency asking for a wellness trip to Tulum, Mexico, Supernova host agency will use their worker bees or some kind of algorithm (the matchmaker) to decide which travel agent will be the best fit for Sally. 

The leads will (likely) be distributed based on factors like travel agent niche, expertise, destination, sales history etc.

2. Unmediated Travel Lead Generation Programs:   

This is the much more common style of lead generation program. This method, the host agency, consortia or franchise is hands off. Typically it operates like a travel agent directory, offering a platform for travel agents to list their expertise, niche, experience, bio etc. This way, kickbox Sally will choose for herself what agent she wants to approach to book her trip to Tulum.

Instead of a matchmaker, it's more like an online dating profile where the clients go shopping around for the best match. With unmediated travel lead generation programs, you need to ensure you still have a strong profile that engages clients (more on this another day).

How Do Lead Programs Work?

With both methods, the travel agent benefits from the marketing/branding magnetism of their particular host, franchise or consortia. Some host agencies will offer their own travel agent directories in addition to a consortium's directory. The more places an agent is listed, the more likely kickbox Sally will find you. 

That said, when I reached out to places offering travel leads, many of them were clear to point out that lead programs are intended to complement an agent's (or agency's) own lead generation efforts—not replace them . So if you're thinking that you're going to sustain your business on a lead generation program alone, you may be disappointed. 

This brings me to . . .

What to Expect from Travel Agent Lead Generation Programs

Host agencies reported average close rates that ranged from 10-95% in 2019 (and many hosts did not have a number or exact number available). Ultimately, lead programs are only as successful as the agent who is receiving the travel lead. In order to turn leads into sales, your marketing and sales game has to be on point. If your agent profile or travel agent website is not A+, receiving a travel lead won’t do you much good. 

It’s kind of like if you have a surprise guest come stay at your house. You want the sheets to be on the bed and the cupboard to be full of snacks if you want that guest to stay and keep coming back. (I apologize to all introverts if this metaphor doesn’t work for you because a surprise houseguest is a thing of nightmares . . . but you get the gist of it.)

Some other day, we will do an article on closing travel leads. But in the meantime, you can check out our 10 Bazillion marketing resources on the site . 

Evaluating Travel Lead Generation Programs: 5 Questions to Ask

If you’re here, you probably know that you want to use a lead generation program, but you’re not sure where to start. Like finding a host agency , there’s no one travel lead program that will be perfect for everyone.

Here’s a few questions to ask companies to see if their lead program is right for you:

1. How many travel leads do agents receive on average?

Ask how many monthly or annual leads you can expect. Leads are also a balance of quality and quantity: If you get a fewer quality leads (known as warm leads), that might have a greater impact on your bottom line than getting a ton of leads that are more difficult to close. (See below about the close ratio.)

2. How is it determined which agent receives the leads?

Who will get the leads? Ask your host, consortia, or franchise how they determine which agency receives which lead. If it's dependent on niche, for example, you can ask more specifically how many leads they pass on looking for you niche. If it depends on prior sales, you might want to ask how a new agent can get an added edge for receiving leads (if you're a newbie).

3. What is the commission split for bookings generated from the leads program? 

Most travel lead programs do not cost anything up front. Instead, the company may generate some income by taking a higher portion of the commission split. If the commission split from a leads program is lower than your standard commission with the host/franchise/consortia, you may also want to ask if this modified commission split continues with future bookings for the same client. 

4. Who do the travel leads belong to?

This is an important question to ask in case you ever leave the host agency/franchise/consortia to join another or get your own accreditation. If the lead belongs to the host/franchise/consortia, that means that the client cannot stay with you if you change host agencies . This is similar to a travel agent employee who quits working at a storefront agency, where clients typically go back to the agency rather than follow the departing agent. So even if you develop a relationship with that client and work with them for a long time, you may not be able to keep their business.

5. What is the average close ratio of the leads among agents?

Remember that the travel company is not responsible for closing the sale. That's on you! But a closing ratio can give you an idea of how quality the leads are. If the closing ratio is lower, it might be okay if you receive more monthly leads.

You’re probably thinking, gosh wouldn’t it be nice if there were a handy resource that outlined all that information? Well guess what?! You’ve struck gold . . .

Travel Lead Programs: Let's Compare

I reached out to our travel industry connections and asked them those very questions and we created a nifty table with the info.

Also, just because a company isn’t listed on this table, it does not mean that they don’t have a leads program. It just means they chose not to participate.

Travel Lead Programs Comparison Charts

Here's a list our listed travel companies who weighed in on their leads program. Click on their card to see the full info on their program. (I also recommend clicking on "view larger version" on bottom right corner. That will make it easier for you to sort by what you're looking for in a leads program.)

2. Other Lead Generating OPportunities

Below is a chart of travel companies that don't have formal lead programs, but (some) offer viable alternatives that may meet your needs:

Alternative Travel Agent Lead Generation Opportunities

Beyond hosts, franchises and consortia, some other organizations and suppliers may also offer agent directories that are consumer facing.

The IGLTA   (International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association), and ATTA  (Adventure Travel and Trade Association) also have a consumer-facing travel agent directories or bios. 

These are just a few examples off the top of my head. If you know of other, please let me know! If you're interested in membership to some of these travel organizations, ask if they offer this type of service. You can ask them the same questions above that you'd ask a host, franchises and consortia regarding close rates, and fees. Milk those memberships! 

Moral of the story: You can lead a traveler to a travel advisor, but you can't make them book it. But I'm curious to hear from travel agents and your experiences of using (or having used) travel leads. What challenges and joys did you encounter? What questions do you ask?

Let us know—I'm really looking forward to hearing from you. 

About the Author

Mary Stein has been working as a writer and editor for Host Agency Reviews since 2016. She loves supporting travel advisors on their entrepreneurial journey and is inspired by their passion, tenacity, and creativity. Mary is also a mom, dog lover, fiction writer, hiker, and a Great British Bake Off superfan.

• Agent Tools
• Starting Up

Important notice: Beware of fraudulent recruiter messages on WhatsApp! More details on our LinkedIn profile

• Case Studies
• Partnership

7 Ways Travel Agents Generate Leads

With a global shift to digital marketing, travel industry businesses are extremely focused on attracting potential clients, boosting online presence, and driving more bookings.

A core strategic focus of your digital marketing effort is on winning qualified leads. These are people who’ve visited your website or social media and made a solid action there: filled in the contact form, signed out for a travel newsletter, or booked a consultation. 

In all cases, qualified leads provide you with their contact information and signal their preliminary interest in your travel services. With contact details of interested users in hand, your team further re-markets them into the actual customers of your offers. This is what happens in the conversion stage of the customer journey.

By definition, there are marketing qualified leads (MQLs) who express interest in your travel services and customized solutions, and sales qualified leads (SQLs) who intend to pay you. In both cases, you should focus on the intent of your target audience and tailor deeply customized approaches.

The truth of lead generation for travel companies , however, is that a mere percentage of qualified leads will turn into customers who will order and pay for your travel services. To dive deeper into the proven ways of lead generation in the travel business, Promodo travel marketing experts are sharing top insights for 2024.

While nobody provides free travel leads for travel agents, a pool of potential clients presents a solid strategic asset you should retain. Throughout your customer journey, sustained personalized communication is a key to success. Close-knit engagement with digital travel leads is how you cultivate trusted relationships with your clientele and increase their lifetime value (LTV).

1. How to Optimize Website for Travel Agents

The mainstream trend for booking travel tours and holiday trips online will hype in 2024 and beyond. Answering the question of how to generate leads for travel business, you should craft a decent travel website . 

Your major task here is to turn into a crucial digital touchpoint to attract qualified leads. Serving your target audience as a one-touch travel hub is what will provide you with a competitive advantage.

While all players are striving to deliver the best possible user experience (UX), make the maximum use of AI tools and mobile marketing options. This means you have to optimize your online presence to the best quality standard by ensuring: 

✈️ Mobile optimization of your site

✈️ Fast loading times of all pages on your site

✈️ A proper mix of textual, visual, and video content

✈️ A visually appealing and clear layout

✈️ Effective use of multimedia and AI tools.

As a long-haul search engine optimization (SEO) game, competitive travel agents start their digital marketing path with an SEO audit to ensure that all tech issues are well in place: 

SEO is about ensuring that potential customers can easily discover your website when they perform online searches. Your prime SEO goal in travel agency lead generation is to secure a high ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) once consumers search for keywords relevant to your business.

A core SEO priority is to maintain informative, easily navigable, and engaging content on your travel website. A good piece of user-friendly advice here is to segment your content by major types of your typical clients:

✈️ Leisure travelers

✈️ Business travelers

✈️ Luxury travelers

✈️ Holiday travelers

✈️ Event travelers

✈️ Cultural travelers

✈️ Weekend trippers 

✈️ Adventure tourists

✈️ Eco-tourists

✈️ Extreme seekers

Beyond relevant travel content, generating qualified leads much depends on clear calls to action (CTAs). These buttons play a pivotal role by guiding your site visitors toward the next stages of your sales funnel:

With an exceptional user experience (UX) , you considerably increase the likelihood of converting visitors into qualified journey leads and actual customers. 

2. Why Use Calls and Callbacks to Get More Travel Leads

Phone calls hold specific importance in generating leads for travel agencies. 

Live interpersonal communication covers various inquiries and detailed guidance that most travelers want to hear in person before booking their trips. With that, travel agents apply voice calls as an efficient means to provide their customers with all the needed information.

This is why incorporating web calling and web callbacks substantially enhances the influx of digital travel leads. Both options simplify the process for customers to connect with you: 

✈️ Web calling enables customers to initiate a call directly through your website

✈️ Callback features allow your customers to schedule a call at their convenience.

Placing a click-to-call button and a callback option on all pages of your website is an effective way to generate more travel leads. 

3. Is Website Travel Blogging a Sound Option 

Yes, this is your competitive advantage over the closest rivals. Be sure to craft engaging blog posts with AI and video content and share them all through social media platforms to generate more qualified leads. 

Take blogging as the foremost content marketing tool that will help you generate a wider pool of qualified leads. By consistently creating fresh and catchy content, you’ll attract potential customers on a shoestring marketing budget.

While tough rivalry among travel bloggers is nothing new these days, stand out from the crowd by targeting your posts to individual travel needs and preferences shared by your typical clients. Herewith, diving deeper into your ideal customer portrait is an absolute must-have.

4. Is It Worth Harnessing Social Media to Generate Travel Leads

Yes, social media platforms will help you: 

✈️ Make the brand name for your travel business 

✈️ Elevate brand visibility

✈️ Foster customer engagement, and 

✈️ Spread your travel content. 

Continuous engagement with a wide pool of potentially interested users in travel and tourism is pivotal to your content marketing strategy. Sharing your clients’ travel experiences across social media platforms is essential to maximize an overall reach and drive your brand awareness.

A strategic move here is to launch a video blog on your agency’s YouTube channel. This is your golden chance to share first-hand travel experiences and make connections with your target audience.

Even further, TikTok is most suitable for short 15-second videos to emphasize hyping trends. 

Take social media as a supplementary digital marketing option to your website promotion. This way, you’ll generate qualified leads from user forms and calls-to-action (CTAs) beyond visiting your website. 

This makes a stark difference if compared to deploying paid social media ads . The latter option proves highly effective once you need to retarget those users who have previously visited your website but have not converted into actual customers. 

5. How about Elevating Lead Generation with Live Web Chats

Live chatting has proven as an exceptionally cost-effective way to boost lead generation across the travel industry.

Live chats serve as a valuable means of initiating customer conversations. Through properly placed pop-ups and gentle nudges, you prompt potential leads to engage with you by responding to their immediate travel inquiries on all stages of their customer journey. 

With live chat available, your potential customers may inquire about a real-time interaction or prompt answers from one of your travel experts.

A notable feature of readily available live chats is their seamless integration with phone systems. Through such integration, you’ll achieve a seamless user experience (UX) .

6. Should You Generate Travel Leads through Email Marketing

Despite its seemingly old-school reputation, email marketing remains a highly valuable strategy in the digital landscape. It serves as an excellent way to place content directly in front of your audience, with the added benefit of being an effective call to action. 

For instance, a monthly email newsletter showcasing your latest holiday deals can include compelling icons like 'Book and Save Now' or 'Get a Quote Now' at the end, directing customers to an online booking form or a dedicated page on your website where they can engage with your booking team. This simple yet strategic use of email marketing significantly contributes to generating digital travel leads for your travel business.

Pursuing email marketing , it's crucial to cultivate and expand your client email database. The most effective approach involves offering a lead magnet—a reward customers receive in exchange for providing their emails. This could take the form of a/an: 

✈️ Downloadable travel brochure

✈️ Access to destination videos

✈️ A monthly newsletter with vacation package options.

7. How Travel Agents Leverage Online Referral and Incentive Programs

Harnessing the power of your customer base is among the best ways to amplify your digital travel leads. 

Online referral programs help to expand your customer base with minimal effort. The strategy is particularly impactful for premium or luxury services like holidays, where individuals are more inclined to choose a travel agent advised by a friend or family member.

Consider extending benefits to both the referrer and the referred customer by offering them discounts when the referred customer makes an online booking.

While the idea of offering discounts may seem daunting, a well-executed online referral program will help you save on your budget, while more qualified leads will compensate for the marketing costs. And the more appealing your referral incentives, the greater the influx of travel leads you're likely to attract.

If you are still asking how to get clients for travel agency, get in touch with our niche experts to help you through your digital marketing journey.

‍ Content Marketing Manager at Promodo

Taras has 16 years of hands-on copywriting experience overseas with 3000+ unique copies.

Accredited with Certificate of Proficiency in English (C2 level) by Cambridge University. Studied at Writing Launch Academy (United States) and owns an Academic Writing Certificate from Oregon University. Author of 12 dictionaries with Apriori Publishers.

You may also like

Check our similar articles

Choose quality and trusted services to improve the presence of your company on the Internet, and feel free to contact our UK team if you have any questions.

60% of patients rely on online reviews when opting for a medical treatment facility.

Today, Promodo marketers discuss why a single ROAS formula is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

Remarketing campaigns are vital to increase conversions and revenue.

Boost your effectiveness

We at Promodo are ready to help you improve your performance across all digital marketing channels.

Let us look at your business challenge from a different angle and share our ideas.

By clicking on “Send message” button, you agree to our Privacy Policy , and allow Promodo to use this information for marketing purposes.

• The Benefits
• Custom Franchise
• Plans & Pricing
• Our Mission
• Testimonials

The Top 15 Ways To Generate Leads For Your Travel Business Go Back Button

The single biggest reason most travel agents quit the industry or never become a top seller is their inability to generate customer leads. Many agents fall into the trap of relying on their host agency to send them leads, or they struggle to generate business outside of their friends and family list. In an era where technology has levelled the playing field regarding getting information about your business out to critical mass, generating leads has never been easier. If you learn the right actions to take on a daily basis, and you are consistent with your effort, there is absolutely no reason why you should not have customers contacting you about your services.

If you wish to become a master at generating new customer leads daily for your travel business, here are 25 ways to you can accomplish that goal.

1. Word Of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth marketing is still the most credible way of promoting a business. People like hearing from people and the first person that should be telling others about your business is you. Everywhere you go, everyone opportunity you get, you should be sharing your business with others. Ask friends and family members to spread the word to their friends and colleagues, letting them know that when they are ready to book a trip, they should contact you. If you want to get more leads, you are not going to do so being a “Secret Agent.” Tell people about your business.

2. A Well Designed Website

It is 2016 and just in case you have been living under a rock for the last 20 years everybody and their pets are online searching for information. The exact number is 3.2 billion. I can promise you that at least a handful of those people are looking for a travel agent to help them book their vacation. Your website is your online storefront. You do not get any piece of that 3.2 billion is you do not have a website. Please note that the title said “Well Designed Website.” You need a website that adequately represents what your travel business is all about, something that will make you stand out from the competition. When potential customers land on your site, they should want to do business with you.

3. Keyword Optimization

Keyword search is, without a doubt, the NUMBER ONE source of driving sales and consumer leads. Google is king when it comes to finding buyers, and you need to find out how you can capture those customers that are looking for the type of travel services that you offer. The answer to that is Keyword Optimization, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization (SEO). If you do not understand SEO, seek the assistance of an expert that can help you identify the set of keywords that will attract the type of “Buyers” you are looking for. No, “Travel Agent” is not a buyer keyword and unless you have millions to spend on Google ads, you very likely will not get ranked for such a competitive keyword. Identify specific long-tail phrases that someone would likely type in search engines when they are looking your services. Something like “Find A Jamaica Travel Specialist” or “find a travel agent in New York”. If you own top rankings for the right keywords, you can pretty much stop all other means of generating leads.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing has been around since the invention of emails, and it is still today one of the most efficient ways of getting customer leads for any business. To start your email marketing campaign, you fist need to start building your email list. If you do not know how to farm an email list check out this article containing 10 Ways To Build An Email List .  Once you have your list going, you should be setting weekly or bi-weekly newsletters to your email list with travel deals, tips, and any information relevant to the type of travel services that you offer. Your newsletter should always include a “Call To Action” such as “Contact Me To Book Your Vacation” or, “Click Here For More Information”.

5. Social Media Marketing

Social Media is very useful lead generation tool for many reasons. Reason number one it’s FREE to use. You can use social media to connect with and build a following of people that are your potential clients; you can share information with these followers on a daily basis about your services. Social media is also an excellent way to build your brand and establish credibility, which translates into more leads and more customers for your travel business.

Check Out This Article On Social Media Marketing

6. Classified Ads

There are many free and paid business classifieds out there that you can use to promote your business. Popular sites like Craigslist, Kijiji, Yellow pages and many others get millions of daily visitors that could be potential customers. Free classified ads are not as effective as when you pay to have your business listing at the top of the pages. Create a very catchy ad title with a lovely image and a brief overview of your business. Make sure you include a link to a contact form on your site or a phone number that interested travellers can easily reach you.

7. Blog Marketing

If you want to be seen as an expert in your niche travel market, get a lot of visitors to your website, rank highly on search engines, start blogging. The most successful websites online use blogging and article marketing as a tool to engage visitors and convert traffic into customers. Start a travel blog about the type of travel services you offer, post to your website and share to your social media pages and your weekly newsletter. By writing about interesting topics and providing useful tips and insight on your subject matter, you will be seen as an expert and clients will come to you when they are ready to make a purchase. Blogging will also make your site more credible with Google, and you will rank faster and higher for relevant key phrases.

8. Youtube Video Marketing

An excellent and effective way to get your brand messaging out to customers is by starting a YouTube channel. Billions of users go to YouTube to search for videos about topics of interest, and if you are serving content in a niche travel category, those users will find you. Video marketing also helps you reach many of today's web users that have short attention span and do not like to read and much prefer looking at images or watching a video. It is not as easy to generate good content for your YouTube video channel as it is for blogging, but every opportunity you get to record a great video to upload to YouTube, you should do so as it will no doubt generate inquiries from potential customers.

9. Trade Shows

Trade shows cost money, and they can be exhausting. However, there is no better way to get face-to-face and build relationships with potential clients. There are dozens of travel trade shows happening around you, and some of your potential customers are attending these exhibits. It is worth the investment to rent a booth space for the weekend and get yourself in front of thousands of potential customers at one of these tradeshows. Don’t just rent a booth and hand out brochures, have something setup that will encourage the people that stop at your both to leave their contact information for you to send them your newsletters.

10. Niche Branding

I probably write about finding a niche and establishing a Niche Brand in every single one of my lead generation articles. However, I do not believe I can say it enough times. It is just that important. If you wish to differentiate yourself from everyone else out there and give customers a compelling reason to enlist your services when booking their trip, you need to identify an area of specialty and focus your marketing and branding to that niche. When your website content, your social media profile, your trade show brochures and your company name represents something other than the general hotel and flight packages customers can find on Expedia, your services will attract more attention, and especially that of those seeking out the type of travel you are offering.

11. Customer Incentives

Offer potential customers something for doing business with you. A Spa voucher, complimentary airport transfers, a gift basket; it does not have to be a discount. People like doing business with those that give back, and you can gain a lot of clients by showing them that you are will to reward them for their business. Your best incentive to customers is excellent customer service. Sometimes that can be in the form of a restaurant gift card to show your appreciation.

12. Referral Program

It is not just potential customers that you should offer incentives to; start an incentive program for those willing to send you customers. Your friends and family members will likely send you referrals for free, but people that are not that close to you will be more encouraged to do so if they will get something in return. For your referral program to work, you have to ensure people know about it. Make sure you include your referral program details as a part of your weekly newsletters, social media marketing and make it visible on your website.

13. Networking Events

A part of building a business is continually expanding your network. Whether it is to find more customers or to develop partnerships with business associates that can translate into more customers, networking is key to your overall business success. Find out about events that are already existing that’s attended by the type of people your would like to become your clients of marketing partners. Arm yourself properly with business cards and a well thought out 1-minute verbal pitch about your business.

14. Leads Program

There are a few programs out there that travel agents can sign up for to receive customer-booking leads. Vacation.com is one company that offers such a program. It is highly unlikely that you will get a lot of leads from any of these programs that convert into paying customers. However, for the year, you may get the one or two groups from them that may make it worth the annual fees they charge. Generating your own leads is what is going to make or break your business, but some extra business from other sources will only help to add to the pot.

• Privacy Policy

All Rights Reserved The Travelnet Inc.

TRAVEL LIFE MEDIA

25 Year Marketing & Media Experts Who Travel Full Time

6 Effective Ways to Get More Travel Leads

Who doesn’t want more travel leads? Sure, you work your butt off improving your SEO, growing on travel review sites, and even collaborating with partners and OTAs. Still, that effort doesn’t seem to be generating the kind of results you want.

Here’s the good news: there are marketing strategies out there that are designed to effectively capture the attention of travelers and eventually convert them to guests. These marketing strategies are widely used in different industries and are very useful in tourism, but not every tourism business has taken the time to apply any of them.  

If you want to increase your conversions and move your business forward, perhaps these 6 effective ways to get more travel leads are helpful for you.

Related Posts

A Guide to Travel Website SEO

Effective Blog Copywriting for Tourism Companies

The Complete On page Travel SEO Checklist pdf

How to Reuse Content Effectively for the Tourism Industry

11 Steps to Create Your Best Google My Business Description

Lead Generation for Travel Agents [Everything You Need to Know]

With the previous years, traveling has been the go-to stress reliever for most people–and it really is! That said, travel businesses are advancing, and thinking of new and better ways to improve their business, catering to travelers.

With the growth of these businesses, lead generation for travel agents has become vital for growth and success.

Believe it or not, most travel agencies find it challenging to grow their clientele base. Especially in critical times where traveling businesses are not as profitable as others for economical and unpredictable reasons.

It is why lead generation has become essential for travel agents. It is to figure out creative and innovative ways to generate qualified leads. We’re here to walk you through the basics of generating more leads using the latest technological trends for travel agents.

Lead Generation for Travel Agents

Planning complex trips can be tiring. Because of this, a lot of people wanting to travel have worked with travel agents for a smoother process.

As a travel agent, this is what you want, tons of paying clients looking for an easier way to plan trips.

Of course, not everyone will come to you, so you have to work your way to them. 

Efforts to generate leads will differ from a travel business to another, but usually they use similar tools.

There are plenty of travel agencies worldwide of different types, but they divide them into:

• Wholesales travel agency: Creating travel packages and selling it to travel agencies or in some cases directly to clients.
• Retail travel agency: Selling travel services like car rentals, hotel reservations, flights, cruises…
• Business travel agency: handling only corporate travel details.
• Online travel agency : It’s an e-retail travel agency. Selling travel services online.
• Special travel agency: Serving a niche of clients having the same interest like religion, study, adventure, work…

To conclude, even in the travel world, we find B2B and B2C travel agencies which require different kinds of Leads.

All these types of agencies have one common goal, which is building a constant flow of clients.

Therefore, lead generation is critical for these companies. It is one of the primary goals and roles of travel agents .

1)B2B lead generation for travel agents:

Since the wholesale travel agency sells packages to retail agencies then it’s a business-to-business transaction.

Also, we can mention the case for retail agencies offering packages for companies to sell to their employees.

Here we are looking at different types of leads, where the agent should have knowledge of the market.

More than 55% of B2B professionals focus on increasing the number of their leads.

The agent has to locate highly qualified leads, classify them according to specific niches, expertise, clients’ demographic and sales history.

The main goal here is to create a client base that they will offer travel packages to in the future.

As a matter of fact, 59% of B2B professionals find that their primary challenge is to generate high quality B2B leads.

Nowadays the tools used for lead generation evolved over the years.

For that, we can say that B2B lead generation for travel agents became easier with recent technologies.

Cold calling and outbound emails are now being automated, and the same goes for customer relationship management.

Later we will dive deeper into the different tools travel agents can use for lead generation.

2)B2C lead generation for travel agents:

The travel agent tools for lead generations are set by the means of selling travel packages or services.

For example, a conventional agency requires customers to book over the phone, by email or to visit their agency.

On the other hand, the online travel agency is looking to attract online users to their website.

In both cases the focus on lead generation for travel agents is high. More in terms of leads quantity than quality.

What are the tools of lead generation for travel agents?

There are plenty of tools meant to generate leads for travel agencies.

However, the key to a successful lead generation is to research the market and the client.

In addition, the research will help determine which tool, program, or software that will have significant outcomes.

Also, we will mention in detail those tools and even organic ways travel agents often use to generate more leads.

Paid methods to generate leads for travel agent

When it comes to paid ads , travel agents find themselves asking two questions:

• Where to advertise?
• How much should we invest?

There is the option of choosing the more traditional methods like mass-media, billboards, flyers or handing business cards.

But how effective is that for your travel agency? You won’t be able to track leads or build a client base.

The most effective ways most travel agencies use for advertisement are through digital channels.

In first place comes Google Ads which drives traffic and increases sales.

The result is ranking your travel agency among the first pages on the search engine.

When a client types a set of keywords the agents paid for, you will show up among the top results.

Additionally, you are going to be scattered around on many websites and platforms that propose Google Ads like Youtube.

The main advantage of paid advertising is visibility to the ones who are interested in buying your travel packages.

For Google Ads, so often they have a suggestion of keywords for your offer.

In this case, when a tourist is searching, for example, “Safari to Madagascar”, you will show up.

You need to know how to operate and optimize the way you use Google Ads.

It’s not as easy as it seems, it takes knowledge of certain practices to be effective.

Moreover, the second advantage you’ll get from using Google Ads for lead generation for travel agents is tracking.

Now most travel agents can monitor the progress and ask questions like:

• Was the Google Ads campaign a success?
• How many people clicked to see your ad?
• Who bought your travel package?

Google Ads offers the option of re-targeting, as you can target users who have visited your travel site in the past.

The possibilities are endless for a travel agent lead generation effort when using Google Ads.

Moving to the second most used paid advertising for travel businesses, which is Facebook Ads.

Since 1.62 Billion online users are visiting Facebook on a daily basis.

In fact, Facebook is the most used advertising platform because of its several advantages.

Hence the ability to tailor in detail your audience, which means high probability of buying your travel kit.

This is in case you have a specific travel package or offer to promote.

In accordance, you set the ad parameters like:

• Location (Location (City, State, Country, Postcode)
• Demographics (Age, Birth Date, Gender, Language, Ethnicity)
• Relationship Status
• Occupation (Work, Interests)

Most travel businesses have Facebook pages allowing them to reach and engage with their users.

Facebook Ads in return will bring more traffic to these pages so that travel agencies can promote future offers.

To sum up, those are the two most used paid advertising by travel agencies to generate more leads.

2) Affiliate Marketing

Whether you have a big or small business, affiliate marketing has many benefits for travel agencies.

It includes two parties, the first is the “affiliate” who will get a commission for advertising the offers of the “travel agency”.

The affiliate needs to have a specific background, popularity and a brand with the same value as the agency.

Then he will promote the travel company’s packages using a single link that sends traffic and monitors traffic to the site.

For the travel agency, it is important to hand pick the affiliate. After all he will be the ambassador for the brand.

Generally speaking, the affiliate targeted audience should be very similar to yours.

That way you will have targeted sales from an audience that feels attached to your brand before even visiting your site.

Moreover, if the affiliate has a growing popularity then the travel agency will follow.

Additionally, if he is a strong influencer, meaning he has an important sales record, then he will be able to generate leads.

Since you will be paying per sale, affiliate marketing is the ultimate solution for leads generation and sales growth.

It’s like having your small sales team , but instead of paying for a monthly paycheck you pay for actual sales.

So, if the other party cannot generate sales from its leads then it won’t affect you.

Whenever we mention visibility and reach, we think about Search Engine Optimization.

Well the best thing about affiliate marketing is that SEO likes backlinks .

As long as you have backlinks to your travel site through blogs and other platforms then your ranking will get higher.

EXAMPLE OF AFFILIATE PROGRAM FOR TRAVEL AGENT

TRAVELPAYOUTS

TravelPayouts offer affiliate programs for bloggers and travel agents with access to exclusive tools and programs.

SHOPSTYLECOLLECTIVE

Having too many verticals, including travel, allows them to be the connection between influencers and brands.

It offers solutions like demand generation, end-to-end campaign execution, tracking and reporting and a list of influencers.

3) Leads Programs

Lead generation for travel agents has been quite a challenge.

Recently leads programs and travel lead generation agencies are emerging to help with this challenge.

Travel agents, on the other hand, liked the fact of outsourcing such difficult task to specialized companies.

Most travel lead generation businesses are charging per leads and not sales.

But they are offering in return highly qualified leads for travel agents with important conversion rates.

Otherwise, you can choose free leads programs, but they won’t be tailored to your needs.

However, most of these travel leads programs serve only the B2B travel industry.

It is not recommended to sign up for this kind of program, since they won’t provide leads on travel seekers.

Although, specialized lead generation companies can surely offer tailored leads for travel agents.

Example of Leads program for travel agents:

In case you want high-quality leads, Limeleads will provide you with contact information for the agency or employees.

AVOYANETWORK

Offering leads and marketing solutions for the travel agents. In addition to the option of live leads directly approaching you for sales.

Provides travel agents with tailored leads according to preferences and goals.

To conclude, outsourcing lead generation for travel agents can represent an opportunity for B2B travel agents.

4) Customer Incentive Programs

When you offer something to your client, you will automatically have its interest.

Discounts are the ultimate tool to generate leads for travel agents. They encourage users to pay interest to your offer.

However, it’s not the only incentive method out there. Vouchers, gift cards, special tours, and essential travel kits are gaining popularity among travel seekers.

Clients always expect travel agents will present an offer to differentiate them from others.

Not to mention that the travel industry’s whole base relies on client incentive programs and customer service.

This method is effective for lead generation and customer retention.

Who doesn’t appreciate a gift?

5) Referral programs

Recommendations are the best method to get referrals for free. It depends on how successful you run your marketing strategy and customer service.

However, if you want to generate more leads, you need to set up a referral program for your travel clients.

One of the ways to encourage them to sign up to the program is by offering discounts, gifts or coupons.

When it comes to communicating this program, you can choose to:

• Send a newsletter to your clients,
• Make a pop-up page after booking
• Propose it in the sales negotiation for your travel offers
• Promote on different platforms (social media, travel website recommendations)

This way you will get to generate leads from your travel offers.

6) Branding

In these recent years, travel agencies started relying on branding to attract more leads.

Defining the targeted audience and connecting with them became the main focus for travel agents.

As a matter of fact, they started creating a brand image with visuals and written content which helps with SEO.

In addition to a brand community that gathers all their clients and generates organic leads.

Since these times presented threats to the travel industry, there was a loss of 9.8% in the travel business growth.

In consequence, branding became essential for customer retention and high exposure of the travel agents.

However, we are not talking about the logo, website, and lovely poems to describe a company.

Rather, our focus is the brand identity which will showcase the travel agency’s purpose and the clients they serve.

In this case, it is crucial to allocate a huge resource for the marketing department to create a brand image.

While for certain travel agents this might require development or even a new and fresh identity.

To figure it out ask questions like:

• What is your main purpose?
• How are you different from other travel agents?
• Are you able to connect with your targeted audience?
• Do your clients appreciate your offers?

In the end, the efforts will have a great impact on lead generation for travel agents.

7) Landing Pages

We previously talked about brand identity and how it should be in correlation with the brand style.

And we also discussed in this article , the importance of landing pages for lead generation.

The question remains, is landing pages an important factor of lead generation for travel agents?

For online travel agents, the first page will serve as the storefront.

Now we all remember how conventional travel agencies’ storefront looks like.

They display huge images of the beach with big font sentences like “Discover your dream destination”.

The same thing applies to landing pages. You will need a design that will attract leads to you.

Many travel agencies look the same with a flight or hotel search display.

However, in these late years, the possibilities became endless for lead generation travel landing pages.

You can find pop-up pages, CTA’s, Subscriptions to newsletters and upcoming discounts, and displays of their best offers.

Moreover, you can develop the landing page from scratch or just buy a template and make some changes.

6) Outbound Marketing (Cold Calls and Email Series)

For travel agents, cold calling has been around for decades. It is one of the first tools used for lead generation.

Whether you want to do it yourself or outsource to a lead generation call center , you need to set your goals.

After defining your objectives and where will you allocate your resources, build a contact list.

In some cases, you contact a pre-defined list of high-quality leads and in others you are promoting to unknown leads.

This can result in low conversion rates and high expenses.

In both cases the main qualities of a lead generation travel agent are:

• Persistence
• Organization

Email marketing , on the other hand, is not as expensive as cold calling .

In addition, it is still one of the most effective methods to get leads for the travel agents.

There are many email automation tools and software to help with the process.

You can build your email list yourself or use these new technologies to generate a list of emails for you.

Once you have your list ready, you need to set up a strategy to close those leads using your email campaign .

Newsletters showcasing the different offers, travel deals, tips, and relevant information will have a high rate of conversion.

Don’t forget to add links to the agency’s offer or website and to use CTA’s in your email, to trigger leads’ curiosity.

Organic methods of lead generation for travel agents

1)  partnerships.

Expanding the travel agency network is crucial for any travel business. These networks usually result in Partnership.

The partnership is the term of a collaborative agreement between active service providers for the travel industry.

The parties involved have a common purpose and goal which evolves around lead generation.

Among the benefits of such collaboration is to share the risks, resources, competencies and also gather together the leads of each party.

In order to establish partnerships with other travel operators and major industry players, you should first reach out to them.

Again, the partner you will look for should have the same quality leads as you do.

Otherwise, the agent’s efforts for lead generation will have no success or results from this partnership.

Examples of ways to find and reach a travel partner:

Travel trade fairs, events, and conferences:.

Those events are very expensive, which means the travel business participating play a major role in the travel industry.

For this reason, you will find a lot of travel agents attending exhibitions and conferences to connect with them and each other.

Attending or participating in travel events and conferences will allow you to build networks and possible partnerships.

Among these famous events, we mention Travel Agent Forum, Global Travel Marketplace And IMEX America .

(via Network in Vegas )

Don’t forget to take a lot of business cards, you will handle them after every face-to-face conversation.

In addition, ask for theirs, that way you will have their contact information for you to send them your newsletters.

In the end, you will be “hitting two birds with one stone”, generating more leads and building your network.

Whether you have a premium account or not, LinkedIn is of an utmost importance for travel agents.

Not only it serves well for B2B lead generations but also helps locating important people in the travel industry.

(via Kinsta )

You will be able to find leaders of travel agencies and global travel companies according to location and targeted market.

When you try to approach them, know their professional personality and build your communication pitch accordingly.

2) Word of mouth marketing:

Hearing success stories from travel agents, you come to the conclusion that word of mouth has a lot of potential.

Promoting the travel business starts with you. No one knows you better than you do, so go out there and talk about your travel company.

Host webinars, attend events, communicate with your network, engage on social media and do whatever it takes.

This is how you succeed with generating leads. In other words, you will be stuck in your audience’s mind and be the first to go to for booking.

As a result, you will get leads from recommendations of other clients or just people who bumped into you.

3) Social media marketing

Only 20% of travel agents consider social media important to business.

Still, social media is a very useful tool of lead generation for travel agents.

One of the main reasons why it’s important is that people are active on those platforms which increases reach.

Second reason is the fact that it’s totally free!

In fact, social media platforms are where you can succeed in your word-of-mouth campaign.

People from all over the world and with different backgrounds are actively present on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Therefore, there is a chance to use social media for:

• Creating and communicating your brand identity
• Building a community of followers
• Promoting your travel offers and packages

Check out this article to know how to generate more leads through social media.

Lead generation for travel agents can represent an overwhelming challenge.

Especially in the past year where travel agents faced losses due to the pandemic.

However, there are plenty of ways to reshape the travel industry.

Tools of lead generation proved to be helpful for other businesses, then why not consider them for travel agents.

Want to help contribute to future articles? Have data-backed and tactical advice to share? I’d love to hear from you!

We have over 60,000 monthly readers that would love to see it! Contact us and let's discuss your ideas!

Read Our Ultimate Guides on:

• B2B Lead Generation
• Google Alerts
• Account Based Marketing
• Prospecting
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator
• Sales Strategy
• Cold Calling
• Sales Pitch

Share the Knowledge

Find fresh leads, instantly., contact data for 500m+ people and 10m+ companies, globally., leads are cleaned and verified in real-time., build lists for custom audience ad targeting, direct mail, cold email, social selling, or even cold calling campaigns..

Helping sales, marketing, and recruiting teams find new leads.

Eight Lead Generation Tips For Travel Businesses

Do you have a lead generation strategy for your travel business?

Generating leads is crucial for driving direct sales to expand your revenue streams as the travel industry begins its road to recovery .

It’s so easy to rely on OTAs or agencies for sales, but after more than a year of ‘downtime,’ getting the most from every possible sales channel is going to be a top priority.

To help travel businesses and tour operators succeed in this respect, we’ve taken the time to create a list of inbound and outbound practices to try out. With the right approach, you can pull in qualified leads that turn into loyal clients.

How To Generate Leads For Your Travel Business

Inbound lead generation revolves mainly around the principle of relationship building through trust and earned engagement.

You bring visitors to your website on their own accord by being visible online and providing value that results in an information exchange: your useful content for their contact information.

The content could solve travelers’ problems and act as a source of research for them, helping them define their travel needs and make a more qualified purchase decision. Ultimately, you can positively influence the buying process and swing business your way.

It’s helping rather than selling.

On the other hand, outbound lead generation targets your ideal audience with a specific message (usually sales-related) about your company or offering.

Because you are in control of when the interaction takes place (and not the prospect), outbound marketing is also referred to as interruption marketing .

There is often a paid delivery element to it, which lends to this type of outreach focusing on selling rather than helping for more immediate conversions.

Eight Inbound & Outbound Practices To Support Lead Generation

1. Attract Clients Through SEO and Keyword Optimization

Everyone turns to Google or the search engines to do their travel research. It means that you have to pay attention to SEO and keywords on your website and the content you publish online.

Start by getting an SEO professional to give your website the once over and optimize it correctly.

At the same time, you need to research what words your audience uses to search for your product or service on the internet. This will give you a list of keywords to target and optimize around.

Once you have this list, write the keywords into your content, including:

• Website and pages
• Social media posts
• YouTube videos
• Google My Business listing
• Partner listings
• Email marketing campaigns
• Paid advertising

Doing this will give your business better visibility on search engine pages, acting as a way to attract your target audience and generate potential client leads.

2. Build Relationships With Social Media Engagement

Social media users spend hours online browsing fun and interactive content.

So, your social profiles are the perfect lead generation tools to interact with and engage an audience.

Consistently curate, create, and share exciting travel content to build a following and establish your brand reputation. Spark conversations with people and work to engage your audience so that you are the first to come to mind when they want to know something related to your offering.

Building this type of relationship can ultimately land you clients who already know and trust your brand.

3. Get Your (Brand) Voice Out On YouTube Or Podcasts

If you focus on a specific industry niche, your YouTube channel or podcast can land you with qualified travel leads.

Put the right content or people on your YouTube channel or podcast, and you can create a great connection between your audience and brand. You can lead them on an audio or visual journey of discovery that makes your brand and product or service offering more relatable.

4. Blog For Visibility and Credibility

We mentioned earlier that blogging with the right keywords can help to boost your SEO efforts.

Aside from that, it's a way to form relationships with your audience and give your business a voice. Having a blog on your website can help you to direct people closer to your brand.

You can provide travelers with advice and tips, differentiate yourself from your competition, and distinguish yourself as an expert on your specific subject matter.

5. Encourage Word Of Mouth Marketing

Word of mouth marketing can make lead generation easy by taking the trust you’ve developed with your existing customers and creating ways for them to share their positive experiences with their friends, colleagues, and family.

After all, people trust those close to them to steer them towards the best products and services.

Ask your loyal clients to share their excitement over your brand by leaving a testimonial or review on your website. You can also ask them to tag you on social media in their travel journeys or get permission to share their content on your own profiles.

6. Network To Strengthen Your Partner Connections

Networking and building partner relationships in the travel industry can be beneficial to all involved.

Partnering with complimentary travel providers to create an unbeatable package that appeals to travelers can bolster your offering.

Aside from that, it can also mean that you get extra leads as your partners send inquiries your way and book clients on the package deal.

7. Work Wonders With Email Marketing

To generate leads from email marketing , you need to build a comprehensive contact list. Segment your contacts so that they only receive marketing that is entirely relevant to them.

From there, engage this database with timely and targeted email campaigns. To date, email is one of the most successful lead generation channels with high open rates and a receptive audience.

8. Try Out Paid Or Free Advertising Campaigns

If your business is starting and you’re on a budget, try free classifieds like Craigslist, Oodle, or Geebo. All are extremely popular and can generate leads for your company at little to no expense.

If you are hoping to get qualified results quicker, paid advertising like GoogleAds or Facebook Ads might be better options. You can create highly targeted campaigns to capture the interest of travelers who, based on their online activity, signal greater buying intent.

Final Thoughts

Inbound practices create value and help your audience, while outbound typically sends a more overt sales message.

Both have their place in your lead generation strategy and can be used to generate interest in your product and service.

Want to know more about WeTravel’s payment and booking solution for the travel industry? Go ahead and book a demo with us.

New resources, straight to your inbox

We’re committed to your privacy. WeTravel uses the information you provide to us to contact you about our relevant content, products, and services. You may unsubscribe at any time.

About the author

Related Posts

Building a digital presence for travel companies - social media, seo for tour operators: 8 simple tips to master the serps, how to grow organic traffic to your travel website with seo.

• Comparisons
• Inside LimeCall
• Lead Generation

Generating Leads in the Travel Industry

Team Limecall

January 30, 2022 |

Instantly engage users

Talk to your customers, directly on your site, app and mobile devices..

Companies use LimeCall to proactively engage with visitors and instantly improve conversions.

Team LimeCall

January 30, 2022, minutes to read.

Table of Contents

As a hard-working entrepreneur, you’re always looking for ways to increase your leads in travel industry. The more leads you get, the more trips you book, and the more trips you book, the more commissions you make.

Digital media lead a shift in the business world. The world of business travel is also changing, and lead generation can seem overwhelming here. But, once you understand marketing and how to generate leads, you can pretty much control any niche.

There are many ways travel agencies can generate leads, both organic and inorganic. Instead of relying completely on the host agency, here are a few measures that, as an agency, you can take to generate leads.

How to Generate Leads in the Travel Industry?

Here are some ways you can generate leads in the travel industry. 

Pay-Per-Click Ads

Sometimes SEO isn’t enough to get your website in front of your target audience or get the results you desire. Pay-per-click ads, or PPC, are featured listings in search engine results that you pay for every time someone clicks on them. Websites bid on the ad placement in an auction, in which the highest bidder wins the spot. You can set up pay-per-click ads on major search engines like Google or Bing or specific travel sites like Expedia and Tripadvisor.

Partnering with Travel Agents

An essential component of their marketing strategy is developing and maintaining relationships with travel agents for many travel businesses. Travel agents will put your product in front of their loyal clients and handle the entire sales process for you. 

While you’ll need to offer a travel agent commission and perhaps some exclusive promotions, travel agents can be valuable partners in the long run. If you don’t have a few travel agents on speed dial quite yet, consider joining a local travel industry association or attending a travel trade show. Networking events are a great way to meet travel agents and learn more about this industry segment.

Referral Programs

As the saying goes, your customers are also your best salespeople. If you provide a five-star experience, people will want to tell their friends and family about it, but offering a little extra incentive via a referral program will ensure that they spread the word. 

Referral programs can include freebies, credits for future bookings, or even gift cards. If your travel business focuses on one specific geographical area, then you’ll want to think about referral bonuses that will be attractive even to guests or clients even if they don’t book your product often.

Search Engine Optimization

You’ve likely heard about search engine optimization, but do you know it? In short, search engine optimization, or SEO, ensures that search engines can find your website and put it in front of people searching for what you offer. 

A few key components of SEO include informative content, clear formatting, links, and speed. You should also include common keywords that your target audience is searching for. SEO is a crucial piece of your digital marketing strategy because, without it, potential guests or customers will not be able to find your website.

What does SEO look like in practice? Let’s say that you manage a hotel in Downtown San Diego. After researching your target keywords, you find out that many potential guests are searching for “san Diego hotels downtown,” so you decide to update your website text to include “Looking for one of the best San Diego hotels downtown? We offer clean, comfortable rooms near the Gaslamp District at our San Diego hotel.”

Great Website

Of course, all of your SEO and PPC efforts will fall flat if you don’t have a great website! Your travel business should have a website that communicates everything that a guest or customer needs to know in order to make a booking. 

You’ll want to upload high-quality photos, contact information, reviews, and answers to frequently asked questions. You may even consider using a sales funnel, which is a popular digital marketing strategy that guides customers through the purchase process.

A good website doesn’t need to be packed with bells and whistles; simple is often best. Focus on clearly articulating what your travel business offers and make the “book now” button easy to find. You’ll also want to ensure the website looks nice on a desktop computer, a tablet, or smartphone.

Partnering with Bloggers

While some travelers rely on the expertise from their trusted travel agent, many travelers choose to do their research. But today’s travelers aren’t finding their travel intel in a guidebook; they’re finding it on blogs. 

Travel bloggers often provide detailed, objective information about destinations, hotels, tours, restaurants, and transportation. Some bloggers have built followings of thousands of readers who trust their advice time and time again – so they can provide fantastic exposure for your brand.

Your travel business can partner with a blogger by asking them to write a blog post about your business, usually in exchange for a free trip or monetary compensation. While it can be tempting to work with the bloggers with the biggest audiences, you may actually see the biggest return on investment when you work with niche blogs with readers who fit your target demographic.

Mouth Marketing

To harness the power of word-of-mouth marketing to generate leads, you need to build trust. According to consumer research, about 92% of all customers say they trust recommendations by the people they know. Thus, if you want to grow your lead generation, encourage your current customers to talk about your product to their friends.

Using a customer referral program, your customers can keep their peers loyal to your brand. According to a study conducted by Goethe University, customers are 18% more likely to stay loyal to your brand if they have been introduced to it by word of mouth.

Giving fans an opportunity to engage with your travel product creates a buzz around your product. About 66% of those given social recognition by their travel agencies are likely to give referrals to their travel agency’s product in their circles.

Social Media Marketing

You must have Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, and Pinterest for a start. Other channels can come after these. Here’s what you can do: 

• Follow influencers to keep yourself up-to-date. You can, for example, follow leading travel writers, hotel chain owners, cruising enthusiasts etc. Ensure that the people you follow are big in the niche you specialize in.
• Check out what other talented travel agents are doing on their social channels and become better than them.
• Join travel agent communities on social media forums.
• Utilize Social Media management systems such as HootSuite. You will not only track the number of social platforms that you have joined but also pick up little gems that will help you steer client engagement to the next level.
• Create a professional signature that attracts your potential customers to your pages and social channels.

Think Through Your Product

Consider, 

• Does your travel product feature the latest trends to give enhanced value to your clients?
• Do you have agents below you? Are they concentrating on their core activity of generating new leads or are they clogged in the administration drudgery?
• Is your travel product integrated with state-of-the-art software to make communication between you and your clients easier? You will need to be tech-savvy to scale your business.
• Is your travel product properly automated to reduce the dependency of your customers on your travel agents?
• Does your travel product have speed, reliability, scalability, and security to offer your customers efficient services?
• Is your travel product all-inclusive? It must encompass hotel bookings, flights reservations, transfers, tours, car rentals, and sightseeing.

Calls and call back

Never underestimate the power of calls to generate travel leads. There’s a reason that 98% of travel companies take bookings over the phone. In fact, in 2019 we found that 55% of travel agencies only accepted bookings via calls!

Holiday bookings come with lots of questions and queries, meaning you just can’t beat talking directly with a booking agent. A great way to increase the number of leads from your travel website is through web calling and offering a web call back.

Both of these options make it easier for customers to call you: web calling by allowing customers to call you through your website, and callback by allowing them to talk to you at a time that is convenient. Placing a click-to-call button and a call-back option on all website pages is proven to generate more travel leads. 

Take Yellow Zebra Safaris as an example. After implementing Talkative voice web calling and callback solutions across their website, inbound travel leads increased by 20%.

To learn more about call-back services Limecall offers read more here: https://limecall.com/click-2-call/

Start Blogging

Blogging is the top form of content marketing and, if done well, is an inexpensive and super effective way of getting more leads for your travel agency. 

The purpose of a blog is to frequently produce fresh content that grows the awareness of your company and brings more potential customers to your website. For travel agencies, the subject matter for blog posts is endless, but be aware that there’s also high competition as there are many travel bloggers on the scene. 

SEO is a big part of making a blog worthwhile; a blog with no readers isn’t bringing you any travel leads. The best way to have a successful blog is to make it niche and ensure it is directly related to your company. If your travel agency specializes in trips to Asia, focus your blog on tips and tricks for holidays in Asia.

Live web chat

Live chat is a great way of initiating conversations with clients. Through pop-ups and nudges, you can encourage customers to talk with an advisor and answer any questions they have at any point of their customer journey.

In 2019, only 55% of travel companies featured a chat solution on their website in some capacity. In an industry where calls seem to take dominance, you might think having a chat service is redundant. In actual fact, live web chat is a very cost-effective method of generating more travel leads. 

‍Perhaps a customer needs further information on an all-inclusive holiday. With live chat they can ask an adviser in real-time, without having to leave the webpage, and get their answer quickly. 

‍Online referral and incentive schemes

Why not use your existing customers to generate more digital travel leads? Online referral schemes are a good way of getting more customers without much work from your end. They are especially effective for services that cost more (like holidays), as people are more likely to opt for a company they know a friend or family member has had a good experience with.

It is a good place to start by giving existing customers an incentive to recommend you to friends and family, such as an online discount on their next holiday. You could even up the incentive by giving both parties a discount if the referred customer books online.

‍Offering discounts might sound scary, but an effective online referral scheme will save you money in marketing expenses, plus the extra leads should recoup your costs. Think about the example above. You generated two travel leads from one online referral – one new customer and a returning customer. 

Website and mobile optimisation

Consumers are more likely to compare travel agencies and book their holidays all online, meaning having a website is vital to generating travel leads. 

However, it’s not good enough to just have a website – your website needs to be optimised to provide the best user experience (UX). That means fast loading times, a clear and visually appealing layout, good use of images and videos, and, very importantly, ensuring it is all optimized for mobile viewing.

Perfecting your website Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) means you can generate more organic travel leads for free. SEO is all about helping potential customers find you when they conduct an internet search. You want to appear in search engine results when people search for things related to your business.

Start YouTube Channel and Upload Travel Content

When traveling individually and with family to a new travel location, create a video. Capture memorable moments with nature, landscape, river, waterfalls, and local people.

After that upload the videos with SEO-friendly titles on YouTube.

The goal here is to lead and inspire people to travel and explore the beauty of nature and different parts of your country and overseas.

When you will be able to inspire people to like and subscribe to your channels, you will start generating travel leads automatically from YouTube within a few months or weeks.

‍Paid methods to generate travel leads

When it comes to paid ads, travel agents find themselves asking two questions:

• Where to advertise?
• How much should we invest?

There is the option of choosing the more traditional methods like mass media, billboards, flyers or handing business cards. But how effective is that for your travel agency? You won’t be able to track leads or build a client base.

Most travel agencies’ most effective ways for advertisement are through digital channels. In first place comes Google Ads which drives traffic and increases sales. The result is ranking your travel agency among the first pages on the search engine. When a client types a set of keywords the agents paid for, you will show up among the top results.

The main advantage of paid advertising is visibility to those interested in buying your travel packages. Next, Facebook is the most used advertising platform because of its several advantages. Hence, the ability to tailor your audience in detail means a high probability of buying your travel kit. This is in case you have a specific travel package or offer to promote.

In accordance, you set the ad parameters like:

• Location (Location (City, State, Country, Postcode)
• Demographics (Age, Birth Date, Gender, Language, Ethnicity)
• Relationship Status
• Occupation (Work, Interests)

Most travel businesses have Facebook pages allowing them to reach and engage with their users.

Facebook Ads in return will bring more traffic to these pages so that travel agencies can promote future offers.

Lead Programs

Lead generation for travel agents has been quite a challenge. Recently, lead programs and travel lead generation agencies are emerging to help with this challenge. On the other hand, Travel agents liked the fact of outsourcing such difficult tasks to specialized companies.

Most travel lead generation businesses are charging per leads and not sales. But they are offering highly qualified leads for travel agents with important conversion rates in return. Otherwise, you can choose free leads programs, but they won’t be tailored to your needs.

However, most of these travel leads programs serve only the B2B travel industry. It is not recommended to sign up for this kind of program, since they won’t provide leads on travel seekers. Although, specialized lead generation companies can surely offer tailored leads for travel agents.

Travel agencies started relying on branding to attract more leads in recent years. Defining the targeted audience and connecting with them became the main focus for travel agents. As a matter of fact, they started creating a brand image with visuals and written content which helps with SEO. In addition to a brand community that gathers all their clients and generates organic leads.

Since these times presented threats to the travel industry, there was a loss of 9.8% in the travel business growth. In consequence, branding became essential for customer retention and high exposure of the travel agents. However, we are not talking about the logo, website, and lovely poems to describe a company. Rather, our focus is the brand identity which will showcase the travel agency’s purpose and the clients they serve.

In this case, it is crucial to allocate a huge resource for the marketing department to create a brand image. While for certain travel agents this might require development or even a new and fresh identity.

Google Business Listing

Getting your business listed on Google is a really quick and easy thing to do, but you will be surprised how many travel operators have not registered with Google Business.

In addition to providing a web source for your business address, contact details and opening hours, a Google Business Listing provides legitimacy, a trusted review profile and a place to answer customer questions. It is also good for improving the search engine optimization of your website.

Tripadvisor Listing

If you are a local travel operator then getting listed on Tripadvisor is a no-brainer.

Tripadvisor’s algorithm uses the quality, quantity and freshness of reviews to rank listings. This means listings with significantly less reviews can still rank high if the quality and freshness of reviews are better than other listings.

Like marketplace listings discussed above, a Tripadvisor listing also needs frequent attention to ensure you appear high in search. To succeed on Tripadvisor, you need to focus on growing your listings with reviews, which brings us to our next channel.

Lead generation for travel agents can represent an overwhelming challenge. Especially in the past year where travel agents faced losses due to the pandemic. 

Implementing the above tips to generate 10 to 20 leads per day can look like lots of work. But you have not to do everything in one week or two.

You can build a small but effective process to implement everything one by one on a daily basis. If you follow the proper execution process to promote and market your travel agency online, then obviously the results will be great.

Learn how to plan, create, and deliver effective knowledge base content that will truly create better customer experiences.

, January 30, 2022, Team LimeCall

Popular Posts

Speed to Lead: A Turbocharged Engine for Sales Growth

30 Lead Generation Tools to Hack Your Growth Rates

Guide to Data-Driven Marketing Decisions

The Ultimate Guide to Using a Callback Software

9 Essential Digital Communication Channels for Business

Convert your website visitors into sales calls, Instantly

Top rated callback automation platform that connects your website visitors to your team within 20 seconds through phone callback and whatsapp driving upto 40% more conversions.

Going remote?

Try our flexible cloud phone solution for free.

You may also like:

The secret of successful lead generation sales calls, guide to choosing the best voip provider for your business needs, how to double-up your conversion rate in 2021, what's flow.

Task Management

Capture to-dos, notes, files, and dates in seconds. Never forget a detail again.

Project Management

Organize tasks into projects to visualize your work as a board, list, or timeline.

Calendars & Timelines

See your tasks, teammates tasks, and project timelines on a calendar.

Hyper Collaborative

Comments, file sharing, channels, and direct messaging come built into Flow.

Powerful & Flexible

Assign tasks a priority or due time, add sub-tasks, tags, and so much more.

Beautifully Designed

Tired of dull and dreary productivity apps? Flow is simple, beautiful, and delightful.

Ready to get LimeCall?

It's FREE and easy to get started. Just pick the plan that works best for your team, or chat with one of our experts to learn more.

Start converting your web visitors into customers faster.

Try it free for 14 days

4.8 out of 5 based on 129 reviews

Great! We need few more details to activate your 14 Days Free Trial

Business Email* Phone number Website* Interested in: Outgoing calls Lead Distribution Lead Qualification Click to Call Call Back Call Tracking Send/receive sms Virtual phone numbers Not sure Team size: 1 2 to 5 5 to 10 10 to 100 100+ What problem are you trying to solve with limecall?

Ready for the future of customer service?

Download your free report: The 2024 Inner Circle Guide on Chatbots and Conversational AI

Digital Travel Leads: The 8 Best Ways To Increase Travel Agent Lead Generation

Like most industries, the travel business is undergoing a digital transformation .

In fact, travel was the 4th most popular type of service to be purchased online in 2019.

This indicates that you can no longer just rely on leads walking into your travel agency branches - you need to put effort into your online lead generation too. 

That means utilizing your digital content in order to attract and capture genuine opportunities.

Not sure where to get started? You've come to the right place. In this article, we'll cover:

• The importance of digital leads for the travel industry
• Top tactics and strategies for increasing digital travel leads
• The next step to getting the most out of travel lead generation

The importance of digital lead generation for travel agents

In today's digitally-driven world, online lead generation is essential for travel agencies.

Digital travel leads are potential customers who express interest in travel-related products or services through online platforms, websites, or social media channels.

These leads are important because they represent a pool of prospective clients actively seeking travel information, deals, or experiences.

Engaging with digital travel leads allows businesses in the travel industry to cultivate relationships and increase conversions.

With this in mind, let's dive in and explore the best ways to attract and capture more online travel leads.

1. Website and mobile optimisation

Today, most consumers compare travel agencies and book their holidays online.

This means that your website is a vital digital touchpoint for potential travel leads. 

However, it’s not good enough to just have a website - your website needs to be optimised to provide the best user experience (UX).

That means fast loading times, a clear and visually appealing layout, good use of multimedia and, most importantly, ensuring it's all optimised for mobile viewing. 

You also need to ensure that your website is informative, easy to navigate, and includes clear call to actions (CTAs).

CTAs are critical for lead generation as they act as signposts telling your site visitors how to take the next step in their digital journey.

Without them, potential customers may never progress further down the sales funnel.

By providing website visitors with a great user experience from the get-go, you'll be far more likely to convert them into qualified leads.

2. Calls and callback

Never underestimate the power of calls to generate travel agency leads. There’s a reason that 98% of travel companies take bookings over the phone.

Holiday bookings come with lots of questions and require detailed guidance - voice calls are an efficient way for customers to get all the information they need.

That's why web calling and web call backs are a great way to increase inbound digital travel leads.

Both of these options make it easier for customers to call you - web calling allows customers to call you through your website, and customer callbacks allow them to schedule a call at a convenient time.

Placing a click-to-call button and a callback option on all website pages is a proven way to generate more travel leads.

Take Yellow Zebra Safaris as an example - after implementing Talkative's web calling and callback solutions, eir inbound travel leads increased by 20% .

Perfecting your website Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) means you can generate more organic travel leads for free.

SEO is all about helping potential customers find you when they conduct an internet search.

You want to rank highly in search engine results pages when consumers search for keywords related to your business.

For example, imagine you are a travel agency that specialises in affordable all-inclusive holidays. A couple is looking for a reasonably priced, all-inclusive trip to Mexico for their summer holiday, so they type into Google ‘cheapest all-inclusive holidays in Mexico’.

If you’ve mastered SEO, your travel company will feature on the first Google search results page. Consequently, the couple clicks the link to your website.

And just like that, you’ve generated a lead for your travel company. 

SEO involves a number of different elements including keyword research, optimising titles and meta descriptions, and link building for SAAS , as well as more technical aspects to ensure your website provides the best UX. 

If you're not familiar with SEO techniques, you might consider hiring an expert, working with a SEO agency , or investing in SEO software.

There’s also a range of free SEO source material and courses available online - check out this beginner’s guide to SEO to get the ball rolling.

4. Blogging

Blogging is the top form of content marketing and, if done well, is an inexpensive and super effective way of getting more digital leads for your travel agency. 

The purpose of a blog is to frequently produce fresh content that grows the awareness of your company and brings more potential customers to your website.

For travel agencies, the subject matter for blog posts is endless. But, be aware that there’s high competition as there are many travel bloggers on the scene. 

The best way to havea successful blog is to make it niche and ensure it's directly related to your company.

For instance, if your travel agency specialises in trips to Asia, this should be reflected in your blog content. You'll want to be focussing on articles about locations in Asia, not South America or elsewhere.

SEO is a huge part of making a blog worthwhile - a blog without readers won't bring you any travel leads.

5. Social media

There are two main ways that social media can be used to generate more leads for travel agents.

Firstly, by building your own business profile on different platforms, you can boost brand visibility, increase customer engagement , and promote your content for free . 

If you utilise content marketing, especially blogging, sharing on social media is a must in order to get as many eyes on your blog posts as possible.

Sharing fresh content and curating content produced by others is a great way to grow brand awareness and bring potential travel leads from social media to your website. 

The second option is running paid social media adverts.

These are particularly effective for retargeting customers who have visited your website previously but have not convered. They’re also a good way to expand your audience. 

Creating a visually engaging advert is a great way to grab attention and direct potential customers to act in the way you want.

For example, your advert can prompt customers to visit your website, contact you, or sign up for email marketing - all of which generate more leads for travel.

6. Live web chat

In an industry where calls seem to take dominance, you might think having web chat customer service is a bit redundant.

But, in actual fact, live chat is a very cost-effective method of increasing lead generation for travel agents.

Live chat is a great way of initiating customer conversations . Through pop-ups and nudges, you can encourage potential leads to talk with an agent and answer any questions they have at any point of their customer journey . 

Not only does this help you capture more free leads online - it also enhances the digital customer experience .

Imagine a customer needs further information on an all-inclusive holiday. With live chat as an option, they can ask an adviser in real-time, without having to leave the webpage, and get their answer quickly.

The great thing about Talkative's live chat is that it can easily be connected to a phone system, such as Mitel .

This means that any chat interaction can be effortlessly escalated to a phone call, or even to a video chat , if needed. This allows you to provide a seamless customer experience which in itself helps to generate more travel leads. 

7. Email marketing

Email marketing may seem old-school - but it's certainly worthwhile.

Not only is it a great way to get content in front of your audience, but emails can also be an effective call to action. 

For example, you could send a monthly email newsletter that lists your latest holiday deals. At the end of the email, you could feature a large icon that says ‘Book and Save Now’, or ‘Get a Quote Now’.

This can link customers to an online booking form or to a page on your website where they can contact your booking team. Either way, the email is producing digital travel leads for your business. 

Before starting any form of email marketing, you need to grow your client email database.

The best way to do this is to offer a lead magnet (i.e. a reward customers get by providing their email address), such as a downloadable travel brochure, access to destination videos, or a monthly newsletter containing the latest deals and vacation package options. 

8. Online referral and incentive schemes

Why not use your existing c ustomers to generate more digital travel leads?

Online referral schemes are a good way of getting more customers without much work from your end.

They are especially effective for expensive or luxury services like holidays, as people are more likely to opt for a company that has been recommended to them by a friend or family member.

Giving existing customers an incentive to recommend you to friends and family, such as an online discount on their next holiday, is a good place to start.

You could even up the incentive by giving both parties (the existing customer and the customer they refer) a discount if the referred customer books online.

Offering discounts might sound scary, but an effective online referral scheme will save you money in marketing expenses, plus the extra leads should recoup your costs.

Think about the example above - you generated two travel leads from one online referral (one new customer plus a returning customer). 

If you really can’t afford to offer discounts, you can offer other online incentives for referrals, such as early booking on the latest deals, or guaranteed first-class flights.

This is your time to get creative. Remember - the better the incentive, the more travel leads you’ll get. 

The takeaway: Getting started with travel agent lead generation

Capturing digital leads and converting them into real opportunities can be a challenging endeavor for the travel industry.

With the tactics and strategies detailed in this article, you'll be armed with a valuable toolkit to help you increase travel leads and conversions.

But, ultimately, the most important tool in your arsenal is an innovative customer engagement platform that lays the foundation for successful lead generation.

And that's where Talkative comes in.

Our platform provides a complete suite of engagement channels plus deep integrations into systems like Salesforce and Mitel .

What's more, you'll be able to manage all digital interactions within a single pane of glass.

As a result, you and your travel agents will be fully equipped to capture and convert more digital leads than ever before.

Want to see for yourself? Book a demo  with Talkative today.

• Website and mobile optimisation
• Calls and call back
• Social media
• Email marketing
• Online referral and incentive schemes
• The takeaway

Engage more customers in just three minutes

Get your weekly three minute read on making every customer interaction both personable and profitable. Sign up to the Talkative newsletter now.

Download The 2024 Inner Circle Guide to Chatbots & Conversational AI

How to Generate Lead for Travel Business

The utmost reason why travel agents abandon their travel business or fail to acquire business success is their lack of ability to attain maximum efficiency in terms of travel lead generation. Another factor is Lead generation for travel agents comes amid some potential challenges and struggles to spread brand awareness outside of their circle of acquaintances. 

In this digital world, travel agency lead generation also offers a range of new possibilities and opportunities. If you adopt the right strategy and roadmap with consistency, there is a plenty of ways you can engage prospects to ensure lead generation for travel tourism.

Importance of Lead Generation for Travel Companies

According to the study, travel has become the 4th most renowned service to be entertained digitally & online. But you cannot rely on nature and coincidences to generate hot leads for your travel business. Your travel business website and its content must be encountered and found by potential customers to produce hot travel lead effectively. If approached in the right way, lead generation for the travel business produces some significant perks including:

1. Brand Awareness

If you are a startup business that recently make its debut in the travel industry, creating brand awareness and visibility is the primary determinant of your success in the longer run. Brand awareness campaigns help you get noticed by your potential prospects and also help you rank among the top search engine results, thus increasing visibility and unlocking new opportunities for more sales. You can achieve this goal by publishing SEO-optimized content with the right keyword in your industry to help your audience discover your content, website, and services.

2. Skyrocket Your ROI

When approached in the right way, lead generation for travel businesses can boost your travel business’s ability to engage high-quality prospects. However, it requires using the right content, promotional offers, and deals to trigger interest in your targeted audience. 

By attracting more prospects and potential clients with your content and offers, you can produce hot travel leads, which are much easier to convert at the end of the buyer’s journey. The skyrocketing ROI is the most valuable outcome you can ever have by resolving the pain points and conflicts of your target market.

3. Unlock More Opportunities

Travel lead generation not only helps produce hot travel leads but also offers more unseen opportunities in the travel industry. For instance, you can collaborate with the partner brands or services that share the same targeted audience as yours, unlock access to the wider audience segment, and convert their audience into your potential customers.

You can consider welcoming travel accessories business, hotel services, and travel bloggers on board to collaborate and share mutual benefits by capturing a larger audience segment and improving brand reach.

12 Best Lead Generation Strategies for Travel Agencies

According to the study, around 80 percent of travel planning and research is made through the internet. Therefore, you must craft an effective digital marketing and lead generation strategy for your travel business. Below are the 12 best lead generation strategies like blogging, email marketing, paid ads, etc for travel businesses that can help you earn hot travel leads and skyrocket your travel business.

1. Craft a buyer persona 

Creating a buyer persona for your travel business is the first step towards a successful and goal-oriented lead generation campaign. Your buyer persona is your ideal customer profile that matches their interests, demographics, behavior, pain points, priorities, and preferences. Build a comprehensive buyer persona that must possess the qualities and pain points of your potential customer before moving towards crafting a travel agency lead generation process.

By doing so, you can target the right audience segment with your paid and organic campaigns and acquire maximum ROI from your travel lead generation campaigns.

2. Optimized Lead generation forms 

Optimizing your travel lead generation or CRM forms is necessary to persuade your prospects to provide their lead data and contact info. Optimizing your lead generation forms includes adding a strong & clear CTA, minimum page load speed, adding minimal & relevant content, and asking for relevant information in exchange for something valuable.

Offering something valuable means you can offer gated & informative content like travel guides, backpacker guides, promotional discounts, seasonal offers, free guided tours, etc.

3. Lead Nurturing

Just generating leads and expecting them to convert on their own is an absurd idea. Instead, you need to nurture your leads depending upon their stage in your lead generation funnel. Craft content specifically for each stage of your sales funnels to resolve the evolving pain points of your prospects as they move further down the sales funnel .

You can lose most of your non-sales-ready leads by making sales pitches too early without nurturing them further. Instead, always adopt a customer-centric approach and add value at each point of the buyer journey so they feel valued, opt for continuing their journey with your brand, and eventually become paying and loyal clients.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is another effective and efficient way to get travel and tourism leads. To begin with a strong and impactful email marketing campaign , you need to start scaling your email subscribers’ list by gathering enough lead data. Once you have a comprehensive portfolio of email subscribers, start sending newsletters, ebooks, testimonials, travel guides, promotional offers, seasonal packages, and early-bird discounts, to your email subscribers.

Your gated content must possess a clear CTA such as “Book your trip with X percent discount” or “Click here for more travel ideas”, etc. The goal is to connect personally with your leads and nurture them by offering valuable content and discount offers that make them convinced to become a paying customer.

5. Content Marketing & SEO

Content marketing is key if you want to appear as a thought leader and inspiration for your target market, receive a great number of website visitors, and organically rank at the top of Google search results. The most engaging and well-performing travel websites leverage content marketing as their primary tool to drive and hook prospects and convert website traffic into leads and paying clients.

Start your content journey by publishing blogs related to traveling, hiking, travel hacks, backpacking guides, honeymoon destinations, solo travel guides, etc. In the end, you place a relevant CTA along with a concise description of how your travel agency can help the readers book & complete their dream journey at a reasonable price. Content marketing and blogging help you establish an image of an authentic brand and thought leader in your industry.

This positive brand image can bring more visitors to your website and convince them to start their journey with your brand. In addition, by targeting the right keywords in your niche, you can also earn your place among the top SERP results and acquire brand visibility by letting Google display your content to a greater audience.

6. Video Marketing

A more practical and engaging way to attract and convert prospects is by sharing travel videos and guides on YouTube. A great number of people search on YouTube to know more about their favorite travel, vacation, and honeymoon destinations. Therefore, there is no point in abandoning a significant portion of the Youtube audience by not making a strong presence on YouTube.

You can also leverage YouTube lead generation strategies to engage viewers with little attention span and who do not prefer consuming written content & prefer watching short videos. In addition, people prefer suggestions or recommendations from their favorite YouTube content creators or travel bloggers. They can also consider collaborating with the YouTube content creators for paid promotions, diverting their audience to your website and converting them into customers.

7. Referral Program

Apart from your high-quality prospects that you consider offering incentives and discounts in exchange for referred clients, you need to consider offering a referral program for the clients or resources who want to send you a good number of leads. Your acquaintances will likely send you referrals and help you boost your travel lead generation process. By offering discounted trips incentives, you can encourage more people to push customers from their contacts in exchange for favors.

You can announce your referral program on your website, social media accounts, and weekly or monthly newsletters. It will help you inform more people about your program and help you generate a great number of high-quality travel leads for your business.

8. Webinars

You can arrange webinars about your upcoming travel packages or events. Ask your confirmed clients and prospects to join your webinar event. It will help people decide to continue their travel journey with your company by acknowledging and sharing ideas with the people who are already up for the upcoming travel or tourism event.

By doing so, you can inform more people about the upcoming events, ask for their contact info before joining the webinar session, and nurture them with supportive content & discounted offers. Consider arranging a podcast session with the trending travel blogger that shares a mutual audience segment as yours. It will also help you drive more leads and conversions for your travel business.

9. Optimized & Mobile Friendly Website

It is highly recommended to develop optimized landing pages & mobile-friendly website. Make sure your landing pages possess the relevant content, have the right set of keywords & phrases, and have optimized images & page load times. You need your digital presence smooth and hassle-free in terms of customer experience.

Otherwise, you will end up losing most of your qualified leads to your competitors. Up to 90 percent of internet users use a smartphone to surf the online world. To engage and capture this huge segment of internet users, it is necessary to optimize your website and landing pages for mobile devices, smartphones, and tablets.

10. Paid Advertisement

Opt for Google Ads or PPC (Pay Per Click) to engage your target audience. As the name suggests, PPC or paid ads mean you will be charged for every click made on your google ad. Therefore, crafting an informed and optimized paid ads strategy is necessary by targeting the relevant and commercial keywords in your niche. You need to be extra careful with your paid marketing strategy to get the maximum outcomes and boost your ROI for paid ads.

11. Social Media Marketing

Leverage social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram to attract and hook hot leads for your travel lead generation. You can enjoy being extraordinary creative on social media in a travel and tourism niche. Upload visually appealing videos and pictures about the travel destinations you are going to cover in your upcoming events is a plus. Another way to generate qualified travel leads is to leverage Facebook and Instagram Ads. 

Learn more about Social Media Lead Generation .

12. Outsource Lead Generation Service

If you don’t have enough experience and relevant talent to craft an effective and impactful travel agency lead generation campaign for your travel or tourism business, consider outsourcing a lead generation service . By opting for an authentic and experience lead generation service like ScaleYourBiz , you can spare your resources and time to focus on core business areas and get a consistent flow of hot travel leads for your business.

How much does a travel lead cost?

On average, travel leads can cost you around 100 to 200 USD based on the scale and variety of your services.

What are Travel Leads?

Prospects that are planning for a travel or tourism expedition or looking for an appropriate travel agency are more likely to find your travel business through social media, paid ads, or search engine results. These prospects after exchanging their information in return for valuable travel content or discount offers become travel leads. You can leverage these travel leads and their data to nurture your prospects further and convert them into paying clients.

How to buy travel leads

You can buy hot travel leads by outsourcing the lead generation services like ScaleYourBiz. By opting for us, you can have a consistent flow of high-quality travel leads for your travel business, increase conversion rates, acquire new business opportunities, and boost your revenue.

By considering the tips above and strategies for travel lead generation, you can craft an impactful roadmap of lead generation for travel companies. By offering valuable content and irresistible discount offers to your hot travel leads and potential customers, you can nurture them further and make them ready to start their journey with your brand. The way you nurture your leads is extremely crucial as it helps you gain loyal & long-term customers. You can also experience word of mouth or referral marketing as a return reward from your happy and satisfied customers by giving them a vibe that you care about resolving their pain points and conflicts.

Maybe You Want to Read

What you should and shouldn’t do with Facebook Ads

How To Follow Up With Customers And Why It Is Crucial

Advertorials Can Be Effective – If Done Properly

Leave a reply.

• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy

We use Google re marketing pixels/cookies on this site to re-communicate with people who visit our site and ensure that we are able to reach them in the future with relevant messages and information. Google shows our ads across third party sites across the internet to help communicate our message and reach the right people who have shown interest in our information in the past.

Facebook Disclaimer

This website is not part of the Facebook website or Facebook Inc. Additionally, this site is not endorsed by Facebook in any way. Facebook is a trademark of Facebook, Inc.

Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter

• WHY WORK WITH US
• OUR RESULTS
• RECENT PROJECTS

Let's get started!

An official website of the United States government

Here’s how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( Lock A locked padlock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

JavaScript appears to be disabled on this computer. Please click here to see any active alerts .

Learn about Lead

Read more about lead in this CDC informational graphic

Información relacionado en  español .

• What is lead?
• Where is lead found?
• Who is at risk?
• Lead exposure data
• What are the health effects of lead?
• Lower your chances of exposure to lead

What do I do if I think my child or I have been exposed to lead?

What is lead.

Lead is a naturally occurring element found in small amounts in the earth’s crust. While it has some beneficial uses, it can be toxic to humans and animals, causing health effects.

Where is Lead Found?

Lead can be found in all parts of our environment – the air, the soil, the water, and even inside our homes. Much of our exposure comes from human activities including the use of fossil fuels including past use of leaded gasoline, some types of industrial facilities and past use of lead-based paint in homes. Lead and lead compounds have been used in a wide variety of products found in and around our homes, including paint, ceramics, pipes and plumbing materials, solders, gasoline, batteries, ammunition and cosmetics.

Lead may enter the environment from these past and current uses. Lead can also be emitted into the environment from industrial sources and contaminated sites, such as former lead smelters. While natural levels of lead in soil range between 50 and 400 parts per million, mining, smelting and refining activities have resulted in substantial increases in lead levels in the environment, especially near mining and smelting sites.

When lead is released to the air from industrial sources or spark-ignition engine aircraft, it may travel long distances before settling to the ground, where it usually sticks to soil particles. Lead may move from soil into ground water depending on the type of lead compound and the characteristics of the soil.

Federal and state regulatory standards have helped to reduce the amount of lead in air, drinking water, soil, consumer products, food, and occupational settings.

Learn more about sources of lead exposure:

• At schools and child care facilities
• In products
• In drinking water
• In outdoor air

Who is at Risk?

Lead is particularly dangerous to children because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Babies and young children can also be more highly exposed to lead because they often put their hands and other objects that can have lead from dust or soil on them into their mouths. Children may also be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that contain lead, inhaling lead dust from lead-based paint or lead-contaminated soil or from playing with toys with lead-based paint.

Adults, Including Pregnant Women

Adults may be exposed to lead by eating and drinking food or water containing lead or from dishes or glasses that contain lead. They may also breath lead dust by spending time in areas where lead-based paint is deteriorating, and during renovation or repair work that disturbs painted surfaces in older homes and buildings. Working in a job or engaging in hobbies where lead is used, such as making stained glass, can increase exposure as can certain folk remedies containing lead. A pregnant woman’s exposure to lead from these sources is of particular concern because it can result in exposure to her developing baby.

Lead Exposure Data

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics  monitors blood lead levels in the United States. Get information on the number of children with elevated blood lead levels, and number and percentage of children tested for lead in your area . 

According to CDC (PDF)

• The most important step parents, doctors, and others can take is to prevent lead exposure before it occurs .
• Until recently, children were identified as having a blood lead level of concern if the test result is 10 or more micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood. Experts now use a new level based on the U.S. population of children ages 1-5 years who are in the top 2.5% of children when tested for lead in their blood (when compared to children who are exposed to more lead than most children). Currently that is 3.5 micrograms per deciliter of lead in blood. The new, lower value means that more children likely will be identified as having lead exposure allowing parents, doctors, public health officials, and communities to take action earlier to reduce the child’s future exposure to lead.

EPA uses the CDC data to show trends on blood lead levels in children in America’s Children and the Environment .

What are the Health Effects of Lead?

Lead can affect almost every organ and system in your body. Children six years old and younger are most susceptible to the effects of lead.

Even low levels of lead in the blood of children can result in:

• Behavior and learning problems
• Lower IQ and Hyperactivity
• Slowed growth
• Hearing Problems

In rare cases, ingestion of lead can cause seizures, coma and even death.

Pregnant Women

Lead can accumulate in our bodies over time, where it is stored in bones along with calcium. During pregnancy, lead is released from the mother's bones along with calcium and can pass from the mother exposing the fetus or the breastfeeding infant to lead. This can result in serious effects to the developing fetus and infant, including:

• Cause the baby to be born too early or too small;
• Hurt the baby’s brain, kidney’s, and nervous system;
• Increase the likelihood of learning or behavioral problems; and
• Put the mother at risk for miscarriage.

Find out more about lead's effects on pregnancy and lactating women:

• Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. 
• Guidelines for the Identification and Management of Lead Exposure in Pregnant and lactating Women , National Center for Environmental Health. 

Other Adults

Lead is also harmful to other adults. Adults exposed to lead can suffer from:

• Cardiovascular effects, increased blood pressure and incidence of hypertension;
• Decreased kidney function; and
• Reproductive problems (in both men and women).

Read more on the health effects of lead

• EPA’s Integrated Science Assessment for Lead

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR).  

Lower Your Chances of Exposure to Lead

Simple steps like keeping your home clean and well-maintained will go a long way in preventing lead exposure. You can lower the chances of exposure to lead in your home, both now and in the future, by taking these steps:

• Inspect and maintain all painted surfaces to prevent paint deterioration.
• Address water damage quickly and completely.
• Keep your home clean and dust-free.
• Clean around painted areas where friction can generate dust, such as doors, windows, and drawers. Wipe these areas with a wet sponge or rag to remove paint chips or dust.
• Use only cold water to prepare food and drinks.
• Flush water outlets used for drinking or food preparation.
• Clean debris out of outlet screens or faucet aerators on a regular basis.
• Wash children's hands, bottles, pacifiers and toys often.
• Teach children to wipe and remove their shoes and wash hands after playing outdoors.
• Ensure that your family members eat well-balanced meals. Children with healthy diets absorb less lead. See  Lead and a Healthy Diet, What You Can Do to Protect Your Child (PDF)  | en español (PDF) .
• If you are having home renovation, repairs, or painting done, make sure your contractor is Lead-Safe Certified , and make sure they follow lead-safe work practices (PDF) .

Determine if your family is at risk for lead poisoning with the Lead Poisoning Home Checklist (PDF) .

Talk to your pediatrician, general physician, or local health agency about what you can do. Your doctor can do a simple blood test to check you or your child  for lead exposure.  You may also want to test your home for sources of lead . 

• Take this postcard  with you to your child’s next appointment and ask your medical provider to give them a blood lead test.
• Learn About Lead
• Protect Your Family
• Renovation, Repair and Painting Program
• Evaluating & Eliminating Lead-Based Paint Hazards
• Real Estate Disclosure
• Lead Laws and Regulations
• En español: Plomo

Find anything you save across the site in your account

Stanley Cups Apparently Contain Lead. Here’s How Worried You Should Be

By Ali Francis

All products are independently selected by our editors. If you buy something, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Social media is a fickle mistress. She’ll shine a light on a product and then just as quickly cast a shadow over it. That’s basically the abridged life story of the Stanley cup, that enormous, pastel-colored insulated tumbler peddled so hard online that even your dad’s accountant probably owns a couple. Now, a flood of social media posts are circulating the fact that Stanley cups are manufactured using lead—a known toxin. (Stanley’s website does disclose the use of lead .)

The discourse has spawned a flurry of jokes about the wholesome brand, which started as a thermos for tough guys and has since become an accessory to influencers and hydration enthusiasts . A recent sketch on Saturday Night Live, titled “Big Dumb Cups,” showed Heidi Gardner sipping from a buttery yellow quencher and deadpanning: “I’m getting lead.” Worried users even used home lead tests to swab their Stanleys for the metal, some sharing positive results online. (Experts have warned that the reliability of at-home lead tests can vary.)

In a statement to WCNC, a Stanley spokesperson addressed the lead concerns, emphasizing that its products meet US regulatory requirements and that it verifies compliance “through FDA-accredited third-party labs.” In a separate statement to TODAY, a company spokesperson said, “Rest assured that no lead is present on the surface of any Stanley product that comes into contact with the consumer nor the contents of the product.”

At the base of every insulated Stanley product, a stainless-steel circular barrier shields a lead-based solder that’s used to seal the cup, which the brand claims is essential for its vacuum insulation technology. (Stanley hasn’t disclosed how much lead this small metal bead contains.) Assuming that the barrier remains intact and the lead inaccessible, most experts tell me that there’s nothing to worry about—you can keep your beloved tumbler.

“I think it is important to note that the lead bead is not actually inside the beverage reservoir of a cup,” says Joe Zagorski, PhD, a toxicologist at Michigan State University’s Center of Research on Ingredient Safety, who’s unfazed by the drama. “Your beverage would not contact the lead dot.”

But others are concerned about the potential health risks if the stainless-steel button were to fall off. “Even low levels of lead exposure can have significant impacts,” says Vanessa Risetto, MS, RD, CDN, a registered dietitian and the CEO of Culina Health . Here’s everything you need to know.

How the conversation around lead in Stanleys started

The latest hubbub was sparked by Tamara Rubin, founder of Lead Safe Mama , an organization dedicated to raising awareness about lead poisoning and reporting on lead-safe choices for consumers. Rubin, whose own son was poisoned by lead as an infant, first posted about lead in Stanley tumblers in March last year.

By August, TikTok users had shared a slew of videos testing the insides of their Stanley tumblers for lead using kits bought online. One (since deleted) viral video , showing a mother testing the lead solder under Stanley’s circular protective cap, which appears to have been glued on, garnered 2.2 million views. The trend resurfaced on Facebook this January , when influencer Casey Janette Russell claimed a home lead test on her Stanley cups came back positive (again, experts caution relying on these). Her post was shared 19,000 times in five days .

A Stanley spokesperson told TODAY that it’s possible but unlikely that the protective stainless-steel caps covering the lead solder would dislodge, unless the bottle was severely damaged. According to the Stanley website: “In the rare occurrence the base cap of a product comes off due to ordinary use and exposes this seal, it is eligible for our Lifetime Warranty.” And the cup has developed a reputation for being unbreakable. Last fall, a woman’s car caught on fire, and once the burning stopped, only her Stanley cup remained intact . Still, Rubin estimates that hundreds of her readers have contacted her saying that the covers came off naturally, exposing the lead. Since her first post in March, she’s tested a slew of these cups, which were mailed to her by readers.

Unlike the home testing swabs, which are known to be unreliable, Rubin uses XRF technology—generally considered more accurate—and reports that she has confirmed the presence of lead. “The ‘pellet’ they melt to create the ‘sealing dot’ for the vacuum seal of these product is not just made with ‘some lead’ but appears to be made with an alloy that contains between 400,000 to 600,000 [parts per million] lead,” she wrote in her latest post on the topic. (Rubin earns a commission on recommended products that are purchased through her website, some of which are competitors to Stanley.)

When asked for comment, a Stanley representative referred Bon Appétit to the brand’s website and did not respond to specific claims.

What to know about lead exposure

Lead is a metal that’s naturally present in the earth. Mining, and its historical use in pesticides, plumbing, house paints, and even toy manufacture, made it more prolific in our environment. And exposure to lead has been linked to a range of adverse health effects , say experts.

Even low levels, which were once considered safe, have been associated with cardiovascular diseases, reproductive problems, irreversible organ damage, lowered IQ, and behavioral disorders. Children, whose developing bodies absorb four to five times as much lead as adults, are especially susceptible to its harmful effects.

Your drink won’t come in contact with the lead solder, which is underneath the cup. But if the protective button shielding it comes off your Stanley, “the vicinity should not be touched by children,” says Katarzyna Kordas, an associate professor of public health at the University of Buffalo, who says the true risk here is difficult to ascertain without Stanley disclosing how much lead is used in its formulations. “Caregivers should use a household cleaner and paper towels to clean up the area” and ensure thorough handwashing afterward. Kordas adds, “If the seal stays on, then there should be no health risks from lead.”

Touching lead isn’t necessarily dangerous (it’s more so ingestion and inhalation you need to worry about). But Kordas’s precaution should be heeded because kids and adults can easily transport the tiny particles from any exposed lead to their mouths while, say, eating a bag of chips (the lead goes from hand to chip to mouth). It’s this simple, and possibly unknowing, transfer that has experts most concerned about Stanley’s use of lead. “No amount of lead is safe,” says Jane Houlihan, the research director at Happy Babies Bright Futures (HBBF), which has extensively researched heavy metals in infant and toddler foods.

Repeated exposure poses even more risk than a onetime event. “The body does not easily rid itself of lead, which can build up in the blood over time, possibly leading to lead toxicity,” says Venus Kalami, MNSP, RD, CSP, a pediatric dietitian and nutritionist at Solid Starts. Symptoms of lead poisoning can include nausea, vomiting, anemia, loss of appetite, and irritability—and anyone experiencing them should see a doctor immediately.

Lots of insulated cups and water bottles are made with lead

Despite its known risks, lead-based solders are used by many insulated bottle and cup manufacturers , mostly because the metal melts and fuses easily, and it’s affordable. And, probably, because customers weren’t talking about it all that much, until now. Though a Stanley spokesperson told TODAY that its engineering and supply chain teams “are making progress on innovative, alternative materials for use in the sealing process,” plenty of other companies (such as Owala and Hydro Flask) are currently lead-free.

Rubin sent a tip about lead in the Bindle bottle to Consumer Reports, which resulted in a recall earlier this year. She also contacted Hydro Flask about lead in its products over a decade ago, which the brand confirms prompted it to make a change. She “brought awareness to the issue,” says Larry Witt, the president of home and outdoor at Helen of Troy, Hydro Flask’s owner. The brand developed an alternative seal in 2012, which Witt admits “was more complex and ultimately more expensive” to produce. But at the time the company changed the solder, it didn’t raise prices.

Even so, sticking with lead might be more costly for brands if recalls happen. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)—which actively monitors products for potential lead regulation violations—recently recalled several children’s tumblers from PandaEar, Cupkin, Tiblue, Klickpick, and Laoion, due to pellets (similar to those used by Stanley) surpassing federal lead content limits. With few limited exceptions, children’s products sold in the US must not contain more than 100 parts per million (ppm) of total lead content in accessible parts.

“Companies that use lead are promoting the mining, manufacturing, and refinement of toxicants,” Rubin tells me. “If these companies were using alternatives, they wouldn’t be contaminating waterways, they wouldn’t be poisoning our air, and we’d have a much healthier population.”

Risetto, the registered dietitian, agrees. Whether or not Stanley customers ever come into contact with the lead solder used in their cups, she says the use of the metal is “a miss,” considering its potential for harm. “If others have totally replaced lead in their manufacturing processes, why can’t Stanley?”

Customers can report any lead-related concerns about products currently on the market to the CPSC, at SaferProducts.Gov.

A previous version of this story incorrectly listed some companies using lead in products. The story has since been updated.

More Culture Stories From Bon Appétit

Get Bon Appétit in your inbox with our daily newsletter.

The Super Bowl's giant Doritos pyramid , and more news from the internet of food.

Nonalcoholic beverages are everywhere. This is how to choose the right one for any occasion.

What a 22-year-old server at a Michelin-Starred restaurant eats on $18/hour in New York .

A new season of ‘The Bear’ is on the way. Here's why we're excited .

Season 2 of ‘High on the Hog’ on Netflix shows how food powered the civil rights movement.

Chris Morocco solves your kitchen emergencies on our podcast Dinner SOS .

The new Epicurious App is here with over 50,000 recipes.