Why a Smarter Sales Process Leads to Higher Profits in Tourism
Tourism is one of the most rewarding industries to be in and one of the hardest to run profitably.
I work with tourism and experience-based businesses that are busy, passionate, and delivering great products yet still feel like the business is harder than it should be.
This article explores one of the most common issues I see in tourism businesses, and what to do differently if you want stronger margins, better guests, and a business that actually supports your life.
Most Tourism Businesses Don’t Have a Sales Problem
They Have a Sales Process Problem
When tourism operators think about sales, they usually think about:
Bookings
Enquiries
Occupancy
Conversion rates
What they rarely think about is how a guest actually moves from “interested” to “booked” and what happens (or doesn’t happen) in between.
Take RedBalloon one of Australia’s pioneer experience-focused brands. Their whole business is built around helping people move from inspiration to purchase by making experiences feel tangible and desirable, not just available to book. By focusing on experiences rather than transactions, they transform interest into action.
In tourism, sales often look passive:
A website
An enquiry form
OTA listings
A quick email response
And then we hope the guest books.
Hope is not a sales process.
Why This Is Costing You More Than You Realise
A weak or undefined sales process doesn’t just lose bookings it:
Attracts price-sensitive guests
Increases time spent responding to the wrong enquiries
Forces discounting to “close the deal”
Creates inconsistent guest expectations
Leads to poorer reviews and lower lifetime value
You end up busy, but not necessarily profitable.
Incredible destination operators like BIG4 Adventure Whitsunday Resort inducted into the Hall of Fame at the Qantas Australian Tourism Awards demonstrate that when guest expectations and sales messaging align, you get premium pricing and repeat visitation, not just volume.
A Smarter Sales Process Isn’t Pushy, It’s Clear
Strong sales processes in tourism are not aggressive or “salesy”.
They do three things well:
They attract the right guests
They set clear expectations
They make it easy for guests to say “yes”
That might look like:
Clear communication about who your experience is for
Prompt, structured enquiry responses that guide guests logically
Framing your tours or stays around emotional outcomes, not features
Removing friction in the booking decision clear pricing, instant confirmation, quality visuals
When guests feel confident, understood, and reassured, price becomes less dominant.
Better Sales Processes Create Better Guest Experiences
Here’s what most tourism owners miss:
Your sales process is part of the guest experience.
If a guest feels:
Confused before booking
Unsure what they’re getting
Anxious about making the wrong choice
That emotion doesn’t magically disappear when they arrive.
But if the booking journey feels:
Easy and intuitive
Personal
Aligned with what they want
You start the experience on the front foot before they even arrive.
Industry bodies like Tourism Australia encourage operators to think about the full customer journey from awareness through to post-stay engagement because that’s how memorable, high-value experiences are created.
Where Higher Profits Actually Come From
Tourism profitability rarely comes from doing more.
It comes from:
Better-fit guests
Fewer friction points
Clearer communication
Less discounting
Higher confidence in your value
A smarter sales process improves margins because it:
Reduces wasted effort
Increases conversion quality, not just quantity
Aligns expectations with delivery
Positions your experience as a choice, not a compromise
Example: Beyond Booking — Selling the Outcome
Think about Intrepid Travel, a Melbourne-founded operator that sells adventure and cultural immersion, not just trips. Their bookings succeed because they sell unique outcomes (community connection, local insight, authentic travel) and manage expectations at every stage of enquiry and confirmation.
This isn’t complicated it’s strategic.
A Simple Reality Check
Ask yourself:
Do we control how guests experience us before they book?
Are we guiding enquiries, or just responding to them?
Do guests understand why we’re worth choosing without us discounting?
If the answer is “not really,” there's an opportunity sitting there.
My Final Thought
You don’t need more enquiries.
You don’t need more platforms.
And you definitely don’t need to work harder.
You need a smarter way of turning interest into the right bookings.
That’s when tourism businesses stop chasing volume and start building profitability.
If this resonates, it’s usually a sign there’s more opportunity in your business than you’re currently capturing.
At Exceptional Experiences, we work with tourism operators to step back from the day-to-day and look at the business as a whole: the experience, the numbers, the structure, and the decisions driving the results.
Clarity changes everything. When you understand what’s really happening in your business, better decisions follow.
Profit and exceptional guest experiences are not opposites.
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