5 Must-Have Gadgets Every Tour Operator Should Have

Being a tour operator is more than just running a business. You need to think ahead and be smart in order to stay ahead of other tour operations. Arm your tour guides with these essentials to make sure they are creating an experience your customers will love.

1. A Tablet and Cell Phone

It’s important for everyone on your team to stay in contact with each other, and to stay organized. Ordinary notebooks can help you to a certain extent with organization, but a tablet and smart phone for everyone on your team will make you more mobile, and more organized. You’ll also need one or the other for many of the apps needed to run a top tier tour company.

2. A Portable Charger

Tablets and cellphones are limited by their battery life, and the more apps you have running the faster the battery will run down. Tablets and cellphones are useless when they aren’t running, so a charger can be a lifesaver when your team’s equipment is low on charge.

As an added benefit, you’ll be able to help your customers who are desperate to get amazing pictures and don’t have the battery life to do so. Having chargers available to help your customers can make a world of difference in how they perceive your tour.

3. Offline Maps

Even if you know an area well, or have an app that gives you directions, you’ll still want offline maps available. Not all locations are internet accessible, and you don’t want to find yourself in an unfamiliar big city neighborhood without any way of getting home. An offline map will be there for you whether you don’t have internet access at all, or are simply subject to unpredictable roaming.

4. The Right Apps

That tablet and cellphone aren’t just useful for keeping notes and staying in contact. They can also give you an amazing array of different tools.

Tour booking software

Allows you to focus on customer support by freeing your office staff from spending their time arranging bookings, rescheduling, or taking payments. Instead, tour booking software can handle many of these things, plus give the customer the opportunity to book or reschedule outside office hours.

Translation software

In China, most people don’t speak English, and nothing is even written in English. A good translation software can help smooth things over, allowing you to read and communicate in other languages with just your phone for help.

Safety apps

A weather app, as well as local news app are important features every phone or tablet should be equipped with. Weather apps can inform you if it will be too dangerous or unpleasant to continue the tour (such as a storm for a boating trip) and local news could inform you of dangerous situations in the area. Don’t allow your customers to walk into a dangerous situation, use these tools to be aware at all times.

5. A GoPro

When new customers are looking at your tour website, they may have trouble deciding whether to book or not just based on a few pictures. Having your tour guides wear GoPros can capture some of the best moments on a tour, so you can show potential customers some of the exciting things they might see.

Many of the gadgets we listed above aren’t necessary for your business, but these gadgets can make it easier and more pleasant for you and your customers. Give these 5 gadgets a try, and enjoy the benefits they offer your company. For more information, visit Tourtools at https://www.tourtools.com/