Maximize your Revenue by Effectively Upselling and Cross-Selling Tours
- Turpal Team
- Nov 21, 2024
- 5 min read
Updated: Oct 23
Every traveler loves a great experience, and what they really value is more of it. For tour and activity providers, upselling and cross-selling are powerful tools to deliver that “more” while increasing revenue per customer.
Unfortunately, many travel businesses treat these tactics as afterthoughts. That’s a costly mistake. With smart timing, personalization, and digital automation, upselling and cross-selling can transform your average booking into a long-term customer relationship.
What’s the Difference Between Upselling and Cross-Selling?
Before diving in, let’s clarify the basics, starting with the difference between the two types of tactics:
Upselling means offering an upgraded version of the booked experience. Example: Upgrading a standard desert safari to a VIP private camp experience.
Cross-selling means suggesting complementary products or experiences. Example: Adding a city tour or spa experience to a multi-day adventure package.
Both aim to increase average booking value, but done correctly, they also improve traveler satisfaction, because customers get more tailored, seamless experiences.
Why Upselling and Cross-Selling Matter More Than Ever
Today’s travelers are value-driven; they want curated, personalized journeys rather than one-size-fits-all packages. Keeping in mind that upselling isn’t about selling more. It’s about serving better.
By introducing relevant upgrades or add-ons to your tour and activity offerings, you manage to:
Increase your revenue per traveler: without extra ad spend.
Boost customer loyalty: travelers who book more with you are more likely to return.
Enhance customer satisfaction: your customers enjoy smoother, more immersive experiences.
1. Know Your Customer Journey
Successful upselling and cross-selling start with understanding your customer’s intent, behaviour and timing.
Break the customers’ purchase journey into three key phases:
Pre-booking: When travelers are browsing, researching and comparing experiences.
During booking: When they are ready to book and are open to add-ons.
Post-booking / Pre-travel: When they are eagerly anticipating their trip and are open to upgrades.
Each phase requires a different approach, for example:
During booking: “Upgrade to a private vehicle for just $60 more.”
After booking: “Add a sunset dinner cruise to complete your Dubai experience.”
Never bombard travelers with too many offerings that are irrelevant to the products they are currently considering or have already booked. Offer contextual, relevant options that feel like value-adding recommendations, not pressure.
2. Bundle Experiences to Add Value
Bundling is a subtle yet powerful way to cross-sell without overwhelming customers. Instead of offering tours separately, combine complementary ones into themed packages. These can resemble offers as such:
“Adventure Weekend Combo: Dune Bashing + Paragliding”
“Culture & Cuisine: City Tour + Local Food Experience”
These packages work because they simplify decision-making and deliver perceived savings, while increasing your total transaction value.
Use dynamic pricing to offer small discounts on bundles. The perceived value increase can drive higher conversions without reducing profitability.
3. Personalize Offers with Data
Personalization is the secret ingredient that turns upselling from annoying to irresistible.
Leverage customer data including past bookings, preferences, traveler type, tour categories, or destination, and use this data to tailor your recommendations accordingly. For example, if a traveler books a snorkeling tour, suggest the following:
“Want to capture your adventure? Add an underwater GoPro rental.”
“Stay for sunset, extend your tour by 2 hours for only AED99.”
The more personalized your offers, the higher your conversion rates. A great way to achieve this is by using CRM integrations to automate smart recommendations based on customer profiles.
4. Automate the Timing
Manual upselling doesn’t scale, but smart automation does. Implement automated workflows to send targeted offers at the right moments:
Immediately after booking: “Enhance your trip with these add-ons.”
A few days before travel: “Upgrade your tour for an exclusive experience.”
Post-trip: “Enjoyed your experience? Here’s 10% off your next tour.”
Automation tools can handle all this while maintaining a personalized tone. This way, you nurture customers without overloading your support team. If you integrate automation into your booking flow, the recommendations would appear dynamically, with absolutely no extra effort required.
5. Train Your Team to Suggest, Not Sell
Even with automation, your human team plays a huge role. Guides, agents, and customer support reps need to be trained to spot opportunities naturally. When they recommend upgrades from genuine enthusiasm, travelers listen.
A small shift in phrasing and mannerism turns a sales pitch into an authentic recommendation.
6. Showcase Add-Ons Visually
Travel is a visual business, so your upselling success depends heavily on how you present your offers.
Use vivid imagery and short videos to show what the upgrade looks like.
Highlight experiential benefits, not just features.
Display upgrades clearly within the booking journey, instead of burying them in the fine print.
Other highly effective visuals that boost trust include traveler testimonials and UGC (User-Generated Content).
7. Measure, Refine, Repeat
Like any sales strategy, upselling and cross-selling thrive on iteration. Make sure to track your metrics:
Which upgrades get accepted most often?
At what point in the journey do travelers convert?
What’s the impact on the average booking value?
Use the data to refine pricing, timing, and offer combinations.
Turpal’s integrated tools, help tour and activity providers feature the product add-ons and/ or tours to combine, making the process easy..
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Let’s keep you from tripping over the classic mistakes that have driven so many travelers to abandon their purchase journey. Avoid the following:
Too many offers: Overwhelms customers and causes decision paralysis.
Irrelevant add-ons: Damages credibility. Only suggest experiences that complement the original booking.
Lack of clarity on pricing: Confusion kills conversions. Be transparent and concise.
Poor timing: Don’t pitch upgrades mid-checkout; it feels forced.
Upselling that is performed in a pushy or random way feels like manipulation, while if done right, it feels like helpful guidance.
How Turpal Simplifies Upselling and Cross-Selling
Turpal helps tour and activity operators automate upselling and cross-selling through smart features and integrations.
With Turpal’s platform, you can:
Recommend upgrades and add-ons automatically during different stages of the purchase journey.
Use traveler data to tailor recommendations.
Manage all offers and inventory within one dashboard.
Track revenue growth and performance analytics in real time.
This makes it easier to deliver value-driven offers that feel more seamless and not so salesy.
See how automation can turn every booking into a revenue opportunity.
Upselling and cross-selling aren’t about pushing extra products, they’re about enhancing the journey.
Every traveler wants more comfort, convenience, or adventure. When you offer it in a relevant, timely, and personalized way, everyone wins, you increase your revenue while giving customers better experiences.
The key is strategy: know your travelers, use data, and let automation handle the heavy lifting. With the right platform, upselling becomes effortless and impactful. Your tours don’t just sell, they evolve.
