Running Camps Kenya: Tour Operator Success Story
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“It’s not only the bookings…we are really getting a lot of people into our system, a lot of new leads, a lot of high quality leads.”
The Problem
Mark Langerhorst, founder of Running Camps Kenya, organises the ultimate running adventure – fully-supported running camps for enthusiasts of all levels. It gives travellers the opportunity to train in Kenya, considered a true runner’s mecca, with some of the world’s greatest runners. Excursions and tours are offered alongside exploring the landscape in running shoes.
Mark came to 10x Tourism because he was struggling to get a steady flow of leads despite using Facebook ads and Google ads.
He also identified that when he did get leads, he lacked a system to track the conversations and create follow up tasks to unanswered emails.
As a whole, Mark realised the business needed a clear customer overview of the leads they were capturing.
The Solution
Mark heard about 10x Tourism’s 6-week online Tour Operator Accelerator™ program and liked that it was specific to the travel industry and his travel business.
Having already had a few bad experiences investing in online marketing courses that over-promised and under-delivered, Mark naturally had some initial reservations about the Tour Operator Accelerator program.
But after setting up a strategy session call with one of 10x Tourism’s Get More Bookings® specialists, his concerns were quickly quashed.
“I did some global online marketing courses...but it wasn’t really focused on the travel industry so [the Tour Operator Accelerator program] made a big difference.”
In the 6-week online Tour Operator Accelerator program, Mark and his team were given the tools, understanding and step-by-step tutorials that enabled them to build a Get More Bookings® System that was tailored to the needs of Running Camps Kenya.
This included a tried-and-tested method of consistently generating not only a steady flow of leads, but a steady flow of high quality leads.
Mark admitted that arguably the most overlooked gem of the TOA program is the community. The beauty of the Tour Operator Accelerator member community is that there is a real range of tour operator businesses. Everyone from smaller companies at the very start-up phase all the way up to tour operators who generate 8-figures in booking revenue. The advice and support you receive from all members is priceless.
“I think it also works at different stages of having a tour operator business...so if you’re starting out or you have something in place already, I think [the Tour Operator Accelerator program] can work very well for both situations.”
The Results
After using the “down-time” that COVID-19 had provided to complete 10x Tourism’s 6-week online program, Mark saw immediate results from launching the Get More Bookings® Sales Funnel,
The automated email course received a lot of responses. People were engaging with the emails and asking quality questions about the tours that Running Camps Kenya offers.
Plus, Mark and his team were seeing the number of email subscribers grow week on week.
Since the email course taught on the TOA program is entirely automated, Mark was finding it a huge time saver because it drastically reduced the amount of manual responses needed. This was a huge benefit to a small team like Running Camps Kenya’s…
“People were really engaging with it [the email course] and the good thing is that most of it was automated so that was really a plus.”
10x Tourism has been helping travel industry professionals for over 10 years. As a result, the team has tried and tested most software packages on the market in their efforts to find the best one for the travel industry specifically.
Because of this, Mark trusted the software recommendations detailed in the Tour Operator Accelerator program. The customer overview and statistics he was able to see from the CRM dashboard made the sales workflow much clearer and simpler – “It really makes sense to have it”.
From implementing the Get More Bookings® Sales Funnel, Running Camps Kenya received their first two bookings whilst in the midst of COVID-19.
Not only that, but in addition to securing deposits with confirmed bookings, 1ox Tourism’s funnel also brought in a substantial amount of leads and opportunities that Mark and his team had not experienced before.
“It’s not only the bookings...we are really getting a lot of people into our system, a lot of new leads, a lot of high quality leads.”
Despite launching in the midst of a pandemic, Mark is confident that when the market recovers, the conversations that he’s been having now will turn into bookings.
Mark believes the biggest win for Running Camps Kenya is having these early conversations with their new-found steady flow of prospective customers. It allows his team to maintain regular touchpoints with prospects so that at a later stage, when people feel more confident to travel, they will choose to book with Running Camps Kenya.
“If you look at it long-term because the market at the moment is very difficult to get many bookings, of course. But to have a system such as Get More Bookings in place for when the market gets better...yeah I can really recommend it.”
On top of this, Mark implemented our free covid-proof flexible booking template which has encouraged prospective customers to reach out to them. Without a doubt, Mark believes the 10xFlex flexible booking template has instilled confidence in his customers to book with Running Camps Kenya.
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